Once the installation of Mathematica is complete, upon first launching it you will be presented with the Wolfram Product Activation dialog. There are three methods to activate Mathematica: online activation, manual activation, and connecting to a license server running an appropriate version of MathLM. If you have not yet installed Mathematica, please see "Installing Mathematica".

The default method of activation is online activation. The other activation methods are accessed via the Other ways to activate button.

Online and manual activation both require an activation key. When you purchase Mathematica, you are provided with this key. If you purchased a hard copy of the software, the activation key is provided with your license agreement card or the installation CD. If you downloaded the software online, the key is provided via email.

Alternatively, you may access keys for registered products through the Wolfram User Portal (https://user.wolfram.com). To access your activation key, begin by logging in with your Wolfram ID and Password.

Once logged in, navigate to the My Products and Services tab. In this section you will find a table that lists your Wolfram products.

Select the Mathematica product of interest from this table and you will be directed to a page that contains your activation key for this product.

This is the easiest and recommended way to activate Mathematica for most users. The only requirement is that your computer is connected to the internet.

In the field provided, enter your activation key and click the Activate button. The Wolfram System will then automatically generate a Math ID and retrieve a password online through a web service. This process is fully automated and upon successful activation Mathematica will launch.

If the machine on which you are using Mathematica does not have an internet connection, or if you are experiencing problems with online activation, then you can activate Mathematica manually.

To begin manual activation, click the button Other ways to activate. Then select Manual Activation.

A Math ID number is issued for manual activation and is displayed in the resulting dialog. There are two main steps to activate manually:

    Step 1: Obtain your password

    Step 2: Enter the activation key and password

You can receive your password in one of two ways. In either case, you will need your activation key and Math ID number.

The first option is to contact Wolfram Research. Contact information can be found by clicking the "Wolfram Research" link.

The second way is to use the Wolfram User Portal to generate a password. This is accessed when you click on the link "online password generator". Please note that you will need to sign in to the Wolfram User Portal to access this form. If you do not have a Portal account, you may create one on the Sign In page. On the "Password Generator" form, enter your activation key and Math ID number to generate a password.

Once you have obtained your password, just enter it along with your activation key into the Wolfram Product Activation dialog to activate Mathematica. Upon successful activation, Mathematica will launch.

If your license is obtained from MathLM 11, use this method for activation. MathLM 11 must be installed on the license server and activated before client machines with Mathematica can be activated. Please see "Installing MathLM" for more information.

To begin, click the button Other ways to activate. Then select Connect to a Network License Server. In the resulting dialog, enter the name or IP address of the server on which MathLM is running and click the Activate button. Upon successful activation, Mathematica will launch.