Adobe blocks serial numbers that have not been issued by Adobe, or have been used fraudulently by unauthorized sellers to produce counterfeit software. Unfortunately, you may only know the serial number has been blocked for this reason when re-activating or reinstalling Adobe software.

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Check that you are using the correct serial number for your product installation. A serial number has only 24 numbers.
For more information, see Find the serial number of your Elements product.
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If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue.
A serial number and a redemption code both have 24 elements. However, a serial number has 24 digits, while a redemption code has 24 alphanumeric digits. If you are entering a redemption code instead of a serial number, you get the following error message:

To resolve this error, ensure that you are not entering the redemption code in place of the serial number. Follow these steps to retrieve the serial number required to install your software:
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Visit Redeem your purchase.

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Check that you are using the correct serial number for your product installation. A serial number has only 24 numbers.
For more information, see Find the serial number of your Elements product.
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If the serial number associated with the software is blocked, find information on this page to quickly resolve the issue.
You are getting this message because you're using an expired serial number to activate your Elements product. This occurs because the software build you were using has expired or the serial number used to license the application had exhausted its validity. In both these cases, you need to buy a new Elements product.
