Unlocking Live 4, Live 3 or Live 2
To work with Ableton Live you will first need to authorize your computer by Unlocking the program.
For your convenience, there are two methods of unlocking Live: Unlocking Online or Unlocking Offline.
Unlock Online
To unlock online, you will need internet access for the computer on which you have installed Live. Unlocking online provides the easiest way to unlock Live, as it connects directly to the Ableton server and unlocks Live automatically. Unlocking online is done in the software, and you will not need to use this webpage to unlock Live. You will be guided through the unlocking process by Live.
To unlock, make sure that you are online when you start Live.
Enter your Serial Number in the Welcome dialog.
Please be sure to choose the "Unlock Online" button when you are presented with the Unlock dialog.
Unlock Offline
If you do not have the ability to directly connect to the internet, you can retrieve an Unlock Key from the Ableton server by entering your Serial Number and Challenge Code on the Unlock Offline page of this website. This method requires that you download and transfer the Unlock Key to the computer on which you have installed Live. Again, you will be guided through the unlocking process by Live.
Enter your Serial Number in the Welcome dialog when you first start Live.
When you are presented with the Unlock dialog, carefully write down your Challenge Code in the Unlock Offline section.
Visit this webpage and have your Serial Number and Challenge Code to enter in the Unlock Offline webpage.
After successfully entering your Serial Number and Challenge Code you will be presented with an Unlock Key.
Download and transfer the Unlock Key to the computer that you have installed Live on.
After transferring the Unlock Key to your computer, open Live and choose the "Load Unlock Key" button in the Unlock dialog and locate the Unlock Key on your harddrive.
If you are trying to Unlock Live 2.1 or higher, you can also Unlock Offline without transferring the Unlock Key. You can print an Unlock Key from the Unlock Offline webpage. After doing so, choose the "Enter Unlock Key" button in the Live Unlock dialog and carefully enter in the printable Unlock Key. This method should only be used if you can not transfer the Unlock Key.
Note: Please be sure that you are not printing the Unlock Key .txt file. This number is too long to enter into the "Enter Unlock Key" field. Some web browsers will open the file in the browser instead of downloading it.
What is a Challenge Code?
Live generates a Challenge Code that is unique to your computer's "fingerprint". The Challenge Code can be found in the "Unlock Offline" section of the Unlock dialog after you have entered your Serial Number in the Welcome dialog.
What is an Unlock Key?
The Ableton server generates an Unlock Key based on your Serial Number and the Challenge Code of your computer. The Unlock Key is a .txt file that you must transfer to the computer on which you have installed Live.