Activation key error

Questions
1

I’m encountering an issue when trying to activate my self-hosted n8n Community Edition with a free license key I just received.
I recently got an email from n8n with a “free license key to unlock selected paid features.”
When I first attempted to enter this key, I received an error stating “The activation key is in the wrong format.” I later discovered this was due to an invisible space introduced by my browser’s translation extension while copying the key from the email.
After meticulously correcting the key by removing the extra space, the error message changed back to: “Activation failed. The activation key has already been used on this instance.” This happens despite the key being brand new and just received.
It seems the initial, malformed attempt might have marked the key as “used” prematurely, or there’s an issue on the license server side. I am unable to proceed with activating the selected paid features.Describe the problem/error/question

What is the error message (if any)?

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Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version:
  • Database (default: SQLite):
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app):
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2

This is a common problem where an invalid key format can lead the license server to mark the key as “used” incorrectly on your instance.

Solution: Reach out to n8n support at [email protected] directly from the email account you used to request the license. Share with them your license key and the issue. They can reset the activation on their end.

To prevent delays: Place your instance ID (Settings > Environment variables as N8N_INSTANCE_ID) and error details in your email.

If this answer is of help, please mark it as a solution.
thankyou

3

hi there @trade_titan

try running this command on the CLI or your terminal

n8n license:clear

it will Clear your existing license from n8n’s database and reset n8n to default features

and try to actiave the key again

if that still does not work then i suggest for you to contact [email protected]

hope it helps!

4

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