Browser Hardware ID (HWID) & WebGL Fingerprint Diagnostic Reader

What Is a HWID?

HWID stands for hardware ID, but it isn’t one single number. People use the term for two different things:

• A device hardware ID, like PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_2484&SUBSYS_146F1043&REV_A1. Windows uses it to match each component to a driver. It tells you what the hardware is, not which copy of it. Every card of the same model shares it.
• A machine HWID, a value that identifies one specific PC. Licensing software, anti-cheat systems and IT tools build this from one or more unique values. The most common are the SMBIOS system UUID, the Windows MachineGuid, disk serial numbers, the motherboard serial and MAC addresses.

When a software vendor or support agent asks for “your HWID”, they almost always mean the second kind. Most often it is the system UUID, which you get with one PowerShell command. When a driver guide says “find the hardware ID”, it means the first kind, from Device Manager. This checker covers both.

How to Check Your HWID in Windows

1. Press Win + X and choose Terminal (Windows 11) or Windows PowerShell (Windows 10). Admin rights aren’t needed.
2. Paste this command and press Enter:

   (Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct).UUID

3. The 36-character result, like 4C4C4544-0035-4810-8052-B4C04F4B3732, is your system UUID. Right-click or press Ctrl + C to copy it.
4. Need more than the UUID? Use the Full HWID report script in the tool above. It lists the UUID, MachineGuid, board and BIOS serials, disks, GPUs and network adapters in one go.

You can also see some of this without commands. Settings → System → About shows a “Device ID” and “Product ID”, but those aren’t hardware IDs (see the comparison below). System Information (msinfo32) shows the system maker, model, BIOS version and baseboard, but not the UUID.

How to Find Hardware IDs in Device Manager

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Device Manager.
2. Expand a category, right-click the device (for example your graphics card, or an Unknown device) and choose Properties.
3. Open the Details tab and choose Hardware Ids from the Property list.
4. Click the first line, then press Ctrl + A and Ctrl + C to copy all lines. Paste them into the decoder above.

You’ll see several lines, from most specific to least specific. Windows tries them in that order when it looks for a driver. For a PCI device, the first line includes the subsystem (the board or laptop maker) and the revision. The last line is only the vendor and device. The same Property list also has Compatible Ids, generic class-based IDs Windows falls back to, and the Device instance path, which adds a part unique to your PC.

HWID vs. Device ID vs. Serial Number

These names get mixed up constantly, even in software instructions. Here’s how they differ:

A serial number is set by the maker for one physical unit: your laptop, a disk, a motherboard. The hardware ID names a model. The HWID that apps use is whichever unique value, or mix of values, that app chooses to read.

HWID vs. Windows MachineGuid

The MachineGuid lives in the registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography. Windows creates it during setup, and many apps and games read it because it is easy to get. But it is a software ID:

• A clean reinstall of Windows creates a new MachineGuid, even on the same hardware.
• Cloned disk images can share one MachineGuid across many PCs if they weren’t prepared properly.
• The system UUID stays the same through reinstalls, because it is stored in the motherboard firmware.

That difference helps with troubleshooting. If an app says “new device” after a reinstall, it probably uses the MachineGuid. If it still recognises the PC after a reinstall but not after a motherboard swap, it uses a hardware value such as the UUID. The compare tool above tells you which changed.

How to Check HWID Using Command Prompt

Most guides still say to run wmic csproduct get uuid. That no longer works on current Windows 11. Microsoft disabled WMIC by default in Windows 11 23H2 and 24H2, and removes it when you upgrade to 25H2. After that it can only be added back as an optional Feature on Demand, and Microsoft plans to remove it completely in a later update. If you see “'wmic' is not recognized”, that’s why.

These Command Prompt commands work without WMIC:

:: System UUID (HWID)
powershell -NoProfile -Command "(Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct).UUID"

:: Windows MachineGuid
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography /v MachineGuid

:: MAC addresses
getmac /v /fo list

:: Hardware IDs of connected devices (Windows 11)
pnputil /enum-devices /connected /deviceids

pnputil /enum-devices works on Windows 10 version 1903 and later. The /deviceids option, which prints hardware and compatible IDs, needs Windows 11. On Windows 10, use the PowerShell commands instead.

How to Check HWID Using PowerShell

PowerShell reads the same data WMIC did, through the CIM cmdlets, and works on Windows 10 and 11 without admin rights:

# System UUID
(Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct).UUID

# Motherboard and BIOS serials
Get-CimInstance Win32_BaseBoard | Select-Object Manufacturer, Product, SerialNumber
Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber, SMBIOSBIOSVersion

# Disk serials
Get-CimInstance Win32_DiskDrive | Select-Object Model, SerialNumber

# Hardware IDs of one device
Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly -FriendlyName '*NVIDIA*' |
  Get-PnpDeviceProperty -KeyName DEVPKEY_Device_HardwareIds |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty Data

Pasting commands into the console isn’t blocked by the execution policy, which only applies to .ps1 script files. So the full report script in the tool works as-is. Tick “Mask” before running it if you plan to post the output anywhere.

What Information Can a HWID Identify?

What an ID reveals depends on which one it is:

• Device hardware IDs reveal the make and model of a component (an NVIDIA RTX 3060, a Realtek ALC256 audio codec, a Logitech receiver) and often the laptop or board maker through the subsystem. That’s why they’re so useful for drivers.
• The system UUID and serial numbers identify one specific machine. Your PC maker can use the serial to look up your model, warranty and sometimes the original owner.
• MAC addresses identify a network adapter. The first half is the maker’s prefix (OUI). Wi-Fi networks can see the MAC unless random hardware addresses are turned on.
• ProcessorId only describes the CPU family and features. It isn’t unique, so many identical CPUs report the same value.

None of these contain your name, location or files. The privacy risk is linkability. A stable unique ID lets a company, or anyone you post it to, recognise the same PC again across accounts, reinstalls and apps.

Why a PC Can Have More Than One HWID

There is no single official HWID in Windows. A typical desktop has dozens of IDs:

• One system UUID and usually a motherboard serial and BIOS serial, all from SMBIOS firmware tables.
• One MachineGuid per Windows install, plus the Settings “Device ID”.
• A serial per disk, a MAC per network adapter (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) and an EDID serial per monitor.
• A hardware ID list for every device in Device Manager, often 100 or more.

Each app builds its own HWID from the values it chooses, often hashed together. So two tools can show two different “HWIDs” for the same PC, and both are right. If a vendor asks for your HWID, ask which value they need, or send the system UUID. If their app shows the HWID itself, copy it from there.

One quirk worth knowing: SMBIOS stores the first three parts of the UUID in reverse byte order. Most tools, including Windows, decode it properly, but some older tools print the raw bytes. A UUID like 4C4C4544-0035-4810-… can then appear as 44454C4C-3500-1048-…. The compare tool recognises this.

How Hardware Changes Can Affect a HWID

For Windows itself, Microsoft notes that after a significant hardware change, especially a new motherboard, Windows may no longer find a matching licence. If your digital licence is linked to your Microsoft account, run the Activation troubleshooter and choose “I changed hardware on this device recently”. To see exactly what changed, run the report script before and after the change, then paste both outputs into the compare tool above.

HWID Checker for Troubleshooting and Driver Identification

An Unknown device or a yellow warning icon in Device Manager is where hardware IDs are most useful:

1. Copy the device’s Hardware Ids from Device Manager, or run pnputil /enum-devices /problem to list every device with a problem.
2. Paste them into the decoder. It shows the vendor (10DE NVIDIA, 8086 Intel, 10EC Realtek, 14E4 Broadcom), the device type from the class code, and the board maker from the subsystem.
3. Get the driver from the board or laptop maker first, because their packages include model-specific tweaks. Then try the chip vendor, then the Microsoft Update Catalog, which the decoder links to with the ID already filled in.
4. For the ACPI devices that often appear as unknown after a reinstall (such as INT33A1 or PNP0C14), install the motherboard’s chipset package, or the laptop maker’s system or ACPI driver.

HWID Privacy: What You Should Not Share Publicly

Give private values only to the company that needs them, such as a software vendor tying a licence to your PC, or official support. Be wary of anyone in a Discord server or chat asking for your HWID “to whitelist you” or “check a ban”. Real publishers don’t ask that way. HWID-locked cheats and “unban” services are a common source of malware and account theft. Before posting a report, use the masked copy in the compare tab. It hides the middle of every UUID, serial and MAC address but keeps enough for you to tell them apart.

HWID Checker FAQs

Resources and Sources

• Microsoft Learn: Device identification stringsHardware IDs, compatible IDs and instance IDs explained.
• Microsoft Learn: Identifiers for PCI devicesThe VEN, DEV, SUBSYS, REV and CC formats.
• Microsoft Learn: Identifiers for HD Audio devicesHow audio codec hardware IDs are built.
• Microsoft Learn: PnPUtil command syntaxThe /enum-devices options and which Windows versions support them.
• Microsoft Support: WMIC removal from WindowsThe official timeline for disabling and removing WMIC.
• Microsoft Learn: Win32_ComputerSystemProductThe WMI class that holds the system UUID.
• Microsoft Support: Reactivating Windows after a hardware changeWhat to do when a new motherboard breaks activation.
• The PCI ID RepositoryPublic database of PCI vendor and device IDs.

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Last reviewed: September 2026.