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tjohnsonidaho
Participant
May 14, 2026
Question

I have a license to Design and Web Prem that I bought back in 2013. My activation limit has been reached, but I cannot see/deactivate old computers. How can I resolve this?

  • May 14, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 35 views

I have a license to Design and Web Prem that I bought back in 2013. My activation limit has been reached, but I cannot see/deactivate old computers. I have deactivated in on all my old computes that i have access to.  When I log into my Adobe account it says the programs are not activated on any devices, yet when I contact Adobe Support, they show it’s activated on 4 devices, yet they cannot deactivate any of them.  How can I deactivate my license on all devices so I can start over on my new computer? 

    4 replies

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 15, 2026

    Right. Legacy CS apps can’t be remotely deactivated. That only works with currently supported products like Creative Cloud.  

     

    Since CS is no longer supported, the best advice I have is to leave CS on your old computer. Use it until it works no more. 

     

    Get supported software for your new computer. 

    Photography Plan or 

    Creative Cloud Pro

    https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

     

    System Requirements:

    https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/apps/system-requirements/creative-cloud-requirements.html

     

    Hope that helps.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    kglad
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 15, 2026

    @tjohnsonidaho 

     

    adobe’s servers can record deactivations, but require your computer to meet adobe’s security requirements.  https://community.adobe.com/t5/download-install-discussions/activation-limit-reached-for-non-subscription-adobe-desktop-applications/td-p/14804413?linkId=100000305463075

    Peru Bob
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 15, 2026

    See here:

     

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 14, 2026

    In short: you can’t. The support for that version (CS6?) reached its end of life years ago. While the activation servers still exist, they are not maintained anymore, and deactivations cannot be performed.

    tjohnsonidaho
    Participant
    May 14, 2026

    So even though I have deactivated it on my old computers, Adobe’s servers aren’t able to deactivate it on their end?

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 14, 2026

    That’s correct, as far as I know, as far as the outcome is concerned (even if the exact technicality behind this might be different).