ChemDraw: "Activation limit reached" or "Activation ID copies exceeds available copies" error when trying to activate ChemDraw on a new computer.

If you get the message "Activation limit reached" or "Activation ID copies exceeds available copies" error when trying to activate ChemDraw on a new computer it means that you have run out of licenses.

The End User License Agreement for single and/or named user versions of the software states that you are allowed to install the software on one primary computer and one laptop or home computer, as long as the primary and secondary computers are not using the software simultaneously. 

You can free up licenses.  If you need to remove old devices to activate a new one, you can contact the Site Administrator of your organization or please follow the steps here to free up or transfer licenses:

How do I manage ChemDraw licenses so I can free up or transfer or deactivate a license?

Academic or Institutional ChemDraw Subscriptions:

If you believe that you are using an organizational license and should have free licenses, it's possible that you tried to activate the product using an individual activation code instead of an organizational activation code.

Please login to our Download Center and click List Entitlements on the left side of the screen under Activation & Entitlements.
Use any of the ChemDraw Professional or ChemDraw Prime site subscription or Academic/Institutional activation codes.

Do not use any PERMANENT activation codes if you are only given access to the software through your university or academic institution.

If your organization has a Signals ChemDraw subscription with a URL, you must contact your local administrator to be added to the tenant first before you can use the URL to access ChemDraw, otherwise you will get an Access Denied error.

If you have tried everything above and believe you still require an additional activation, please contact Customer Service with your computer's Host ID ready.  To find the Host ID of your device in your ChemDraw application, find the menu option: Help | Activate ChemDraw... , and find the field labeled, "Your Host ID is".