Buying and activating a licence
Buy from the app and the licence activates by itself. Otherwise sign in and claim it, or type the key from your order email.
On this page
Buying takes a minute, and activating usually takes nothing: buy from the app and the licence lands on the PC by itself. This article covers that and the two other ways.
Before you start#
Open Account: click your email (or Not signed in) at the bottom left of the window, then Account & licences. The page is titled Account & edition.
Buy from the app#
- Click Upgrade at the bottom of the left rail. It opens Editions & store. (On Account, Upgrade or buy a licence at the bottom of the page opens the same.)
- Press Upgrade on Home ($39) or Pro ($79).
- The Genie9 store opens in your browser with this PC already filled in. Choose one or two years of updates and support, and pay. A promotion code goes in the code box on the payment page; a link sent with a code may apply it already.
- Come back to GBM AI. The licence activates on this PC by itself within a few seconds.
The key also arrives by email. Refunds are covered by the refund policy.
You can also buy on the site: Editions on genie9.com.
Claim it from your account#
Use this on a second PC, after a reinstall, or for a licence bought on the site.
- On Account, in Sign in, type your email and click Send code.
- Type the six-digit code from the email and click Sign in.
- Licences on your account lists each GBM AI licence you own: edition, masked key, when it was bought, how many PCs use it, and until when updates run.
- Click Activate on this PC.
If the account holds exactly one licence with a free seat, it activates by itself when you sign in. A licence with no free seat shows only Manage devices; free a seat there first. See Moving a licence to another PC.
Type the key#
- On Account, find Have a key instead?
- Paste the key from your order email into Licence key. Dashes and capitals do not matter. The box turns green when the key looks right.
- Click Activate on this PC.
A key looks like GBMAI-HOME-XXXX-XXXX: the product, the edition, then a unique part. Keys for Genie Backup Manager 9 or BigMind Desktop do not activate GBM AI.
Either way, Account then shows your edition, the masked key, Activated on 1 of 3 PCs, and the date your updates and support run until.
Upgrading from Home to Pro#
A Pro licence switches a Home PC in place. There is nothing to reinstall, and jobs, settings and backups stay as they are.
- From the app: on Editions & store press Upgrade on Pro, pay, and come back. The PC switches to Pro by itself.
- With a key: type the Pro key under Have a key instead? and click Activate on this PC.
The seat this PC held on the Home licence is freed, so that licence can go on another PC. The other way round is refused: a Home key on a PC that runs Pro shows This PC already runs a higher edition than that key. (E-LIC-012). To use it anyway, click Deactivate this PC first.
Offline#
A key typed with no internet connection is accepted for now: Key accepted, confirming when online. The edition switches on at once for 72 hours. Connect to the internet once in that time and it is confirmed for good. If the PC stays offline longer, the edition drops back; enter the key again when you are online.
During the trial#
Activating a licence before the trial ends simply replaces it. Nothing pauses, and every job carries on.
Messages you might see#
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
We don't recognise that key. (E-LIC-001) | Check it against the order email, then contact support. |
That key is for another product. (E-LIC-002) | BigMind Desktop keys do not work here. |
This licence is on all its PCs. (E-LIC-003) | Free a seat under Manage devices. |
This licence was cancelled. (E-LIC-004) | Contact support with your order number. |
The licence server didn't answer. (E-LIC-005) | Check the connection. A key you entered stays saved and activates once the server answers. |
This PC already runs a higher edition than that key. (E-LIC-012) | Keep the licence you have, or click Deactivate this PC first. |
The full list is in Error codes.