Has anyone found a real solution to reactivating SketchUp 2015 Pro on a new machine?
Three perpetual licenses were purchased and worked fine for years. After moving to a new computer, activation is no longer possible. Support response is that the version is “unsupported,” installers are unavailable, and there is no help for activation.
This is not a support issue. The software requires activation to run, and there is currently no path to activate a valid, paid perpetual license. That effectively makes the licenses unusable.
Others here seem to be running into the same thing:
license works on old machine
fails on reinstall or new machine
no activation path
Questions for the group:
Has anyone successfully activated 2015 recently on a clean install?
Is there any working method (offline activation, legacy installer, etc.)?
Has anyone gotten a real resolution from Trimble beyond being told to move to subscription?
And separately:
Has anyone explored or taken legal action around this?
Even just consultations or demand letters?
Curious if anyone has pushed on the “perpetual license that cannot be activated = unusable product” argument
From what I am seeing, this looks like a broader issue where valid perpetual licenses can no longer be activated, which raises bigger questions.
Actually, it still runs fine, and in many cases runs better than current versions, on my machines where it was already installed and activated.
This is not a technology problem. This is a greed problem.
The problem is that there is no longer any way to activate it on a new machine. That prevents reinstallation of a valid, paid perpetual license.
At that point, a “perpetual” license becomes meaningless. If the vendor controls activation and removes the ability to activate, the software is effectively taken out of the user’s hands.
That is not obsolescence. That is a licensing decision that renders previously purchased software unusable and leaves subscription as the only viable option.
idk, greed is a big word, maybe you’re just a very careful spender trying to work on a software released 11+ years ago despite running on now obsolete techs…
The software works great for us. It is not obsolete. It is light, fast, and does exactly what we need.
The issue is not performance or compatibility. The issue is that there is no longer a way to activate it on a new machine. That prevents use of a valid, paid perpetual license.
Not looking to debate software versions or what is “current.” The goal is simple: access to software that was already purchased.
Right now, the only path being offered is subscription, which effectively replaces perpetual ownership with ongoing access fees. That is a fundamentally different model than what was originally purchased. That is why we switched to Rhino, fixed at $1000 for life.
But in sketchup we have 3 decades of existing SketchUp models that need to remain editable without being locked into a subscription just to access prior work.
If anyone has found:
a working activation method
offline workaround
or any viable path forward
that would be useful.
Thank you
Here is what sketchup shows when trying to add a license…
