Fix licence activation problems
What each activation message means: activation limit reached, key not found, wrong product, licence ended, or no connection.
Most activation problems are a key that was copied incompletely, or a key that’s already active on 3 Macs. Here’s what each message means and what to do.
“That doesn’t look like a licence key.”
The text you pasted isn’t in the right format. A key is five groups of five letters and digits, like ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-PQRST-UVWXY. Copy it again from your receipt email or the thanks page, making sure you get all of it.
The key isn’t found
PenLayer reached the licence server, but no licence matches that key. Check for a typo, or copy the key straight from your receipt email instead of typing it. You can also find your key in Manage purchase.
The key is for a different product
The key is valid but belongs to something other than PenLayer. Check that you’re using the key from your PenLayer receipt.
“Activation limit reached”
The licence is already active on 3 Macs. Choose Deactivate this Mac in Preferences on one of them, or free a slot in Manage purchase if you no longer have that Mac. Then try again. See Move your licence to a new Mac.
The licence has ended
The licence was refunded or revoked, or an Annual plan ran out without renewing. To keep using PenLayer, buy a licence on the pricing page.
No connection, or the server is busy
Activation needs to reach the licence server. If you’re offline, behind a captive Wi-Fi page, or the server is temporarily unavailable, try again later. Too many attempts in a short time are also paused for a moment. None of these are a problem with your key.
Still stuck
Email support@penlayer.com with your order number from the receipt, and we’ll sort it out.
Still stuck? Email support@penlayer.com.