Where are registry keys located for Installed Programs and programs on my Windows 8 system?

When a software or program is installed on Windows 8 system, a set of registry keys are added in the system to help track and manage the software or program. You can follow the steps below to find registry keys of all Installed Programs or programs.

1. Press "Windows-R" and enter "regedit". You see the Registry Editor screen showing up.

2. Follow the registry key tree to locate the section: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall You see a list of installed programs.

For example, if you have WinZip installed, you will see the registry key folder like: {CD95F661-A5C4-44F5-A6AA-ECDD91C2410B}, which contains registry keys related to WinZip:

"DisplayName"="WinZip 21.0"
"Contact"=""
"DisplayVersion"="21.0.12288"
"Publisher"="WinZip Computing, S.L. "
"InstallDate"="20161214"
"InstallLocation"="C:\\Program Files\\WinZip\\"
"InstallSource"="C:\\Users\\fyi\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\in0F61D0A5\\"
"ModifyPath"=MsiExec.exe /X{CD95F661-A5C4-44F5-A6AA-ECDD91C2410B}
"UninstallString"=MsiExec.exe /X{CD95F661-A5C4-44F5-A6AA-ECDD91C2410B}
"URLInfoAbout"="http://www.winzip.com/wzgate.cgi?lang=EN&url=www.winzip.com"
...

3. Follow the registry key tree to locate another section: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. You see a list of installed 32-bit programs on a 64-bit system.

For example, if you have 64-bit Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you will see the registry key folder like: {AC76BA86-7AD7-FFFF-7B44-AC0F074E4100}, which contains registry keys related to Acrobat Reader:

"DisplayName"="Adobe Acrobat Reader DC MUI"
"Contact"="Customer Support"
"DisplayVersion"="15.020.20042"
"Publisher"="Adobe Systems Incorporated"
"InstallDate"="20161215"
"InstallLocation"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Acrobat Reader DC\\"
"InstallSource"="C:\\ProgramData\\Adobe\\Setup\\{AC76BA86-7AD7-FFFF-7B44-AC0F074E4100}\\"
"ModifyPath"="MsiExec.exe /I{AC76BA86-7AD7-FFFF-7B44-AC0F074E4100}"
"UninstallString"="MsiExec.exe /I{AC76BA86-7AD7-FFFF-7B44-AC0F074E4100}"
"URLInfoAbout"="http://www.adobe.com"
...

4. Repeat with other "Uninstall" locations: HKU\...\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and HKU\...\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for each user on the computer.

The picture below shows you the list of installed programs in Windows registry:

⇒ Registry Keys of an Installed Program on Windows 8

⇐ Registry Locations of Installed Programs on Windows 8

⇑ Uninstall Old or Bad Programs and Software on Windows 8

⇑⇑ Windows 8 Installed Programs