How to manage software licenses with Easy Digital Downloads

Decide what each purchase grants before changing settings. Choose whether a key expires, how many sites or installations it can activate, whether customers can deactivate and move it, and whether renewals are manual or recurring.

Write down what happens after a refund, failed renewal, or expired term. This prevents support problems later, especially when a customer changes domains or uses a staging site.

EDD core is enough if you only need to sell a downloadable software file and record orders. It is not enough for a proper licensing service: activation limits, licence status, expiry dates, activation logs, renewal forms, and remote validation require a licensing extension or custom development.

You can manually email keys or store them in order notes, but that approach does not reliably prevent reuse, track active sites, or revoke access after a refund. It is only sensible for a small, low-risk catalogue where you accept manual support work.

Install and activate a software licensing extension, then open Downloads > Settings > Extensions > Software Licensing. Review the activation behaviour and renewal options before enabling products. The extension adds a licensing area to individual download products rather than applying keys to every EDD product automatically.

If your software needs to activate or validate itself, configure the product to use the extension’s API and make sure the software sends a consistent site or system identifier. Keep this integration separate from the store’s checkout code.

Edit the product under Downloads > All Downloads and enable Create licenses for this product. In the licensing settings, set the activation limit, licence length, current software version, and any upgrade path. Add the {license_keys} tag to the purchase receipt if you want the key included in the customer email.

Do not assume a newly generated key is already active. New keys start as inactive and become active only after a customer or administrator activates them. If you sell a bundle, configure the parent product carefully because bundle and child licences have separate activation behaviour.

Use Downloads > Licenses to search keys, view status, inspect activation logs, extend or disable a key, and manage active sites. Customers can manage their sites from the account area when that option is available. A refunded or revoked purchase can disable its key, while an expired key cannot be activated until it is renewed.

If licensing was added after you already had sales, use the missing-licences tool under Downloads > Tools or generate a licence from the individual order. Take a backup before bulk changes, and do not delete keys casually because deletion is irreversible.

Enable renewals in the Software Licensing settings. You can add the [edd_renewal_form] shortcode to a page, allow renewal from checkout, and create renewal emails under Downloads > Emails > Add Email > Add License Renewal Notice. If you use recurring payments, its subscription emails take precedence for associated licences.

Place a test order and check the receipt, key activation, activation-limit error, deactivation, update check, expiry, renewal, and refund behaviour. The Friday failure to avoid is a valid product update being rejected because the customer’s domain was never activated, the key expired, or the update file was not assigned to the product.

Fast way: use Easy Digital Downloads Software Licensing, enable licensing only on the products that need it, set the activation limit and term, add the receipt tag, configure renewal notices, and run one complete test purchase. It is the practical choice when you need built-in key generation, activation, tracking, and renewal workflows rather than a custom licence server.