Activation

The Unity application requires activation before it can be used. The version you download contains both Unity and Unity Pro. Upon launching Unity, you will be take to our online activation, where you can choose to get Unity, or do a 30 day Unity Pro Trial. No personal information is needed.

If you've bought Unity, you will receive a serial number by email. This code is unique to each customer, and should not be lost or shared with others. An serial number is a string of characters and looks like XY-ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678-IJ90. When you activate Unity you need to enter this number. The licensing system will take a finger-print of your hardware and system software and send this finger-print to our servers. This locks your computer to your serial number. The end-user license agreement permits you to install Unity on up to two computers. If you attempt to activate Unity on a third computer you will be told that your activation limit has been exceeded.

Note: The finger-printing is affected by many things. For example, if you were to re-install your operating system, or re-format a hard drive, or change the network card, these things will cause the unique finger-print of your computer to change.

When you attempt to re-activate Unity you may find that you are told you are unable to reactivate because your activation limit has been exceeded. This is not an error but reflects the fact that our server sees that your computer has changed. To help customers who have suffered from catastrophic computer failure we offer a Unity migration service. To take advantage of this service please email [email protected] and provide as much information as possible about what has happened to your computer. Please also provide your Serial Number. We will then help you with the migration.

Common Questions

My computer cannot talk to your activation server. What can I do?
We have created a webpage to allow customers who have had difficulty activating online or wish to activate on a machine that is not connected to the internet, to create the activation file for themselves. The page is:

https://store.unity3d.com/manual/

If you are using Unity (the free version) click the Free activation tickbox and upload your ILR file, then click Activate Unity. Otherwise type in your serial number in the field provided. Within a second or two an ILF file should be downloaded to your computer.

When you restart Unity, please go to the Activation window (either it will start up on launch, or choose Help>Enter Serial Number (win) or Unity>Enter Serial Number (osx)). Select Manual Activation, click Next, then click "Read License" and choose the license file you downloaded above. Click Next, and Unity will read the file, and your activation should be complete!

Please activate Unity using manual activation. To do this, please contact support who will guide you through the process.

I need to migrate Unity from one machine to another. What do I need to do? Firstly, uninstall Unity from your "old" machine. Then contact support asking for assistance with migration. Ensure that you give your current activation code. If you are mid-way through a critical period in your game development, please plan carefully for this migration. In addition to moving your project from your old machine to your new one, re-installing applications and so on, plan ahead for contacting support. Bear in mind that you can use Unity on two machines, so there should be no time when you are unable to continue development.

My hard drive has died. What do I need to do? If you cannot uninstall Unity because your hard drive has failed write and tell the support team who will try to help. Please remember that we can't back up your project and we can only help you installing Unity on a working computer :)

How many activations can I make? Your serial number is good for 2 (two) activations.

I have received an activation code when I upgraded to Unity iOS. Why does the old one no longer work? The iOS products are an extension to your Unity or Unity Pro license. When you upgrade to Unity iOS the serial number you receive replaces your original activation code. The new serial number will work for your existing Unity installation.

Can I use the same serial number on a PC and a Mac? Yes, the same serial number can be used on a PC or a Mac. As per your end-user license agreement you can use Unity on two machines that you own and have exclusive use of. These two machines could be two Macs, two PCs or one PC and one Mac, whatever works best for you.

Can I use the same serial number on a laptop and a desktop? Yes, the serial number will work on laptops and desktops.

Page last updated: 2010-09-07