Troubleshooting a Trial message after buying SketchUp

If you’re sure you purchased SketchUp, but the software is telling you that you’re on a trial or that the trial has expired, then you’ve come to the right place! The solutions below will help you quickly activate your SketchUp purchase.



First: did you purchase SketchUp Pro (a Classic license or yearly Subscription) or did you buy Go? Go costs less than Pro. You can see the full differences here: https://www.sketchup.com/buy/pricing

If you bought Go

SketchUp Go is a web-only version of our SketchUp subscription and does not include the desktop Pro modeling software. There is no serial number or download needed for Go. Just log in to https://app.sketchup.com/app with your Trimble ID and start modeling!

Are you sure you're logged in with the right email address but are still unable to access the paid features at https://app.sketchup.com/? If so, you might have unchecked the "assign seat to myself" box during checkout and need to assign yourself or the end-user.

If you purchased Go by accident and really want the Pro plan, the good news is that there's no need to request a refund for Go. You can easily upgrade to Pro in the Account Management Portal (AMP) and just pay the difference in the prorated price. It only takes a few minutes, and here's how! (read all 5 steps before doing them)

  1. Go to this Account Management article.
  2. Follow the instructions there to find the AMP website and sign in.
  3. Locate the section Upgrade to Pro or Studio and follow those instructions.
  4. Next, go to the Assign the End User section of the article for instructions on how to make sure your email address is properly assigned.
  5. You might need to sign out of SketchUp Pro, close and open it, and sign back in again.

Still having trouble? Contact us and include as much detail as you can - screenshots are great, too! Also, tell us how we can improve the instructions on this page (please include a link to this page).

If you bought or subscribed to Pro

There are actually two different Pro plans, so let’s find which one you have!

  • The yearly Pro Subscription plan, which we started offering in February of 2019, has no serial number or authorization code, but rather activates SketchUp with a sign-in. Did you receive an email from Trimble (SketchUp’s parent company) with an account number? If so, then you definitely purchased a yearly subscription. Click here if you have a yearly Pro Subscription.
  • The Classic perpetual license plan is the original - it’s been around since SketchUp started, but it only got the name “Classic” in 2019. It has no account number, but it has a serial number and authorization code. Click here if you have a perpetual Classic License.
  • Still not sure which Pro plan you have? You can see more differences here. Also, if you see a Pro plan when you log in to the Account Management Portal, you have a yearly Pro Subscription. If you don’t see a Pro plan there, but can get a serial number when you retrieve your license in our Classic License Manager, or if you purchased Pro before February 2019, then you have a perpetual Classic license.
I have a Pro Subscription

There are only a few reasons why you’d be seeing a Trial message with a yearly subscription:

  1. The end-user email address isn’t properly assigned or was misspelled when it was assigned. This is a common reason. Whoever purchased the plan can assign the correct end-user email by following the directions in this Account Management Help Center article. Note: The user will likely need to sign out and in again in SketchUp Pro to re-activate the entitlement token.

    If the purchasing email contained a typo, though, then the plan owner will need to contact us through the link at the bottom of this page.

  2. The end-user signed in with the wrong email address. It’s common for one person to have multiple emails, so this happens frequently. Just click on the profile icon in SketchUp, sign out, and sign back in again with the assigned email address..

  3. The end-user can’t sign in because of a sign-in issue. If so, then you can troubleshoot sign-in problems here.

Still having trouble? Contact us and include as much detail as you can - screenshots are great, too! Also, please tell us how we can improve the instructions on this page and include a link to this page.

I have a Classic Licence

SketchUp’s Welcome Window Sign-in email/password field (added in Pro 2019) isn’t tied to any serial number or classic license purchase, so if you have a classic license, signing in isn’t enough to authorize SketchUp - you’ll need to enter your serial number and authorization code. Signing in is still handy, though, because it syncs your 3D Warehouse and Extension Warehouse accounts.

This is a non-functioning license for demonstration purposes.This is a non-functioning license for demonstration purposes.

To enter your serial number and authorization code, you’ll need to find the “Classic” tab next to the Subscription tab in SketchUp’s Welcome Window (Help > Welcome to SketchUp). This article has instructions if you get stuck.

Did you run into any trouble adding your license? You can troubleshoot license error messages in our License Troubleshooting article, which includes issues such as when the license entered belongs to a different year, or what to do if you need to upgrade your license to the new year’s version, which you can do in the License Manager.

Still having trouble? Contact us and include as much detail as you can - purchase amount, date, and any numbers we sent you in emails. Screenshots are great, too! Also, if you’d like to tell us how we can improve the instructions on this page, please include a link to this page with your feedback.

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