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.

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

If you have your activation key, enter it and click the Activate button. Mathematica 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 you obtained Mathematica from your own organization and the latter has an Unlimited Site license for it, you may be able to activate your product copy with your organization’s credentials.

Online and manual activation both require an activation key. When you purchase Mathematica, you are provided with this key via email.

Alternatively, you may access keys for registered products through your Wolfram User Portal. 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 Mathematica from this table and you will be directed to a page that contains your activation key for this product.

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication method that allows users to authenticate on multiple systems, applications or websites by using a single set of credentials (username/email and password).

Click Sign In to start activating Mathematica using your organization’s credentials. Wolfram’s SSO sign-in page opens in your default web browser.

Enter the email address you have with your organization and click Continue. You will be directed to your organization’s authentication webpage. If your organization’s authentication webpage does not open, see this support article to troubleshoot.

Enter and submit your login credentials with the organization. Wolfram’s “Sign In Successful” message will then appear in your browser.

Return to the Activation dialog in Mathematica and wait for the activation to complete. Once done, Mathematica’s startup screen appears.

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 recommended way is to use the Wolfram User Portal to generate a password. This is accessed when you click 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.

Alternatively, to get to the Password Generator Form, you can go directly to the Wolfram User Portal and click the "Need to activate manually" link in the Activation Keys section. This will let you generate a password on a different device.

On the "Password Generator" form, enter your activation key and Math ID number.

Generate the password by clicking the button.

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

If you are unable to manually activate Mathematica, contact Wolfram Support with your activation key, MathID and the password generated in the step above.

If your license is obtained from MathLM, use this method for activation. MathLM 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.