If you purchased your Adobe product from a retailer or an Adobe reseller (or received it as a gift card), you may have received a redemption code or product code. Redeem this code before you can start using your product.
If you are unsure of the type of code you have, see Types of codes.
Your 24-digit redemption code can be found under the silver scratch-off label on product cards, on an insert in a boxed product, or included in the body of an email if you did not purchase a physical product.
Subscription – Retail Edition (for example, Creative Cloud All Apps)
Note:
If you have an existing subscription, see I have an active subscription. How do I use a redemption code?
Subscription – Student and Teacher Edition (for example, Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition)
Note:
If you have an existing subscription, see I have an active subscription. How do I use a redemption code?
Non-subscription Retail product (for example, Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, and Adobe Captivate)
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Visit Redeem your purchase.
Note:
The redemption code and serial number are not interchangeable. Ensure that you enter your serial number during installation.
Non-subscription Education product (for example, Acrobat Professional 2017)
Validate your eligibility for a perpetual student/teacher edition before you can proceed with installing the software.
If you are in North America, visit the eligibility verification page, enter the product code, and complete a student/teacher validation form. A serial number is sent to you within 1-2 business days.
If you are outside North America, complete the student/teacher validation form located in the Adobe Customer Support Portal. A serial number is sent to you within 2-4 days.
If you already have an active subscription associated with an Adobe ID, you can still use a redemption code.
Depending on whether you redeem with the same or a different Adobe ID, your redemption code is adjusted in different ways.
Choose the option below that applies to you:
If you redeem with the same Adobe ID
If you already have the same plan or product, and redeem with the same Adobe ID:
- If your payment plan is Annual plan, paid monthly, Adobe stops charging your credit card after you redeem the code. After the redemption code subscription term expires, Adobe resumes charging your credit card.
- If your payment plan is Annual plan, prepaid, the redemption code term is added to the end of the paid subscription term.
If you redeem a different plan with the same Adobe ID:
- Your subscription runs parallel to your existing paid subscription. For example, consider a scenario where you have an existing subscription to the Creative Cloud Photography plan with 20 GB of storage. However, you have a redemption code for the Creative Cloud All Apps plan. In this case, if you redeem the redemption code, your subscription to Creative Cloud All Apps runs concurrently with the existing Creative Cloud Photography plan.
If you redeem with a different Adobe ID
If you purchased your subscription from a reseller
You can purchase your subscription from any reseller that distributes Adobe products through redemption codes. In this case, your redemption works in the same way as the subscription purchased from the Adobe website, except if your payment plan is Annual plan, paid monthly. This plan is not sold through the reseller channel.
If you are in a country served by Digital River
In some countries, Adobe customers are served by Digital River, an authorized Adobe reseller. Here is a list of countries served by Digital River.
If you purchased your existing subscription from the Adobe website, you receive an error message “INVALID CODE” when you attempt to redeem your code. Do one of the following:
- Contact Adobe Customer Care to cancel the existing paid subscription before the auto-renewal date. Twenty-four (24) hours after the cancellation, redeem the redemption code with the same Adobe ID.
- Redeem the redemption code with a different Adobe ID. In this case, your existing paid subscription continues to renew automatically, and run parallel to the new subscription under a different Adobe ID.
If you purchased your existing subscription from a reseller (not from the Adobe website), and received a redemption code in a country where you can also purchase directly from the Adobe website:
- Your subscription is extended if you have the same product, and redeem with the same Adobe ID.
Note:
You cannot purchase an Annual plan, paid monthly subscription plan from a reseller. This plan is not sold through the reseller channel.
If you have an Annual plan, prepaid subscription plan, the redemption code term is added to the end of the paid subscription term.
- Your subscription runs parallel to your existing paid subscription if you redeem a redemption code with the same Adobe ID for a different product.
- Your subscription runs parallel to your existing paid subscription if you redeem a redemption code with a different Adobe ID for the same product or a different product.
My redemption code is invalid. What’s going on?
Try these solutions:
- Make sure that you typed the code correctly. Redemption codes contain both letters and numbers. It’s easy to confuse some numbers and letters, such as zero and one with the letters "0" and "I."
- Make sure that you're entering the code at the correct redemption site. You could have entered the redemption code for a perpetual product instead of for a subscription, or for a subscription instead of for a perpetual product. Be sure that you enter the code at the redemption site noted on your insert, card, or email. Go to Redeem a redemption code for Subscription retail products or Redeem your purchase for Perpetual retail products.
- Try redeeming the code from a different browser.
- Make sure that the code you are entering is a redemption code and not some other type of code. Other codes—such as a numeric UPC code on your insert, card, or email—are not your redemption code. To double-check that you do indeed have a redemption code, see Types of codes.
- Access your account information. You may have your subscription or product available and registered in your Adobe account. For more information on your Adobe ID account, see Manage your Adobe ID account.
Help! I’m getting this error: "Oops! This card was purchased in a country that doesn’t match your Adobe ID. You can try signing in with a different Adobe ID or get in touch with us for assistance.”
I keep getting prompted for a serial number while trying to launch an app or sign in to my Creative Cloud account. I thought I didn’t need a serial number for Creative Cloud.
You’re right—you don’t need a serial number. You may, however, need to activate your Creative Cloud membership.
For solutions to this issue, see Troubleshoot when Creative Cloud apps ask for serial number.
| Code | Description | Example |
| Redemption code | A redemption code is 24 alphanumeric digits | J72D-I83E-N87F-213E-B980-K915 |
| Product code | A product code can be 19 numbers; or 21 or 22 alphanumeric digits. |
|
| Serial number | A serial number is 24 numbers only. | 8721-0892-0867-4459-9223-2874 |
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