Sublime Forum

License Not Valid with New Computer

#1

I’ve been using Sublime Text with the license I have for years without issue. I got a new computer and restored the operating system from a backup. Now, Sublime Text shows as unregistered on my new computer. I tried entering the license through Help > Enter License, but I get the error message below.

That license key doesn’t appear to be valid.

Please check that you have entered all lines from the license key, including the BEGIN LICENSE and END LICENSE lines.

I have Sublime Text 3.2.2 (3211) installed on macOS 10.15.6.

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#2

This is expected behaviour; when you enter your license key, Sublime generates a binary version of it that’s machine locked to the computer on which it was created, to stop the accidental leak of a license key through mechanisms such as backup, file sync, etc. Re-entering the key is how you solve this issue.

I would double check that you’re pasting in the license properly. In particular, it should look and be formatted like this:

----- BEGIN LICENSE -----
Your Name
Single User License
0000-0000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
------ END LICENSE ------
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#3

Thanks for the tip! Using that format, the license was accepted.

I received the license in the following format.

----- BEGIN LICENSE ----- Your Name Single User License 0000-0000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ------ END LICENSE ------

It wasn’t obvious why it was in that format or why Sublime Text couldn’t accept it. I tried reformatting to the following, but I still received the same generic error.

----- BEGIN LICENSE -----
Your Name Single User License
0000-0000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
------ END LICENSE ------

Moving “Your Name” and “Single User License” to separate lines did the trick.

It seems like a better user experience to have an informative error message if the entered license is in the wrong format. Even better would be if Sublime Text reformats the license automatically before giving an error.

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