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Participant
May 26, 2025
Question

Adobe Programs Won't Update

  • May 26, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 179 views

I bought adobe cs6 mater collection in 2014.  My serial number works for reinstalling the programs but according to the help staff member that only spoke limited english, it isn't supposed to have letters in it before he rudely cut me off when I asked for someone who knew more words in english, repeating the same broken phrase to me over and over wasnt helping.  What I'm trying to do is update after effects, I have version 1.1 but it's gotten to version 2.4 and I just want to update the program I own.  The guy said there are no updates available but clearly there's version 2.4 compared to my version 1.1 and he made no sense.  Did the standard serial number format change over time?   Because after I lost it I managed to extract the number from the program itself in an xml, something adobe also says there's no way to do, which Im also not happy about, but like i said, my number works for reinstallation, so from my perspective I have the right #, and something is clearly wrong in a complicated way.

 

    2 replies

    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 26, 2025

    serial number recovery is standard for installed and activated versions:

     

    (win:) http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html,

    (mac:) https://mac-product-key-finder.com/

     

    but the serial number consists of 6 groups of 4 numbers.

     

    and no online updates are available.

     

    Community Manager
    May 26, 2025

    Hi @Joseph27092691nsyg,

    Thank you for reaching out, and I'm sorry to hear about your frustrating experience.

    To help clarify your situation:

    Adobe CS6 Master Collection was last released in 2012, and official support for the product ended in January 2017. This includes all updates—no further updates have been issued since then. 

    Regarding the version you mentioned: After Effects CS6 corresponds to version 11.x. If you are seeing version 1.1 or referencing version 2.4, it may be a mislabeling, a different product, or potentially related to a plugin. This discrepancy is likely the result of either installation metadata or a misinterpretation of the versioning system.

    As for the serial number, CS6 serial numbers are 24-digit numeric codes and do not contain any letters. If you extracted a key from an XML file and it includes letters, it is likely a product identifier or internal reference, rather than the serial number used for activation.

    Lastly, ensure you are using the correct installer for your operating system and product version. Using an incorrect or mismatched installer can result in activation or serial number issues. You may refer to the following support articles for guidance:

    Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more queries. 

    Regards,
    ^AN

    Participant
    May 27, 2025

    Sorry but that's a just a deplorable move on Adobes part, I bought a program that regularly updates, not 5 or 6 updates.  For real that's an ugly backstab, and I dont see myself going with adobe ever again, they'll probably just break each program into 3 more subscriptions anyways like they did with 3-D, ick.

    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 27, 2025

    why do you care about cs6 updates?