How do I manually activate my Unity license?

Use this flow when the machine running Unity can't complete online activation, for example, it has no internet access or a firewall blocks Unity's licensing endpoints.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

• Unity Hub 3.21.1 or later, or the Unity Editor on the target (offline) machine. Hub versions earlier than 3.21.1 can't import the named-user XML license file and accept only legacy serial-based (.ulf) files. For the full version matrix, including supported Editor versions, refer to Troubleshooting manual license activation on unsupported versions. The steps on this page use the Hub; the command-line equivalents are at the end of the page. The portal steps are the same either way.
• Access to a machine with a web browser and an internet connection, plus a way to move two small files between the machines, such as a USB drive or a network share.
• The Hub requires sign-in by default. Speak with your Unity client partner if you need assistance deactivating the sign-in screen.
• A Unity account with an eligible license. Offline activation of named-user seats is available only for Enterprise and Industry seats; Unity no longer supports manual activation of Personal seats, which require online sign-in. You can also manually activate legacy serial-based licenses.

Activate the license

The flow moves between two machines; each step is tagged with the machine where it occurs.

To activate the license with Unity Hub and the manual activation portal:

Open the license request wizard on the offline machine

1. Launch the Hub.
2. Select Settings (⚙️) > Licenses > Add license.
3. In the Add new license window, select Activate with license request.

Create and save the license request on the offline machine

Select Create license request, then save the request file.

Open the manual activation portal on the online machine

Move the request file to the online machine, then sign in to the manual activation portal using your Unity account associated with your Unity Enterprise/Industry license.

Upload the license request on the online machine

Upload the request file (.alf) you saved on the offline machine.

Select the license to activate on the online machine

On the Activate license for my assigned seats page, do one of the following:

• Named-user seat: eligible seats (Enterprise and Industry) appear with their organization. View your seats, then select Next. The portal lists seats that can't be activated offline separately.
• Legacy serial license: select Activate my legacy serial license and enter your serial number.

Download the license file on the online machine

Select Download license file. The file downloads to your browser's download location, named UnityEntitlementLicense-<timestamp>.xml for a named-user seat or Unity_lic.ulf for a legacy serial license.

Activate with the license file on the offline machine

Move the license file back to the target machine. In the Hub wizard's Activate with license file step, browse to the downloaded file and select Activate.

The Hub accepts both formats that the portal produces: the legacy Unity_lic.ulf file and the XML license for named-user seats.

After you activate the license, it appears in Settings > Licenses. In Unity Hub 3.21.1 and later, a manually activated named-user license shows a (Manually activated) caption on its card; a license activated from a serial-based Unity_lic.ulf file shows Serial Key Activation instead. If activation fails, refer to Troubleshooting.

Use the command line interface instead of the Hub

Unity Editor CLI

Use the Unity Editor's command line. Run the Editor binary directly:

• On macOS, that's Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity inside the Editor install
• On Windows, Unity.exe

Both commands print nothing to the terminal, and the Editor exits when done:

# Create the license request.
# Writes Unity_v<version>.alf into the directory you run the command from;
# pass a path after the flag to choose the output file.
Unity -batchmode -createManualActivationFile -logfile

# Activate from the downloaded license file
Unity -batchmode -manualLicenseFile <path-to-license-file> -logfile

-manualLicenseFile uses the same license import as the Hub and accepts the license file formats produced by the portal. Editor versions that predate named-user offline activation accept only the legacy serial-based (.ulf) format.

Limitations of manually activated licenses

Also, keep the following in mind:

• The license is bound to the hardware that generated the request. Significant hardware changes or an OS reinstall can require reactivation.
• License updates, such as renewals and added entitlements, don't automatically reach an offline machine. Repeat this flow to refresh the license file.

Troubleshooting

The following table lists common manual activation problems and how to resolve them.