KB: Resolve License Renewal Failed and License Usage Issues in Altium Designer

Solution Details

Common symptoms of renewal and license usage failures

Users may encounter one or more of the following issues in Altium Designer:

• Warning: “License Renewal Failed. The License Manager was not able to renew your license.”
• Warning: “License has expired. Please contact your Administrator for license renewal.”
• License cannot be released or still appears in use after release
• Use button is grayed out

Root causes affecting licensing, allocation, and caching

These issues are typically caused by one or more of the following conditions:

• Corrupted or outdated local license cache stored in C:\ProgramData\Altium\*_Security
• Stale authentication or user session data
• Automatic Leasing enabled on expired or unused licenses, leading to allocation conflicts
• Firewall, VPN, or restricted network settings blocking access to licensing services
• Antivirus or endpoint protection software blocking or quarantining required Altium files

Recommended actions to restore license operation

• Refresh the user session by signing out and signing back in
• Clear the local license cache by deleting *_Security folders
• Disable Automatic Leasing on expired or unused licenses (Administrator action)
• Check antivirus software for blocked or quarantined files and restore access
• Verify that network, VPN, or firewall settings allow required connections

Step-by-step procedure to resolve license issues

If Altium Designer displays a warning indicating license renewal failure.

Try these steps:

1. In Altium Designer, click your profile icon and select Sign Out.
2. Sign back in using your Altium account credentials.
3. If the issue persists, release any active licenses.
4. Close Altium Designer completely.
5. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Altium\ (enable hidden files if needed).

6. Delete all folders matching *_Security (one may exist per installed version).

7. Restart Altium Designer and sign in again.

Notes:

• The *_Security folder contains cached license and session data and is automatically re-created when Altium Designer starts.
• Multiple installed versions of Altium Designer will each create their own security folder.
• This solution may also resolve the following issues:
  • License cannot be released or continues to appear In Use by the same user after release
  • Use option is grayed out

If the warning indicates that the license has expired.

Automatic Leasing needs to be disabled on all old and unused licenses on the dashboard by following these steps:

1. As group administrator for your organization go to Company Dashboard » Licenses.
2. Select an expired or unused license.
3. Scroll to the License Allocation section and click Manage.
4. Disable Automatic Leasing.

5. If needed, disable Show only active licenses to view expired licenses.

Notes:

• Automatic Leasing is disabled by default for new licenses but may remain enabled on older configurations.
• This documentation provides additional information on working with license allocations: Allocating Licenses

If the warning indicates an invalid client version.

The issue may be caused by security software blocking required files or restricted network access.

Check for antivirus or security software interference:

• Check whether any Altium .dll files have been quarantined and restore them.
• Add exclusions for Altium installation and data directories.

Check for network or connectivity restrictions:

• Verify that required ports and endpoints for Altium services are accessible.
• Temporarily disconnect VPN to determine if it is causing the issue.

References

• License Management in Altium Designer – Provides an overview of licensing models, usage, and behavior.
  
• KB: Cannot use an on-demand license renewed but showing outdated subscription date – Explains the role of *_Security folders and why clearing cache resolves licensing inconsistencies.
• KB: Allocate/assign license seats to users – Details how license allocation works and how administrators manage access.
• KB: Prevent multiple license seats being used on one installation instance – Describes how Automatic Leasing and allocations can cause licenses to appear in use.
• KB: Cannot install or use Altium possibly due to url and ports being blocked – Covers firewall, VPN, and network restrictions affecting licensing services.