Knowing what version of OS you are running has a few benefits. Sometimes programs may only run on a set version or higher, or vice versa. Other times you may want to know to avoid unwanted bugs with certain version builds. Most of the time there is very little reason to care to know what version of OS you are running. But for the times you do, below are a few ways you can find your operating system version build for both macOS and Windows.
Windows
Method #1 Using the “Run” command
- Press the Windows key+R to bring up the Run window.
- Type “winver” in the text field and press Enter.
- A window appears that shows the version of Windows you are running at the top, and then the version and build numbers in the section below.
Method #2 Find version in “System”
- Select the Start button > Settings > System > About
- Open About settings
- Under “Windows specifications”, check which edition and version of Windows your device is running.
Method #3 Find version in “System Information”
Press the Windows key, type “System Information”, and then press Enter. The version of windows and its build number can be found by clicking System Summary on the left side of the window.
Method #4 Using the Command Prompt
- Press the Windows key, type “cmd”, and then press Enter.
- Type “ver” and press Enter.
- The version of Windows is displayed on the next line.
macOS
Method #1 “About This Mac”
On the top left of the screen, click on the Apple logo and click on “About This Mac”
In the “Overview” tab you will see the macOS name (e.g., Big Sur) with the version number listed directly below that, Version x.x.x
Method #2 Terminal
For those of us familiar with command-line terminals, there are two great commands that can be used to check your macOS version. One will give you just your version number, while the other will give you a little more information.
To open a new Terminal session, use the “Spotlight” search bar at the top right of your screen and type in “Terminal” to access the app from the search results.
With the Terminal open you can use one of the following commands below to check your macOS version.
“sw_vers -productVersion“
Type the following command in your Terminal window and click “Return” on your keyboard: sw_vers -productVersion
This will display your version number displayed in “x.x.x” format. In the screenshot below you will see my macOS version number as “11.1”
“system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType“
The follow command will output the “System Software Overview” : system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType.
The first line will display your “System Version”. In the screenshot below my System Version is displayed as macOS 11.1
