upgraded apple operating system registered too many times

Forum|Forum|27 days ago
June 19, 2026
3 replies
39 views

I upgraded my Mac, I have a perpetual adobe acrobat 2020 license. I am getting a message that my serial number is already in use on another computer and I have reached the maximum allowed. I must deactivate another computer in x amount of days. This is the only computer that I have the software on.

Peru Bob

Community Expert

If you upgraded the hardware, it will be seen as an additional computer.

The only way to deactivate or recover an activation is if you can open the program on the computer that you want to deactivate.

Amal Jaiswal

Community Manager

Hi @ttfmn

Thanks for sharing the update.

I have removed the other screeshot as it contained the serial number of the product which is not to be shared on pulic platform.

Open the Adobe Acrobat application and then go to Help Menu and look for deactivate option.

Let us know how it goes.

~Amal

ttfmnAuthor

Participant

Hi Amal. Thank you for removing that screenshot! I tried to remove it, but couldn't after I realized my mistake! When I go into the Help menu, I cannot get to that screen. Is there another way to get there?

Amal Jaiswal

Community Manager

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out. We are sorry for the trouble.

When you upgraded your Mac, your system may likely got a new hardware fingerprint. Adobe's activation server sees this as a different computer, so it thinks Acrobat is installed on two machines even though it's physically the same machine.

Try to deactivate Ddrectly from Acrobat

Open Adobe Acrobat 2020
Go to Help > Deactivate
This releases one activation slot
Then immediately go to Help > Activate and re-enter your serial number

This essentially resets the license on your current machine and is usually enough. For more information, please check the help page https://adobe.ly/4oEc7CV

Hope this information will help

~Amal

ttfmnAuthor

Participant

Hi Amal. Thank you for your reply. How do I get to deactivate? The only option I have under help is Acrobat Licensing Application help. Please see screen shots. Thank you

Jeff_A_Wright

Community Manager

Thanks for the update, @ttfmn, and I apologize for any confusion. You will need to deactivate Acrobat by selecting the Help menu in Acrobat, not the Acrobat Licensing Application.

Did your company deploy and license copies of Acrobat? @ttfmn, is this why you are opening the Adobe Licensing Application?

I reviewed the copy of Acrobat installed under your account, and you will need to deactivate multiple existing installations of Acrobat 2020 to return to an allowable amount for an individual license.

For more information on managing the activations that were included with your purchase of Acrobat 2020, @ttfmn, please see

.

Please update this public discussion thread if you have any additional questions.

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