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I own Photoshop Elements 2020 with the original serial number. Both PCs on which it was activated have failed. I’m installing on a replacement PC but get “maximum allowed computers”. Can Adobe reset the activations?

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Photoshop Elements 2020 – activation limit reached – old computers no longer available

I have a legitimate purchased copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 and have the original 24-digit serial number.

The software was previously activated on two computers, but I no longer have access to either of those computers.

I am now trying to install Photoshop Elements 2020 on a replacement Windows PC, but I receive the message:

"The serial number is already in use by the maximum allowed computers."

Is there any way for Adobe to reset or clear the previous activations so that I can continue using my existing legitimate licence?

I can provide proof of purchase and the serial number privately if required.

I do not want to purchase another licence — I simply need to transfer my existing Photoshop Elements 2020 licence to my replacement computer.

A

AxelMattCorrect answer

Community Expert

If you don’t have access to the old computer with the PSE installation I'm afraid you have no chance of resetting the activations.

Moderators, @Sameer K please move this thread to: Download & Install | Adobe DME

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 26H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

John T Smith

Community Expert

Even if you had an activation available, it MIGHT not work anyway… this is about Premiere Elements, but I will GUESS not being able to activate will be the same for Photoshop Elements

I cant open my Premiere Elements 2021 and cannot use it. I tried reinstalling but keep getting an errorr message that the keys are wrong. IS there any way I can use this again? | Community

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detailed_cause237c

Participant

It’s a good thing there are good alternatives to Photoshop these days.

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*Adobe moderates dissent out of the conversation so you only see misinformation. Don't assume the last word by a "Community Expert" is correct. They may have just blocked any response.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

Whatever you decide to use, it must be compatible with modern hardware & operating systems.

PS Elements 2020 isn’t compatible with Win11.

Some users who installed legacy software found that it bricked Win11 making their systems unusable until they performed a factory reset.

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Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

D

detailed_cause237c

Participant

Yeah, this is a cop out. I won’t be using *any* Adobe products in the future because of their policies toward refusing to deactivate old hardware. I don’t want or expect them to update or support the software anymore. But just actively blocking deactivations so they can get more very high priced subscriptions (apparently just to feed ideas into a visual AI now) is pretty scammy and underhanded.

And for the record, Photoshop 6 even runs just fine on Windows 11 with no issues.

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*Adobe moderates dissent out of the conversation so you only see misinformation. Don't assume the last word by a "Community Expert" is correct. They may have just blocked any response.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

One-time purchased licenses can’t be deactivated remotely.

The only way to deactivate them is from the device(s) on which it was installed.

Failing that, you’ll need to purchase another license.

https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Hope that helps.

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Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

kglad

Community Expert

see https://community.adobe.com/t5/download-install-discussions/activation-limit-reached-for-non-subscription-adobe-desktop-applications/td-p/14804413?linkId=100000376554410

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A

AxelMatt

Correct answer

Community Expert

If you don’t have access to the old computer with the PSE installation I'm afraid you have no chance of resetting the activations.

Moderators, @Sameer K please move this thread to: Download & Install | Adobe DME

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My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 26H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

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