Download 1,000,000+ High-Quality Assets from the Adobe Stock Free Collection

How to Move Creative Cloud or CS6 from One Computer to Another

You are currently browsing this article's comments (below). If you would like to read the full story, then you can see the complete post here:
How to Move Adobe CC or CS6 Between Computers, or PC to Mac

GET FREE ADOBE BOOKS

Sign up for our popular newsletter and we’ll send you 30 great ebooks to learn all major Adobe tools at no cost!

Thank you for subscribing! We hope you enjoy the newsletter and your free Adobe books... Click here to see the books now, and start downloading and reading!

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Share This

Download 1,000,000+ Royalty-Free Images from the Adobe Stock Free Collection

573 thoughts on “How to Move Creative Cloud or CS6 from One Computer to Another”

  1. I’m trying to figure out if the cross-grade is even necessary if I want to install the next version brand new on a different platform. I have a version of CS4 Master Collection for Mac, which isn’t installed and never has been. I’d like to purchase the Windows upgrade version of CS5(.5) Production Premium and install it on a Windows machine that has never had any version of Creative Suite on it.

    Why is the cross-grade process even necessary at all, if when I get through the CS5 install I can just do the process to enter a CS4 serial to verify for the upgrade?

    Is it because Windows upgrade installs of CS5 will ONLY accept previous Windows serials for upgrade? Or should I be able just to give it the Mac serial of CS4 and it will install?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hi Jason, thanks for your question – and that’s a very good one… In theory, your scenario could work without submitting a crossgrade – but in practice, your mileage may vary.

      The difference now with CS5 is that the upgrade installer should accept the serial number from a qualifying earlier version on a different platform or language, which simplifies the cross-platform and cross-language process… However, for some reason (complexity?) this does not always work, in which case you would need to contact Adobe customer support to hopefully fix it.

      So the answer to your question really depends on whether you want to go with the established, tried-and-true method outlined in the article above, or whether you want to take a shot with the new set-up where in principle you might not need a crossgrade application when moving from CS2/CS3/CS4 on Windows to CS5 on a Mac, or vice versa.

      In both cases it’s basically no cost, and you can do everything online to avoid time-consuming phone calls.

      So really it’s up to you, but either way you should be able to work it out using these techniques if you run into any difficulties.

      Hope this helps!

  2. Just a quick hint for fellow Mac users, because I spent hours trying to find this.

    If you need your serial number from your mac because you lost it, search for a app simply called “Mac Product Key Finder”. Yes, that is the name of the app. Run that and it will display it, as well as other serial numbers you currently have on your mac.

    Also, just to be sure it is in fact the CS5 serial, open up Illustrator CS5 and go to “Help- System Info”. Scroll down a little and this will display most, but not all of the serial number. That “Mac Product Key Finder” app will display the last few numbers needed.

    Hope this helps.

    Reply
    • Hello Daniel, thank you for your question. The first thing is to try it on your other computer or reinstallation – if it works, and that’s all you need, then you should be okay.

      If it doesn’t work, or if you want to be 100% safe, then quickly reinstall the software and go through the deactivation, then uninstall it again. It takes longer but that way you’d be sure.

      Bottom line, you should always deactivate before uninstalling if you can… Read more about the question here.

  3. If I reformatted a my computer, is there any way to disable Adobe CS at this point?

    Thanks for all of the great info,
    James

    Reply
  4. I want to make sure I understand what you wrote about CS5.5 licensing.

    As I understand, Adobe’s CS5.5 license lets me install the suite on two different computers as long as I don’t use it on both at the same time and as long as the computers use the same OS (Apple or Windows). What I am not allowed to do is install CS5.5 on my Mac and on my Windows 7 machine.

    Did I get that right? If so, does Adobe offer a discount for the same CS5.5 suite to be used by one user on a different OS?

    Thank you,
    Scott

    Reply
    • Greetings Scott, welcome to the multiplatform world. There are solutions you can navigate with Creative Suite 5, and some of the answers on the previous page of comments here should help you…

      See in particular this comment and response, and this one too.

  5. Are there any issues with upgrading and cross-grading from a Teacher / Student edition Dreamweaver 8 / Fireworks 8 software package on an old laptop to a new MacBook Pro, upgrading to CS5.5?

    I’m concerned that the teacher / student edition i have may not be worthy of an upgrade because it cost much less than the full version.

    Will I be prompted to upgrade to a full version dreamweaver 8 before the upgrade / cross-grade?

    Reply
    • Yes, this is true – as mentioned in the article and comments above, first you do the upgrade and then you do the crossgrade – and for fastest and most reliable results, all of it can be completed online.

      If instead you’re buying new and full for the first time, and want your CS5.5 software to run on both Windows and Mac then check out getting an Adobe volume license, even if only for one copy.

  6. I’ve been told that you can use the same Windows installation disc on a Mac with new serials, which sounds rubbish to me because I’ve never had that luxury. Just wanted to know if that is possible, or do I need a Mac-specific disc?

    Reply
    • You’re right Cain, for Creative Suite that is definitely not true. The discs are specific for Windows or Mac OS.

      However, for some other Adobe products that is true – notably Lightroom 3 and Photoshop Elements 9… those discs contain the installation packages for both platforms.

      For Creative Suite though, you don’t need to order new discs. So long as you have purchased the serial numbers for the operating system you want, you can just digitally download the product for either platform and enter your valid license key to permanently activate it.

  7. I have CS5 Web Premium installed on my PC. Though, I just got a Mac and was eager to try out the Adobe suite on it. Before I had purchased CS5, I was told by an Adobe representative that I would be able to swap the software to a mac when the time has come.

    The time has come, and much to my dismay, I am not allowed to swap my software as CS5.5 has come out. So now my only choice is to upgrade to CS5.5. I just don’t understand why there is no way to accommodate the swap. Please can someone shed some light on this disappointing discovery.

    Reply
    • Hi Christopher, sorry if Adobe wasn’t clearer about their policy when you made your initial purchase… The difficulty is that once a new version comes out, the company doesn’t carry, issue, or sell the older one(s) any longer – that has been their operating procedure for many years.

      So the challenge is that to do a crossgrade to change platforms, they need to send a new copy of the Creative Suite for the other operating system. Since they no longer sell CS5 or earlier, the only new software they can send is Creative Suite 5.5. And if you’re not already on CS5.5, then that would technically qualify as an upgrade from the release you have.

      Apologies if this doesn’t work out in your case, and it is a policy that does cause some questions from time to time – but hopefully that explains at least a little on the mechanics and logistics of the situation.

      It wouldn’t hurt, however, to try asking again with a careful explanation of your circumstance… It could be helpful too if you happened to have a record of your original conversation. Best of luck.

      PS – One last note, for those who would like to make a Creative Suite 5 or 5.5 purchase that will run on both the PC and Mac – it’s not widely known or understood, but check out a CS5.5 volume (or business) license, which are multi-platform.

  8. Hi and thanks to all for the helpful articles, comments, etc.

    Im trying to understand some things so i can make an informed decision…

    I currently have Adobe creative suite premium education version installed on a PC. I have all the discs, serial numbers, etc.

    1. I am looking at purchasing either a newer pc, my understanding is i just uninstall it from my pc and reinstall it onto my new computer (or do i have to upgrade to the latest Cs5 version?)

    2. My other thought is i would also rather buy a mac instead, through crossgrading im hoping i can get away with not having to purchase the full version but just upgrading to Cs5.5 (is this correct?)

    3. A final thought, i’ve always had an idea of down the road of using my pc for internet connection and a mac to use the programs, im wondering how this would affect any future upgrades/etc down the road

    thanks and have a great day

    Reply
    • Hello David, thanks for your comments and the kind words. Your first two questions should be answered by the article above, so just to confirm:

      1. You can move from PC to PC easily enough by following the steps given – deactivating, uninstalling, and then reinstalling and reactivating.

      2. To move from a PC to a Mac, you would need to do the cross-grade to CS5.5 – which is outlined above on how you can do it all online.

      3. If you want to be able to run the software on both Windows and Mac OS (multiple platforms), you would need to purchase or upgrade to an Adobe volume license, it’s the only way we know of. This also can all be done online with a credit card, and you receive two serial numbers, one for PC and one for Mac… And anybody can upgrade there from a regular retail license to a volume/business license, no problem.

      Hope this helps!

  9. Hello,

    The question I have is how to discover if the current installation of CS5 is considered my first activation, following an attempt to uninstall the software.

    I have successfully reinstalled CS5 Standard on my MacBook Pro, after trying for a very long time to uninstall it, following numerous crashes when attempting to open Bridge, Photoshop, etc. The uninstall app was an alias, & never seemed to work properly. It frequently only reported an error.

    The original app, found in a Time Machine back-up, also didn’t work. It only pointed me to the Adobe CS Cleaner Tool, which I tried.

    Also ran Terminal commands (sudo Install.app/Contents/MacOS/Install –mode=silent) which resulted in the statement “No such file or directory”.

    However, I was able to get verification of execution with the Adobe CS Cleaner Tool log, which reported that CS5 was “successfully removed.”

    Restarted the computer, & tried to open Bridge, etc. just to see how it would respond. Of course, it failed to open. It did give the message to download Application Manager.

    But even after the Application Manager installer was initialized, that failed to respond with anything more than a notice that I had encountered more errors.

    Finally, I found your site, & learned that I should have deactivated before uninstalling. But your site also seemed to indicate that reinstalling CS5 might work. My thought was that I could deactivate & uninstall after the reinstallation.

    But now, with the software working, my question is whether I have lost one activation already? How does one determine which activation is installed? Should I deactivate & uninstall the current CS5, & then reinstall again? Or should I leave well enough alone, now that CS5 is working?

    Thanks very much for your advice. My apologies for a long explanation. As you might imagine, it’s been a long, tedious, & frustrating process.

    Reply
    • Greetings EJ, thank you for your in-depth explanation. No – fortunately since it’s the same hardware, and the same machine, you haven’t have lost any activations… So you should be fine (here’s the confirmation), and now you could proceed in whichever manner would serve you best. You could either deactivate and uninstall from your current system, and then install anew on whatever computer you like – or, you could keep what you have, and install on another machine for your second activation.

      If you have any difficulties, please just contact Adobe Customer Support – they can easily tell you what you are showing in their database for activations for your product, and reset them if necessary.

  10. I purchased CS2 for Windows (student licensing) while I was in college, but since I’ve graduated my Windows computer crashed – so I replaced it with a Mac.

    Would I still be able to do the “crossgrade” even though I am no longer a student?

    Reply
  11. I have Adobe Master Collection CS5 for Windows, now I would like to upgrade it to Master Collection CS5.5 for Mac. What should I do?

    The only way for me to buy is through a reseller. I explained my situation to one and they said that they have no idea, they can only provide me an upgrade to any one platform.

    Should I buy an upgrade to CS5.5 Master Collection for Mac? And while installing, use my Windows serial key (old)?

    Reply
  12. I’ve got Adobe Master Collection CS5 (Win), and would like to move to Mac – so I need to buy CS5.5, but the question is:

    1. Do I buy Adobe MC CS5 upgrade to CS5.5 for Windows, and then ask for a product swap?

    or

    2. Do I buy Adobe MC CS5.5 Mac version upgrade, and then enter my Windows serial number when it asks for the previous version.

    Reply
    • Welcome Dhawal, it’s possible you could try it without Adobe being involved – but that would be rather uncertain (and thus risky). As far as we are aware, the only way to do a platform swap is through Adobe directly…

      And for most people, that means buying the upgrade on the same platform, and then switching operating systems with their assistance. That’s also the order recommended in our article above.

      So please see Adobe’s official crossgrade page for the instructions all around the world, and how to contact them if that doesn’t answer your question or address your situation.

      PS – There is one other possibility for someone who needs to change platforms or who wants to upgrade to both operating systems (Windows plus Mac OS) – and that is to purchase an Adobe business (or volume) license… Anybody can do it (even one copy and not just businesses), but it may not be available in all countries.

  13. If you look inside the Adobe program on your computer using “Help > System Info…”, you will only see part of the serial number FYI.

    Full serial numbers are six groups of four digits separated with a hyphen… Example: 1111-2222-3333-4444-5555-6666

    Reply
  14. Hi, I’m in a real bind and very disappointed and upset. I just upgraded my Mac to the new OS X Lion. But unbeknownst to me after this new operating system finished installation, it told me that some of my applications will not be compatible. So, low and behold the main applications I use, my Adobe CS2 (MS Office) no longer work. It will cost me $700 to upgrade to CS5.5 O_o

    I had no idea about this Rosetta thing and that CS2 used this, which isn’t supported on OS Lion. I was ready to cut my losses with the new o/s and downgrade back to the original o/s Leopard. However, I am now scared to do that, because it looks like it will erase everything. Even though I have my files backed up on my external HD. I’m scared it will erase all of my purchased downloaded apps and erase CS2. I’ve installed CS2 on my smaller iMac, which met its demise over a year ago and I can’t afford to fix. By the time I purchased my larger iMac back in ’09, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to install CS2 on the newer mac. I tried the install and thankfully I was able to install the CS2 apps on the newer iMac.

    Now, my question is if I downgraded my newer iMac back down to Leopard, will I be able to reinstall CS2, if need be? I never fathomed upgrading my op system would turn into such a huge problem. When I had upgraded my smaller iMac to Leopard (when that was new system at the time), everything went smoothly. It’s a total different story now and to be honest I’m very upset with Apple and Adobe. A $30 upgrade suddenly turned into a $700 upgrade with one pop-up message after installing OS Lion.

    There really needs to be a clear bold-letter warning label listed by the name of both products (Adobe CS2 or Adobe homepage and Mac OS X Lion) saying, “this will not work because Adobe runs Rosetta and Mac OS X Lion doesn’t support Rosetta!” This needs to be on the very front page. I’m just very disappointed and I don’t know what to do now. I use Photoshop/Illustrator daily now and I’m out of commission. :’O(

    Sorry if I posted this in the wrong spot, it’s late and I’m tired. Thank you and appreciate any help you can provide me.

    Reply
    • Hey there Gigi, sorry to hear of your difficulties with upgrading your Mac OS. Mac OS X Lion is brand new, and Adobe CS2 is over six years old now, and it did not run natively on the Mac Intel platform – it used Rosetta at the time to run its PowerPC code on Macs with Intel processors. This changed with CS3 when Adobe went to native Universal.

      Adobe no longer sells older versions of Creative Suite, so there is no warning label for them. And it’s really Apple that has changed the platform. However Adobe has tested CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, and CS5.5 on Lion, and in a complete Knowledgebase article on the subject, they write:

      Rosetta not supported

      CS2 and earlier versions of Adobe products require Rosetta to run on newer Intel-based Mac systems. These older versions are not supported on Mac OS 10.7 as it doesn’t support Rosetta.

      Apple removing Rosetta has been somewhat controversial, as it does cause old applications depending on it to no longer be supported – some say this is the cost of progress.

      As far as CS5.5 goes and its compatibility with Mac OS X Lion (which came out later), Adobe has written about that too. There are some issues but nothing too major.

      Your best bet if you want to continue running CS2 is to move back to your prior stable operating system, which you knew worked. Obviously make as many backups as you can first, and have your older Adobe installaton disks ready to reinstall after you finish.

      One other possibility is setting up your system to dual-boot Lion and Snow Leopard.

      Otherwise, just upgrade to CS5.5 and you’ll have a better product and save time. Anyway, CS2 is the oldest version that still qualifies for discounted upgrade pricing from Adobe – but aware that this will likely change and disappear once CS6 comes out.

      Good luck!

  15. @ProDesignTools

    Thanks for helping me out. I put up a forum post regarding the problem I am facing with Adobe sales of India; they don’t even recognize the retail version of Adobe products – they are saying that it’s an OEM version type and said only a volume license could be swapped.

    I can’t explain how I am feeling with their replies to my mail, I can’t even imagine that from @adobe.com. If you would like to read, please visit the Adobe Forums post with the topic ‘Frustrated with Adobe sales India.’

    Reply
  16. I even contacted customer service via call and chat, both checked my version of CS5 Master Collection – they said it’s retail/commercial version and can be swapped. I saved the chat transcript.

    Thanks for your link for that swap page, I even posted that as reference.

    Reply
  17. @ProDesignTools

    In Christopher’s case, wouldn’t he be able to download the CS5 trial for Mac and then simply do a “crossgrade” to get a Mac licence?

    (I’m assuming there won’t be a great deal of difference between CS5 and CS5.5, and so an upgrade might be a better bet at the next full release, e.g. CS6)

    Reply
  18. Hey guys. I have a new question. I don’t own a Mac, but I’m looking at buying a new copy of the Mac software off eBay because it is cheaper. It’s CS5.5.

    Would I still be able to do the crossgrade for my PC for the 5.5 version, even though I have not opened or installed the Mac software?

    Reply
    • Hi Erin, we do not recommend buying any kind of software from eBay – particularly Adobe software – even if “new”… It has been reported that at least 90 percent of the software sold on eBay is fake!

      Besides, before performing any cross-grade, the software you have needs to be registered with an authentic serial number (and thus installed) – which requires opening the package, at which point it would be too late to return in the most likely case that it’s not genuine, or worse, unsafe with malware.

      We have heard plenty of horror stories from people who attempted to buy from eBay or Craigslist elsewhere in the comments on our site, so really it’s just not worth taking the chance to save a few bucks… If money is tight, your better bet may be to register to take a course at a local college, which will enrich your education as well as potentially qualify you to buy the CS5.5 Student Edition at up to 80% off the regular price.

  19. How do you go about re-installing CS5 upgrade when upgrading to a new computer? The upgrade always looks for an older version of PS and of course there will not be one on the new computer.

    Reply
    • Great question Ropa. What happens when installing Adobe upgrade products is if you don’t have a prior version on the computer, then it will simply ask you to manually enter the serial number of your previous release – and that serves the same purpose…

      Therefore, you don’t need to have both the older and current versions installed on your new machine if you don’t want to. However, you certainly can if that’s what you want to do (although you’re not able to sell the prior version).

      See more details about this process.

      Of course, in all cases you also need to enter the valid license key from your new release, whether upgrade or full.

  20. Hi I am wondering how Adobe knows if I am running the programs at the same time – often I will be doing two things at once (on laptop and desktop) just to try and get things done quicker. Would this be possible? or do you have to go online to use the products each time you open them up? Thanks

    Reply
  21. Hey, I got a question. I’m currently in a program called Digital Media and I.T., so I’m going to be purchasing the Adobe Creative Suite 5; however, at my college, we’re allowed to purchase one per semester (at a student discount), but I am thinking of switching to a Mac next semester, and do that PC/Mac interchangeability thing.

    As of right now, the only class I use Macs is Web Design. So should I buy the CS5 and install on my computer now? or wait till I get the MacBook Pro?

    Reply
    • Greetings Andy, thanks for your question. We see no reason to wait – once you buy the software it’s yours for life, so why not get started with it today if you’re getting that huge Adobe student discount

      Also, if you’re changing hardware later, just make sure you swap the CS5.5 software platform before CS6 comes out down the road, and then you can get the “crossgrade” described above for free, even with the student edition.

      Lastly, the product works equally well with the same functions on both operating system platforms, so long as the computers meet the minimum system requirements, including recommended graphics cards, etc.

      Hope that helps! Feel free to post back if you have further questions.

Leave a Comment or Question


Receive over 30 Adobe Books plus Our Newsletter, Free!
DOWNLOAD FREE ADOBE BOOKS

Download Free Adobe Books Sign up for our popular newsletter and we’ll send you 30 great ebooks to learn all major Adobe tools free!

Thanks for subscribing! We hope you enjoy the newsletter and your free Adobe books... Click here to see the books now, and start downloading and reading!

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

And don't miss: The New CC 2024 Direct Download Links
Boost your content creation with 1,000,000 free images from Adobe Stock

Don't miss: Download 1 million FREE Adobe Stock assets!

Start downloading instantly from the Adobe Stock Free Collection:

DOWNLOAD NOW

This message will close in:

GET FREE ADOBE BOOKS

Download Dozens of Free Adobe Books Sign up for our popular newsletter and we’ll send you 30 great ebooks to learn all major Adobe tools at no cost!

Thank you for subscribing! We hope you enjoy the newsletter and your free Adobe books... Click here to see the books now, and start downloading and reading!

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Thanks for sharing!
Subscribe to ProDesignTools for Adobe updates:
15.8kFans
7.2kFollowers
2.5kRSS
DOWNLOAD FREE ADOBE BOOKS

Download Free Adobe Books Sign up for our popular newsletter and we’ll send you 30 great ebooks to learn all major Adobe tools free!

Thanks for subscribing! We hope you enjoy the newsletter and your free Adobe books... Click here to see the books now, and start downloading and reading!

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.