Skip to main content
Voodoo Events
Participating Frequently
March 27, 2026
Answered

Photoshop CS6 Lizenz lässt nicht auf neuem Rechner nicht aktivieren. Wurde auf altem Rechner der einen Datenträger fehler hat deaktiviert, es wird aber trotzdem angezeigt das die Lizenz bereits auf 2 Rechnern verwendet wird

Ich habe zwei Rechner: einen stationären PC im Homeoffice sowie einen älteren Laptop, den ich als Reiselaptop nutze, da ich häufig auf Messen und Events unterwegs bin.

Bei meinem bisherigen Reiselaptop scheint sich nun allerdings der Datenträger zu verabschieden – kurz nach dem Start friert das Gerät ein und ist nicht mehr benutzbar.

Daher habe ich ein anderes, etwas neueres (aber ebenfalls älteres) Laptop von mir als neuen Reiselaptop eingerichtet und dort Photoshop installiert. Dabei erhielt ich jedoch die Meldung, dass die Seriennummer bereits auf zwei Geräten verwendet wird.

Mit mehreren Anläufen – da der alte Reiselaptop immer wieder eingefroren ist – ist es mir schließlich gelungen, Photoshop dort zu deaktivieren. Ich bekam auch die Bestätigung, dass ich die Lizenz nun auf einem neuen Gerät verwenden kann.

Allerdings wird mir auf dem „neuen“ Reiselaptop weiterhin angezeigt, dass die Lizenz bereits auf zwei PCs aktiv ist.

Der Telefonsupport konnte mir leider nicht weiterhelfen. Mir wurde mitgeteilt, dass CS6 nicht mehr telefonisch unterstützt wird, die entsprechenden Server deaktiviert seien und man für so alte Produkte nicht mehr geschult ist.

Allerdings handelt es sich um eine Lizenz, die ich 2012 zum vierstelligen Vollpreis erworben habe. Ich bin kein professioneller Grafiker oder Designer – für meine gelegentlichen Zwecke (z. B. das Aktualisieren von Visitenkarten) reicht mir diese Version vollkommen aus. Zudem möchte ich bewusst kein Abo-Modell nutzen, bei dem ich monatlich zahle, obwohl ich die Software nicht einmal regelmäßig verwende. Gerade deshalb bin ich damals von einer dauerhaften Nutzbarkeit meiner gekauften Vollversion ausgegangen. Ich mag auch einfach keine Abo Modelle und zahle gerne direkt alles, so dass mir das Produkt dann auch dauerhaft gehört!

Die Originalverpackung und die CD besitze ich selbstverständlich noch, sie befinden sich in gepflegtem Sammlerwürdigen Zustand in einer Vitrine in meinem Homeoffice.

Vom Supportmitarbeiter habe ich schließlich den Hinweis erhalten, mich an dieses Forum zu wenden. Er meinte, hier gäbe es entsprechend geschulte Mitarbeiter, die eventuell weiterhelfen können – beispielsweise mit einem Workaround oder einer Lösung, wie ich meine Lizenz und meine Photoshop-CS6-Version auf dem neuen Reiselaptop wieder nutzen kann.

Vielen Dank im Voraus für jede Unterstützung!

 

    Jeff_A_Wright
    Jeff_A_WrightCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    September 28, 2026

    Thread summary
    A poster encountered an issue when attempting to activate their Photoshop CS6 serial number on a new laptop after a disk failure on their previous device. Upon trying to install it on an older laptop, they received a notification indicating that the serial number was already in use on two devices. However, the user successfully deactivated Photoshop on the malfunctioning laptop and confirmed that the license is now available for use on another device.
    Troubleshooting steps / guidance mentioned by other participants

    • AxelMatt (Community Expert) recommended reactivating the CS6 installation on the old laptop, then deactivating it again before attempting to activate the new installation.
    • Ged Traynor (Community Expert) observed that the activation servers for CS5 and CS6 remain active and are not included on the list of retired Adobe servers.
    • Kevin Stohlmeyer (Community Expert) indicated that if the old laptop was offline during the deactivation, the request would not have reached Adobe, and the license could still appear active.

    Suggested solutions by Adobe
    1. If you get a message that your serial number is in use on two computers, deactivate the app on one of them. Open the app on the old computer, go to Help, and select "Deactivate Permanently." Ensure the machine is online for the request to reach Adobe. After deactivation, you can activate the app on the new computer.
    Troubleshoot activation limit reached or sign-in failed errors for non-subscription products
    2. If the app still indicates that you have reached the activation limit after deactivating an older installation, or if you are unable to sign in to activate a legacy, non-subscription app, please follow the specific troubleshooting steps for legacy apps.
    Unable to activate or reinstall legacy Adobe apps
     

    47 replies

    Jeff_A_Wright
    Community Manager
    Jeff_A_WrightCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    September 28, 2026

    Thread summary
    A poster encountered an issue when attempting to activate their Photoshop CS6 serial number on a new laptop after a disk failure on their previous device. Upon trying to install it on an older laptop, they received a notification indicating that the serial number was already in use on two devices. However, the user successfully deactivated Photoshop on the malfunctioning laptop and confirmed that the license is now available for use on another device.
    Troubleshooting steps / guidance mentioned by other participants

    • AxelMatt (Community Expert) recommended reactivating the CS6 installation on the old laptop, then deactivating it again before attempting to activate the new installation.
    • Ged Traynor (Community Expert) observed that the activation servers for CS5 and CS6 remain active and are not included on the list of retired Adobe servers.
    • Kevin Stohlmeyer (Community Expert) indicated that if the old laptop was offline during the deactivation, the request would not have reached Adobe, and the license could still appear active.

    Suggested solutions by Adobe
    1. If you get a message that your serial number is in use on two computers, deactivate the app on one of them. Open the app on the old computer, go to Help, and select "Deactivate Permanently." Ensure the machine is online for the request to reach Adobe. After deactivation, you can activate the app on the new computer.
    Troubleshoot activation limit reached or sign-in failed errors for non-subscription products
    2. If the app still indicates that you have reached the activation limit after deactivating an older installation, or if you are unable to sign in to activate a legacy, non-subscription app, please follow the specific troubleshooting steps for legacy apps.
    Unable to activate or reinstall legacy Adobe apps
     

    Translate
    jane-e
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 14, 2026

    ​@Voodoo Events 

     

    Did you try the steps from ​@Jeffrey_A_Wright in the Download and Install forum?

     

    https://community.adobe.com/announcements-616/signing-into-and-activating-legacy-adobe-applications-564522?postid=564522#post564522

     

    Jane

     

    Translate
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    June 17, 2026

    I don't really understand these instructions or what I'm supposed to do there.
    i Can´t do the offline activation, because the button for it never shows up...

    Translate
    Community Expert
    June 17, 2026

    See here:

    It’s for Lightroom, but it should work similarly for Photoshop.

     

    Translate
    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
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    April 6, 2026

    still found no solutions and it is deactivated on the old travel laptop and i want to use it on my new travel laptop :(

     

    Translate
    Kevin Stohlmeyer
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 8, 2026

    Hi ​@Voodoo Events quick question as I didnt see it noted in the conversation below - was your old travel laptop connected online when you deactivated? If not - the relevant service did not receive the deactivation so it still may be showing as active. 

    Translate
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    April 8, 2026

    Yes the deactivated Button was grey (unclickable) until it got connection !

    After it was finished, the new window said that it was successfully deactivated and can be used on a different pc now!

    Translate
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    What you can try is the offline activation as described as Solution 2 in the linked document.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/serial-number-validation-launching-cs6.html

     

    But be aware: if you have reached your activation limit and you don't have any chance to deactivate an older installation you're out of luck. Adobe has stopped the support of CS 6 products and the resetting of the activation counter isn't possible anymore.

     

    Translate
    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
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    March 27, 2026

    There is no button like that. I also wondered if I might be looking in the wrong place, but this is the popup I see when I start Photoshop.

    I definitely deactivated it on my old laptop, even though its hard drive is malfunctioning, as I mentioned before. When I’m able to start Photoshop on that device, it says it’s running in trial mode.

    I also had an internet connection at the time, because I wasn’t able to click the deactivate button until it connected. After that, it confirmed that the deactivation was successful and that I could use it on another PC now.

     

    Translate
    Community Expert
    March 28, 2026

    My level of knowledge is the same as ​@Ged_Traynor . The activation server for CS5/CS6 applications are active. I don’t heard about a shut down. Perhaps there are temporarly  problems.

     

    It seems the deactivation doesn’t work properly. One idea is the following, but I’m not be sure if this works.

    Try to reactivate the CS6 installation on you old laptop. If this work, deactivate this installation again. After this has been working try to activate the new installation.

     

    Translate
    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
    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    ​@Voodoo Events as far as I’m aware activation servers for CS5 and CS6 are still active

    https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite.html

    Translate
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    March 27, 2026

    The support team on the German telephone hotline told me that the servers are currently down and that they are unable to do anything about it.

    Before that, I also spoke to someone from the sales department. He initially told me that he could not find any record of my CS6 registration and that the product was not linked to my profile. However, I searched through my email archive (specifically my “registrations” folder) and found the confirmation email dated Saturday, June 2, 2012, at 12:18, which proves that I officially registered my product back then. I forwarded this email to him, and after checking, he confirmed the mail. Since he couldn’t assist me further, he referred me to technical support and asked me to come back to him via e-mail when tech support can´t find a solution for me.

    Regarding your link: it only shows where I might be able to download the installation file, but that is not my issue. I still have the original CD and the box in perfect condition, because i realy take care of it :) My problem is that I cannot activate the serial key on my new laptop, even though I properly deactivated it on my old (now malfunctioning) laptop.

    To verify this, I double checked the old laptop again. When I start Photoshop there, it asks me to activate it with a serial key, which confirms that the deactivation was successful.

    Translate
    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 27, 2026

    ​@Voodoo Events the first link I posted is in relation to issues activating non CC apps, the second link refers to what Adobe servers have been shutdown.

    Activation servers for CS6 are not listed, so they should be still live

     

    Translate
    Voodoo Events
    Participating Frequently
    March 27, 2026

    oh es ist die windows version habe ich vergessen zu erwähnen, falls dies relevant sein sollte

    Translate