Reading it from the OS

If the device boots and you can log in, reading the serial from software beats hunting for tiny print — you get to copy-paste it instead of transcribing it.

Some systems show the serial in a normal settings window. Others genuinely don’t, and a terminal is the only way that doesn’t involve turning the machine over. Both are spelled out below, and the terminal parts assume you’ve never opened one.

Looking for the network address instead? That’s IP and MAC addresses .

Windows

There is no Settings screen for the serial number. Windows Settings → System → About shows the device name and Windows version — people copy the wrong thing from it constantly. Your three real options are the manufacturer’s own app, the terminal, or firmware setup .

Manufacturer apps (easiest if it’s installed):

• Dell and Alienware → SupportAssist shows the Service Tag on its main screen
• ASUS → MyASUS → Customer Support / System Information
• Razer peripherals → Razer Synapse

PowerShell, step by step:

1. Click Start and type powershell
2. Click Windows PowerShell in the results (no need to run as administrator)
3. Copy the line below, right-click in the PowerShell window to paste, and press Enter

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber

The value under SerialNumber is the serial. On a Dell or Alienware machine, that is the Service Tag.

For the manufacturer and model to put in the Model field:

Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem | Select-Object Manufacturer, Model

For a custom-built desktop with no vendor serial, use the motherboard instead:

Get-CimInstance Win32_BaseBoard | Select-Object Manufacturer, Product, SerialNumber

Connected monitors report their own model and serial over the display cable:

Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi WmiMonitorID | ForEach-Object {
  '{0} — {1}' -f (-join [char[]]($_.UserFriendlyName -ne 0)), (-join [char[]]($_.SerialNumberID -ne 0))
}

wmic bios get serialnumber is dead. Every older guide online still shows it, but WMIC is disabled by default in Windows 11 24H2 and newer. Use the PowerShell lines above.

macOS

Point and click:

1. menu → About This Mac
2. The serial number is listed with the model name and chip

For the full hardware report, hold Option and click the menu → System Information.

Terminal, step by step:

1. Press Command-Space, type terminal, press Return
2. Paste the line below and press Return

system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep -E "Model Name|Model Identifier|Serial Number"

An iPad or iPhone plugged into a Mac reports its serial over USB — useful when the tablet is locked or won’t boot:

system_profiler SPUSBDataType | grep -A 6 -i "ipad\|iphone"

Attached displays: system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType.

Linux

The GNOME Settings → About screen shows the hardware model but not the serial — that value is readable only by an administrator, by design. So this one is a terminal job.

Open a terminal (on GNOME: press the Super/Windows key, type terminal, press Enter) and run:

sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number
sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name

It will ask for your password. If you don’t have sudo on that machine, you can still get the model without it:

cat /sys/class/dmi/id/sys_vendor /sys/class/dmi/id/product_name

Attached displays, from their EDID:

for f in /sys/class/drm/*/edid; do [ -s "$f" ] && edid-decode "$f" | grep -iE "display product (name|serial)"; done

FreeBSD

No desktop, no GUI — but no extra package needed either. FreeBSD exposes the same SMBIOS fields the firmware provides:

kenv smbios.system.maker
kenv smbios.system.product
kenv smbios.system.serial

dmidecode works too if you want the full dump: pkg install dmidecode, then sudo dmidecode -t system.

On a virtual machine every one of these reports the hypervisor’s made-up values rather than real hardware. Our FreeBSD box and the cloud droplets are VMs — what they print identifies the VM, not a physical machine, so there’s nothing to inventory as an asset. Log the host instead.

Android and Meta Quest

On the device, no computer needed: Settings → About phone → Status information on Android (see Android phones and tablets ), or the printed label on a Quest (see Meta / Oculus ).

From a computer over adb — same commands on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Enable Developer Mode on a Quest through the Meta Horizon phone app, or USB debugging on an Android phone, plug in USB, accept the prompt on the device, then:

adb devices -l
adb shell getprop ro.serialno
adb shell getprop ro.product.model

The ID adb devices prints is the device serial — the same string printed on the headset.

iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro

Settings → General → About. The serial is on that screen, with the model number and (on cellular models) the IMEI. No terminal anywhere in sight.

If the device is locked or dead, use the Apple account instead: sign in at account.apple.com (opens in new tab) → Devices — every device signed into that Apple Account lists its serial.

Nothing boots

Then it’s the printed label or firmware. See BIOS and boot menus for machines that power on but won’t reach an OS, and the per-device pages for where the label is hiding.