Check the basics
You paste the key from your purchase email into Settings › License and click Activate (the license page has the steps). These messages mean something small is in the way:
| Flick says | What to do |
|---|---|
| “That doesn't look like a license key. Copy the whole key from your purchase email and paste it here.” | Copy the whole key again. A space or comma in the middle, or a missing piece, can't work. |
| “Dodo Payments doesn't recognize this key. Check that you copied all of it, or email [email protected].” | Paste the license key itself, not an order or payment number, with nothing cut off. Lost the email? See lost your key. |
| “This key isn't for Flick. Check the email for your Flick purchase, or email [email protected].” | The key is for something else bought through Dodo Payments. Find the email for Flick. |
| “Couldn't reach Dodo Payments. Activation needs an internet connection, so check yours and try again.” | Check that you're online. On Wi-Fi that wants you to sign in on a web page first, sign in with your browser. Online already? Try again in a few minutes. |
| “Flick couldn't save your license on this Mac, so this Mac wasn't activated. Try again, or email [email protected].” | Flick gives the seat back straight away when it can. Try again, and email support if it happens again or your seats show as full. |
| “Flick couldn't identify this Mac, so it can't activate. Please email [email protected].” | Email support with your Mac's model and macOS version. |
| “Dodo Payments couldn't process this key (…). Please email [email protected].” | Email support with the code shown in brackets. |
Writing to support? Use the address you bought with, and leave your full key out unless we ask for it.
This network inspects secure connections
Flick says: “This network inspects secure connections, so Flick can't activate here. Try again on another network, such as your phone's hotspot. Later checks work on any network.”
Flick activates only over a connection that reaches Dodo Payments untouched, and many company networks and some security software re-seal secure connections with a certificate of their own.
Join another network, such as your phone's hotspot, click Activate, then switch back: license checks and Remove License… work on any network. On a Mac your workplace manages, ask your IT team.
All your seats are in use
Flick says: “This key is already active on all the Macs it covers. On a Mac you no longer use, click Remove License… in Settings › License, or email [email protected] and we'll free a seat.” Each active Mac uses one seat. On a Mac that's already activated, Bought for in Settings › License shows how many you bought.
- You still have the old Mac. Click Remove License… in Settings › License there while it's online, and the seat is free at once. Offline, Remove Anyway takes the license off but the seat stays in use until support frees it.
- The old Mac is gone, sold or erased. Email support from the address you bought with, with its label, like Mac · 3FA9, if you know it.
- You erased this Mac or deleted Flick's license folder. Its earlier activation still holds a seat. Email support from the address you bought with to free it, then click Activate.
Reinstalling Flick on the same Mac never takes another seat. Moving for good? Follow moving to a new Mac.
The license saved on this Mac can't be used here
Settings › License shows Free version and says: “The license saved on this Mac can't be used here, for example because it came from another Mac with Migration Assistant. Paste your key below to activate this Mac.”
Your license is a sealed file tied to the Mac it was activated on, so a copy that came over with Migration Assistant or a backup doesn't work. Paste your key once to activate this Mac; it takes a seat, so free the old Mac's first if they're all in use.
This Mac already has a license
Flick says: “This Mac already has a license. Remove it first, then activate the new key.” A Mac holds one license at a time. To switch keys, click Remove License… in Settings › License, which frees this Mac's seat on the old key, then paste the new one.
The key was turned off
Pasting a turned-off key shows: “This key has been turned off, for example after a refund. If that's a mistake, email [email protected].” On an activated Mac, Settings › License shows License turned off, and Flick works as the free version.
- Think it's a mistake? Click Check Again or Email Support. Flick also checks a turned-off key each time it opens, for up to 30 days, so a key that's turned back on starts working again.
- Have another key? Paste it under Use another key on the same page.
- Done with this key? Remove Key… makes Flick forget it and stop checking.
Questions
Settings says This Mac isn't activated. What happened?
This Mac's seat was freed, for example from another Mac or by support. Click Activate This Mac to use your key here again; it takes a seat and needs the internet.
Do I have to stay online once Flick is activated?
No. A licensed Mac checks its license about every two weeks when it's online, and keeps working offline for about two months without a check. After that it works as the free version until a check succeeds. See license checks.
Still stuck?Email [email protected] with your macOS version, your Mac and what you've tried, or visit the Support page.
