Installing In Design on a new computer and getting all my old work onto it

[CatherineMullins]

Hi, recently I bought a new computer and when I try to install In Design it says I need to pay again. But I am already paying $$$ a month for it. How do I access my old account on my new computer? And when I do get In Design on my new computer, how do I get all my old work on it?

Best,

Catherine Mullins

[Willi Adelberger]

Deactivate your subscription on the old computer and a activate it on the new ons. 
you can activate simultaneously on 2 computers. If you cannot activate one more, so if is activated on 2 computers. 

[Randy Hagan]

It's a pretty straightforward process to activate/deactivate devices through your Creative Cloud desktop application.:

1. Open your Adobe Creative Cloud application. When the application window appears, click on the Manage Account link under the account name as shown below.

2. This opens a web page on your default browser. In the pull-down menus at the top of the page, first select the Plans & Pricing pull-down menu, then the Activated Devices command in the pull-down menu, as illustrated below.

This opens a list of your activated devices to use Creative Cloud, as seen in the image below.

Note that in the lead paragraph it says you can only activate two devices. From here it's easy to choose which systems you do/do not want to be running Creative Cloud applications. Eliminate the old computer, make sure the new computer is showing, then return to your new system. You should be able to use your installed Creative Cloud applications in the future.

From this point, it's simply a matter of using your local network or an external drive (a.k.a. Sneakernet) to 1) find all your old work files on your old computer and then 2) copy/transfer those old work files from your old computer to your new one. That's going to be as easy or as hard as your old computer's filing system makes the job. If it's hard to find all the old files on your old computer, this might be the perfect opportunity to set up a better file system that will serve you well on your new one.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[CatherineMullins]

Thank you so much! This was really helpful. I am very new to Adobe and Creative Cloud and so the screenshots really helped. That being said, I keep getting this screen when I try to view my products. 

Do I need a code from when I bought In Design a few years ago? Or is this just because I haven't activated my current device yet? And how do I activate my current device? 

Best,

Catherine

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi Catherine,

Thank you for providing more context!
I recommend checking the "Activated Devices" tab instead of the "Product" tab there in the screenshot or on Adobe Account.
1. Log into Your Adobe Account
 - Go to Adobe Account and sign in using your Adobe ID.
2. Access Activated Devices
 - Navigate to the "Plans and payment > Activated devices" section (on top menu section) of your account.
 - This will show a list of devices currently linked to your Adobe subscription.
3. If your old computer is still listed as an active device, you can deactivate it from here. This will free up a spot for your new computer.
4. After deactivating, follow the instructions shared by the expert in your previous message to activate and use InDesign on your new computer.

Let us know if you face any issues with this process!

Best,
Abhishek

[Randy Hagan]

After deactivating your old computer, activating your new system should be relatively easy — after doing the requisite groundwork before getting to your Adobe apps.

When you secured your Creative Cloud subscription, you were required to set up an Adobe account with your email address and a password. Opening InDesign without a password should show the following popup, where you enter that Adobe ID (the email address you provided when you bought the software) and password. If you don't get this popup when you open InDesign, you can go to the Help pull-down menu and select the Sign in... menu command to make the popup open, sign in, and activate your InDesign application on your new computer.

Can I ask a favor of you? Please go through this thread and select the answer(s) that you found helped you with the Correct Answer checkmark at the bottom of each of those helpful posts. This alerts the moderators to archive this post for helping others who encounter the same or similar issues.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[CatherineMullins]

Also, I can't seem to get to the page in in design with the sign in like is shown above. Every time I try to open inDesign, this is the screen I get 

Where do I go from here?

Best,

Catherine Mullins

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

What version of InDesign were you using on the old computer?

[CatherineMullins]

Hi, sorry I disappeared. I've been trying to take care of a number of issues at once. So here's the strange thing, when I go to "activated devices" it shows me one that I activated in September of 2020, which is not the new computer I got a few months ago. It doesn't offer me any other options to activate any other computers. What do I do now?

Best,

Catherine

[Randy Hagan]

Open that webpage again and keep it handy. We'll use it to confirm we've done what we've done.

1. Go to the new computer. I'm going to assume that you have InDesign and Creative Cloud desktop application installed. Open InDesign.
2. Go to the Help pull-down menu and select the Sign in... menu command.
3. Sign in with your Adobe ID (that email address you used) and password.
4. InDesign should now run as you expect.
5. Give it a couple of minutes. Go back to your web browser and check that webpage. Refresh the browser.
6. Make sure that your new computer is listed on the webpage. All should be good.

If you delete the old computer listed on the page, you're set up to install your Creative Cloud applications on one other system, to the specifications of your agreement with Adobe Systems.

Let us know if this worked for you. If it didn't — and for all good reasons, it should — let us know and we'll try to help you through your issues.

Hope this does the job for you,

Randy

[CatherineMullins]

Ok, I think I got it. The program kept wanting to sign in with an email I never use. Finally got it to listen to me and sign in with the correct email and now it's working. I also found all of my old work on the SSD card with all my photos. Is there a way to import all that work onto InDesign so that it is on my computer?

Best,

Catherine

[Randy Hagan]

As I said before, by finding/identifying the files on your old system. Then, moving — or for safety's sake, first copying to the new computer and confirming they're there, then deleting them from the old one — the files by either using a network connection or an external storage device (a.k.a. Sneakernet).

You can't just wish that to be true. You're going to have to find them and manually move them from where they are to where you want them.

Randy

[BobLevine]

I always work in OneDrive and Dropbox folders. First off, both services keep versions in case you over write or delete a file by accident and when you get a new computer, you just install the app, log in and voila, your files appear like magic.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

The info already posted is correct, but something is strange. When I activate a different (third) system, I get a dialog box asking me what device I want to deactivate. Are you sure you are logging in with the same Adobe account?

[Peter Spier]

The info already posted is correct, but something is strange. When I activate a different (third) system, I get a dialog box asking me what device I want to deactivate. Are you sure you are logging in with the same Adobe account?

By Dave Creamer of IDEAS

I wonder that, too. When I check my products pane I see my CC subscription listed with a serial number which implies that @CatherineMullins is logged in with a different ID than the one to which the subscription is registered.