This article guides you through the steps to activate Steinberg-Licensing-based software on a computer without internet connection. You will learn how to create a transferable file online, with which you can permanently install and activate licenses on an offline computer.

⚠️ Offline activation is intended as a workaround for users who need to activate a license on a computer on which Internet access cannot be set up at all or only under great circumstances. In most cases, it is much easier to temporarily connect an offline computer to the Internet to perform the activation online.

Video tutorial

Watch the video tutorial or follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Step-by-step instructions

Requirements

In addition to the computer without internet access, you will need…

a computer with internet access,
a Steinberg Licensing-based license,
and a removable storage device.

Tip: If possible, place both computers next to each other. This makes transferring the required files much easier.

➊ Online: Activate the license

You can skip this step, if the license you want to use on the offline computer has already been activated on an online computer.

On your online computer, open the Steinberg Download Assistant and sign in.
In the top left corner, click on “Enter your Download Access Code”.
Enter the Download Access Code you've received after purchasing your Steinberg software and click “OK”.
A message appears, letting you know that you are now entitled to use the licensed software.
Open the Steinberg Activation Manager.
Click on the red “Activate” button next to the entry of your Steinberg software.

➋ Online: Download required installers

Download the required installers:
- Download the Steinberg Activation Manager for your platform: macOS | Windows
- Download the software you want to use on the offline computer via the Steinberg Download Assistant (recommended) or the corresponding download page.
Copy the downloaded installers to a removable storage device, for example, a USB flash drive.

➌ Offline: Generate a request file

Connect the removable storage device on which you've stored the installers to the offline computer.
Install the Steinberg Activation Manager and open it.
Click on the gray "Yes, start offline activation" button.
Alternatively, click on the profile icon in the top right corner to open the account menu and select “Offline Activation…”.
(The computer must be offline, and you need to be logged out to see these options.)
Click “Continue”, and then click on “Generate Request”.
Save the request file under a name of your choice on the removable storage device.
The file name extension is: .smtglic

➍ Online: Generate a license file

Connect the removable storage device to the online computer.
Open the Steinberg Activation Manager.
Select “Generate License File…” from the account menu in the top right corner.
(You need to be logged in to see this option)
Click on “Load Request File”.
Select the request file you've saved on the removable storage device before.
Select the license you want to activate on the offline computer.
Click on “Generate and save”.
Save the license file on the storage device and click on “Finish”.
The file name extension is: .smtgreq

➎ Offline: Install the license file

Connect the removable storage device to the offline computer.
If the Steinberg Activation Manager is still open, click “Next” and then press “Install”.
In case, you had to re-open the Steinberg Activation Manager, select “Offline activation…” from the account menu again, click on “Continue”. Now, the option “Install Licenses (offline computer)” is selected, and you can click on “Install”.
Select the license file on the removable storage device
Activate your license.
The license is now being listed as activated in the “Steinberg Activation Manager” on your offline computer.

➏ Offline: Install your Steinberg application

If you haven't yet, install the Steinberg application from the removable storage device on your offline computer.

Since you've already activated the license, you can run the software right after the installation has been finished.