How to Move CS6 or Creative Cloud from One Computer to Another
How to Move CS6 or Creative Cloud from One Computer to Another
OK, so your old computer is running out of gas, you’re upgrading or changing systems, adding a new machine, or switching from a PC to a Mac, or vice versa — and you want to move over your purchased CS6 (or CS5 or CS4 or CS3 or Creative Cloud or any other) Adobe software — what do you do, and how do you do it?
As we’ve covered previously here, you are generally allowed to install and activate most Adobe software on up to two computers, with the restriction that the software can not used on both systems at the same time. So right off the bat, you might be good to go with installing the software on a second computer, although you may wish to double-check the licensing agreement for your product to be sure.
Deactivating Your Old System
Adobe uses software activation to control how many of your computers are able to run CS6. So if you’re already at your limit of two computers and want to transfer your license over to a new or different system, then you first need to deactivate the software from the old computer. In the program, click Help > Deactivate, and then follow the instructions in the wizard to deactivate the software. If you have a suite edition or the Creative Cloud, then deactivating any single application on your machine will deactivate them all.
Note: You may see two choices on the Deactivation screen – if so, then what’s the difference between Suspend Activation vs. Deactivate Permanently? The answer is that both will properly deactivate your product on that computer. But the first (“suspend”) will keep your serial number stored in the Windows registry just in case you ever want to quickly reactivate the same software on the same computer later, without having to reenter it. However there is no harm in choosing the second (“permanently”) option, because you can always later reactivate the same product on the same machine by just retyping the license key. In other words, it’s basically a convenience factor to store your SN.
Deactivation is different from uninstallation. If you’re permanently uninstalling Adobe software from a computer, then deactivate it first to ensure its license is freed up. If you deactivate but don’t uninstall, the next time you run Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Acrobat, or any of the other CS6 applications on that computer, you’ll be asked for a serial number or to start a 30-day free tryout period.
If you can’t deactivate the software because your disk drive crashed or you otherwise can’t access your program, then you may need to contact Adobe Customer Service to deactivate it for you on their end using your serial number.
After uninstalling any version of CS, you can run the Creative Suite Cleaner Tool if you like to make sure it’s completely removed from your old system.
Setting Up Your New System
Now you’ll need two things: the software installation files or discs, and the product’s serial number itself. Note for the Creative Cloud, this doesn’t apply – see the next section instead.
[ Trying to decide which is right for you? See: Creative Cloud vs. CS6 Comparison ]
If you purchased the software but lost the serial number or no longer have it readily available, the first place to check is your online Adobe account. You will have one if you ever registered the software, or if you purchased it directly from Adobe… Just log in with your Adobe ID and all your serial numbers will be listed there. If you don’t see it, then try registering your product now and see if it appears there. As a last resort, you may be able to retrieve it from the computer itself using a free utility like Belarc Advisor (Windows) or Product Key Finder (Mac) – which will recover and tell you the activation keys for the programs on your system.
And if you’ve lost or can’t find your original installation file or CD/DVD, or if your machine doesn’t have a disc drive, then you can download and install a free trial of your application from Adobe servers onto your new computer, and that will convert to a full and permanent version when you enter your valid SN.
OK, once deactivation is complete, you are free to go ahead and enter your serial number key to activate a copy of the software installed elsewhere, or use it to reactivate the same application on that PC after reinstalling (for example, if you are changing disk drives, or upgrading operating systems from XP or Vista to Windows 7, etc.). And you should be all set.
Note: When [re]installing an upgrade version of Adobe software, if you don’t have your prior release already installed on that same computer, then you’ll have to manually enter that older license key when prompted by the setup process. If you are continuing to use your prior release, then per Adobe licensing requirements it must be on the same computer(s) as the upgrade version.
If you run into any problems with the deactivation/reactivation process, you’ll have a 30-day window during which the software will work in trial mode to give you enough time to contact Adobe Support and get things resolved.
Putting the Creative Cloud on More than One Computer
All of this becomes much easier with the new Creative Cloud as well as with single-app subscriptions, because these are not activated using serial numbers but rather with your free Adobe ID login. So moving the products to a new machine is really just a matter of visiting the Creative Cloud apps page and then downloading whatever you want… When the tools finish installing, just log in and the software will automatically be (re)activated on the new hardware for you… See this video for how it works:
Creative Cloud and single-app members can also skip the next two sections, as your products are already capable of running on both operating system platforms as well as freely switching between languages as desired.
How to Switch Platforms from PC to Mac
Now how about if you’re also changing platforms, like from Windows to Mac, or vice versa – and want to take your Creative Suite 6 license with you, and/or upgrade from CS3, CS4, CS5 or CS5.5 to CS6 while making the switch? After completing the deactivation process above it gets a little more complicated, because most Adobe software is licensed for a single platform only. But you can do what’s called a “crossgrade” from one to the other natively, which is no charge to you (except nominal shipping costs) and can be submitted online directly through Adobe Customer Service.
All product configurations (including Student and Teacher Editions) are eligible for exchange.
There are a few provisos. One is you need to have a registered serial number to qualify (but that just takes a few minutes if you haven’t already). You must also be prepared to delete the existing software from your computer and destroy any existing copies, as they will no longer be valid. But perhaps the most important is you can’t cross-grade from an older version to the same prior version — you can only move to the current version (now CS6), paying any applicable upgrade costs… If you’re already running the latest release, then there should be no additional cost.
So if you need to do both an upgrade and a platform swap, the fastest and easiest way is to first buy the upgrade online and then submit the crossgrade online. Good news! It’s simpler now with CS6, you can easily change platforms when upgrading as normal – just select the correct operating system when purchasing the upgrade. Then when you install that upgrade software on your new platform, it will ask for the serial number of your previous version from the other platform. For example, if you currently own Photoshop CS5 on Windows and want to get Photoshop CS6 on Mac, then just buy the CS6 upgrade for Mac OS, and manually enter the serial number for your older Windows version when installing it.
To get started right away, you can simply download and run the 30-day free trial while you’re waiting for the new box and serial number to arrive – and then later just convert the trial into a permanent full version with the license key for your new platform.
Of course, if you purchased CS6 within the past 30 days and got the incorrect platform or language version of your product, then it’s even simpler – just return the software and get the right one instead.
How to Change from One Language or Country to Another
Note that this same procedure will also work for requesting a change from one language set to another for a given Adobe/CS6 application… Just follow the crossgrade process described above – but choose a new and different language on the form, instead of a different platform.
And the same goes if you want to move your residence to a different country or region, because the product language will usually be different in your new geography (even for English). For example, in the U.S. the language edition is “Universal English,” whereas overseas it’s “International English,” or another language.
After swapping platforms or languages, you cannot cross back to your original platform or language version. No more than five total (lifetime) cross-platform or cross-language upgrades or swaps are allowed per customer, regardless of the product. Software purchased second-hand or from an auction site such as eBay is not eligible for swaps.
Two notable exceptions are Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop & Premiere Elements, which are now sold as multiplatform and multilanguage software so would not require a crossgrade.
Hopefully that should do it! Please let us know if this article helped you out, or any questions you may have in the comments below.
If you’d like to move away from shuffling serial numbers altogether, check out the new Creative Cloud for Teams to simplify management instead of single-user copies… With straightforward per-seat pricing, you get a flexible license that includes powerful workgroup collaboration capabilities plus expert support for your entire team.