upgrading one (1) license to the recent version does obviously not generate an additional license.
Trimble bought SketchUp from Google in April 2012 and is therefore the legal successor in title concerning all assets.
So I think there is a bit of confusion, I’d like to help clear this up.
1st: We cannot and do not remove SketchUp licenses that are currently installed on a computer. If you have SketchUp installed with a Single-User license (Network licenses are a different animal), you can continue to use that version on that computer as long as you have said computer.
2nd: When you upgrade a license to a newer version, the older license is deactivated in our system, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work if it is already installed, it means that you can’t upgrade that license again. Our new licensing system also does not allow you to install that deactivated license on any NEW computers.
3rd: As we continue to improve SketchUp and keep up with current technologies, some plugins will no longer be compatible. We know that this happens and are happy to work with customers that are current on their Maintenance & Support Plan to help them with licenses to keep them working. We also push plugin developers the best we can to update to the latest format so they can work with our latest products.
4th: We also update SketchUp to be compatible with the latest computer operating systems. SketchUp 7 does not likely run well on the latest OSX or Windows system.
A lot of this information is in our EULA: Trimble SketchUp Pro License | SketchUp
I hope this helps!
PS: You may need to repair permission on your computer to get your old SketchUp 7 license working again. If SketchUp does not seem to be retaining your license information, we recommend repairing your disk permissions by following the steps below:
- Restart your computer.
- Open a Finder window.
- Click Applications.
- Click Utilities.
- Double-click Disk Utility.
- Select your hard drive.
- Select the First Aid tab.
- Click Repair Disk Permissions.
9. Please repeat step 8 until you no longer see new errors during the repair. - After the permissions are repaired, exit Disk Utility.
Repairing your disk permissions usually solves this problem, but please let us know if the problem persists.
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Thanks for this ty_s,
I have SketchUp 2014 installed with a Single-User license on my computer.
However Trimble have stopped me using it as my license has expired.
I am told by a member of the Trimble Inside Sales team they ‘cannot create a temp license for the dated version unless you are current on maintenance and support’.
So I am no longer able to use SU 2014 unless I pay maintenance and support which I do not need because I cannot run any later version on my computer because my OS is Vista!!
I would very much like to continue using SU 2014 until I decide to buy a new computer. So please tell me how can I reactivate my software which I have bought and paid for?
commercial workstation licences of SketchUp Pro do not expire, expiring is the maintenance.
a commercial license of SketchUp Pro version 2014 which was never used in a more recent version should still work, i.e. did you maybe have activated a more recent version provided to you during the maintenance period?
Thanks sketch3d_de,
It looks like that is what Trimble are saying. There was similar confusion at the relicensing stage this time last year when I bought a maintenance and support package and was given a ‘temporary’ license which allowed me to upgrade to 15 or 16.
I had this.
I found my original license details and re-entered them and it is working again.
Thanks RHD,
I tried re-entering the license details I got last year for SU 2014 and got the message “product can not be authorized with an expired license”
Oh.
That’s really not good!
Did you have already activated this license with a more recent version?
Does this mean that If I buy a new computer all my versions of Sketchup that I bought in good faith on the understanding that I could keep them will not be able to be installed on it???
Also, SketchUp 7 still works fine on a Mac.
I can’t have because SU 2015 and 2016 won’t work on my computer. However I did download SU 2014 again to see if I could refresh everything after my licence expired.
how many licenses did you have bought?
upgrading one (1) license does not generate additional licenses… activating the latest version you have upgraded to should work on new systems (in the boundaries of the according system requirements of course)… besides you have forgotten to deactivate on the old system (see menu “License…”).
the system requirements of SU v7 (release 11/2008) obviously do not cover recent operating systems, doubt that it works fine with recent macOS v10.11/12.
I bought one license. The new license if for SU 2016 which I obviously can’t use. I am also not able to open SU so can’t deactivate the old system as you’ve described.
When working in SU2014 I was prompted regularly about updating the programme. I may have downloaded SU 2016 thinking it was an update for 2014 (though I have no recollection of doing this). Would this have activated a SU 2016 licence?
I have bought every version since version 5 I think before Google bought it.
I only use one at a time as there’s only one of me. You can’t open two at once anyway which is perfectly fair.
I don’t use the old versions often but many of them contain plugins (some of which were expensive) which are not usable in later versions and which I need for work.
I have purchased 2016 but I don’t use it because of the plug-in problem and am still on 2015 which doesn’t like a lot of my plug-is either so I often have to open projects in even older versions, run the plug ins I need and then save and re-open in 2015.
It’s a bit of a pain to be honest.
I have various versions installed on my desktop and my laptop which is now very old and I will have to buy a new one shortly which is why I am concerned.
If I can’t install my old versions on it to take to clients offices then I’ve got a big problem.
I eventually found and re-installed all my old licenses which has fixed the problem for now.
I’m worried about continuing to rely on Sketchup for my work though, it seems to be getting too unreliable for professional use and as a freelancer I have to hit the ground running.
As has already been written, SketchUp doesn’t remove old licenses.
I don’t understand how failure to read and understand the EULA equates to SketchUp being unreliable.
you shouldn’t mix up license and version:
• what is the latest version you have got license data for by e.g. upgrading or during the maintenance period?
• if v2015/2016: was this product version ever activated by you?
getting a “…product can not be authorized with an expired license…” in connection with version 2014 implies that you have already done the latter…
disable at “[WIN] Window / [MAC] SketchUp > Preferences > General > Automatically Check for Updates”
a pure download not, installing and launching by inputting license data of course.
I am using SU 2014. I can’t have installed SU 2015 or 16 on my computer because my OS is Windows Vista, though it does seem that Trimble thinks I have as the new license is for SU 2016 and last years 2014 licence doesn’t work now…
Hi DaveR,
Can you explain why when I tried re-entering the license details I got last year for SU 2014 I got the message “product can not be authorized with an expired license” ?
Sketchup-pro-sales say that if I purchase the maintenance and support for my SketchUp Pro license that they will manually create a version 2014 license for me to use temporarily until I can use 2016 with any new OS. $120 ($180 if I don’t respond within 30 days of the support expiry date) required for me to use my own out of date software…
SU v2015 was released in 11/2014… where did you get license data of SUP v2014 in 2015?