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You do not normally need to “activate” FocusMe. Log in with the account you bought it with and the licence is validated for you. This page covers the trial, and the two manual routes — entering a key, and activating a computer that is offline.

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The Free Trial

FocusMe starts as a 14-day trial with every feature available. While the trial runs, a card at the bottom of the sidebar reads Free trial · N days left (or Free trial ends today), with an Upgrade button and a Have a license? Activate link. In the last few days FocusMe also reminds you with a Trial Ending Soon notification. The trial is tied both to the computer and to your account, so reinstalling FocusMe or logging in on another computer does not start a fresh trial. If a trial has already been used on the computer you will see A free trial has already been used on this device.
Sign in during the trial (the last step of Quick Setup offers it, or click the account icon at the top right and choose Sign in). Your trial then follows you to your other devices, and when you buy a licence it activates the moment you next log in.

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Activating by Logging In

When you purchase FocusMe, the licence is attached to the email address you used. Logging in with that account is all that is needed:

Signing in to FocusMe

  1. Click the account icon at the top right of the window and choose Sign in
  2. Enter your Email address and Password, then click Sign in
  3. FocusMe confirms with License successfully validated!
The free trial card leaves the sidebar, and the account menu shows your user name, My account and Log out. See Log In & Sync for everything else logging in gives you. FocusMe caches the validation, so you do not need to be online all the time — it keeps running through an internet outage and re-checks when it can.

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Activating with a Licence Key

If you were given a key rather than an account — a reseller purchase, a gift, a team licence — use Activate:
  1. Click the account icon and choose Activate a license (or click Have a license? Activate on the trial card). The Activate a license dialog opens (Enter the email the license was bought with.), with Sign in instead if you’d rather sign in
  2. Enter your Email address and your key in the License key (if known) field
  3. Click Activate
If you are logged in when you do this, the key is saved to your account, so future installations activate simply by logging in.
Having trouble? The dialog offers Trouble activating? Please contact support or try offline activation. — the contact support link opens a ticket, and offline activation opens the dialog described next.

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Offline Activation

For a computer that cannot reach the internet, click offline activation in the Activate dialog to open Offline Activation:
  1. Go to focusme.com/activate on another device
  2. Enter your email or key there, together with the Hardware ID shown in the dialog (click Copy to copy it)
  3. Paste the generated code into Paste Activation Code: — it is a long string starting with eyJ
  4. Click Activate
FocusMe confirms with License successfully activated! (or Trial successfully activated! N days remaining. for a trial). The code is tied to that computer’s Hardware ID, so it cannot be reused elsewhere.
Offline activation suits locked-down work environments and machines that are intentionally kept off the network. The activation lasts for the licence period; renewals need a fresh code.

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Device Limits

A licence covers a fixed number of computers at once (five unless your licence says otherwise). Each activation, whether by login or by key, takes one seat. If you have reached the limit, FocusMe will not activate a further computer until a seat is freed — contact support to release a computer you no longer use, or to discuss a larger licence.

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