Autodesk licensing errors read like a dozen unrelated faults — “A licensing error occurred opening this product”, “License checkout timed out”, “The security system (softlock license manager) is not functioning”, “The License manager is not functioning or is improperly installed”, “Unable to connect with Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service”. They are mostly the same three broken components wearing different hats.
Once you know which component owns which message, the guessing stops. This page maps every common message to its cause, then gives the repair procedures in the order that costs you the least time.
The three components that cause almost everything
Autodesk splits desktop licensing across separate installable components, and which one you have depends on your release year. This is the detail that sends people down the wrong path more than any other.
| Component | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service | 2020 and newer — all of them | Manages licence activation on the machine |
| Autodesk Single Sign-On Component (AdSSO) | 2020–2023 only | Handles the sign-in handshake |
| Autodesk Identity Manager | 2024 and newer | Replaces AdSSO for sign-in |
If you are on a 2024 or later release and you go hunting for “Autodesk Single Sign-On Component” in Programs and Features, you will not find it, and you may conclude something is missing. Nothing is missing — it was replaced. The reverse trap catches people on 2022: there is no Identity Manager to reinstall.
Message → likely cause
| Message | Where to start |
|---|---|
| “A licensing error occurred opening this product” | Desktop Licensing Service, then sign-in component |
| “License checkout timed out. What do you want to do?” | Desktop Licensing Service, then service start-up timing |
| “The License manager is not functioning or is improperly installed” (2020+) | Desktop Licensing Service |
| “The security system (softlock license manager) is not functioning or is improperly installed” | FlexNet service and trusted-storage files (older, standalone) |
| “Unable to connect with Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service” | Service not running, or blocked by security software |
| “Network License Not Available. Error [0.0.0]” | The licence server, not your machine |
| “No active subscription or trial could be found” | Assignment in Autodesk Account, then sign-in cache |
| “The product license is no longer available. Please save your work and shutdown.” | Seat reclaimed or connection lost mid-session |
| “Your subscription has expired” | Autodesk Account first — this one is often literally true |
One important exception before you start repairing anything. On standalone serial-number licences for 2020 and newer, a licensing error can appear simply because the machine is offline. Reconnect it to the internet and launch again. It costs nothing to rule out and it is embarrassingly common.
Fix 1 — Repair the Desktop Licensing Service
Start here for every message in the table except [0.0.0], softlock, and the two account-level ones. It is the fix Autodesk lists first for licensing errors, checkout timeouts and licence-manager failures alike.
On Windows:
- Close all Autodesk products.
- Open File Explorer and go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing. - Right-click
uninstall.exeand choose Run as administrator. If you skip the elevation, the folder will not empty and you will assume the step failed. - Wait until the folder is genuinely empty.
- Download and install the current Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service.
- Launch the product.
On macOS: download Autodesk’s UninstallAdskLicensingService.sh, open Terminal, type sh followed by a space, drag the script into the window and press Enter. Terminal will ask for your Mac password — no characters appear as you type it, which is normal. Then install the current service.
Fix 2 — Repair the sign-in component for your release year
Check the table above first, then do the matching one.
2024 and newer — Autodesk Identity Manager. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features, uninstall Autodesk Identity Manager, reboot, then download and install it again. The reboot is part of Autodesk’s procedure, not a superstition.
2020 to 2023 — Autodesk Single Sign-On Component. Same route: Programs and Features, remove Autodesk Single Sign-On Component, install the current update.
Fix 3 — Clear the local sign-in cache
A corrupted login cache produces licensing errors that survive reinstalling everything else, because the bad token is read again each time. Autodesk publishes a reset procedure for the local sign-in cache; run it, then sign in fresh. If you have recently changed your Autodesk password, changed accounts, or been moved between teams, do this one early.
Related to it: the CascadeInfo.cas file is listed as a cause of licensing errors in its own right when corrupted, and re-registering the software with the licensing service rewrites the registration cleanly.
Fix 4 — The service log-on account
If the Desktop Licensing Service has been set to run as a specific user account, checkout can time out. Set it back:
- Type
services.mscinto Windows search and open it. - Find Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service, right-click, Properties.
- Open the Log On tab.
- Set Log on as to Local System account and tick Allow service to interact with desktop.
- Apply, then restart the product.
While you are in Services, confirm the service is actually running and set to start automatically. “Unable to connect with Autodesk Desktop Licensing Service” is frequently exactly what it says.
Fix 5 — Permissions on ProductInformation.pit
This one is invisible unless you go looking, and it explains the classic “works for the administrator, fails for the standard user” pattern.
- Go to
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Adlm. - Right-click
ProductInformation.pit→ Properties → Security → Advanced. - Click Enable inheritance, then OK.
- Launch the software.
If the file has been deleted rather than merely locked down, the situation is worse: Autodesk’s guidance is that all Autodesk programs have to be uninstalled and reinstalled to recreate it.
Fix 6 — Date, time and time zone
A time-zone discrepancy is on Autodesk’s own cause list for licensing errors, and it is the cheapest check on this page. Licence tokens are time-bounded; a clock that is wrong by hours will invalidate a perfectly good licence. Set the clock and time zone to automatic and try again.
Fix 7 — Network access and security software
Subscription licensing needs specific URLs and protocols to be reachable. On a corporate network, a proxy or firewall that blocks one of them produces a checkout timeout that looks like a local fault. Autodesk publishes both the required URL list and a Licensing Support Tool that tests reachability for you — run the tool before you argue with your network administrator, so you arrive with evidence.
Security software is the other half of this. Autodesk maintains a published list of known conflicting applications, and names WatchGuard Panda Adaptive Defense 360 / EDPR explicitly as a product that has been reported to stop the Desktop Licensing Service working. If you run endpoint protection, add Autodesk’s documented exclusions rather than disabling protection permanently.
Fix 8 — The wrong licence type is selected
If your organisation runs a network licence and the product is set to single-user (or the reverse), you will get licensing errors that no amount of component repair touches. Reset the licence type for the product, launch it, and choose the correct option on the Let’s Get Started screen. Autodesk documents this as a standalone cause, and it is worth confirming with whoever administers your licences before you spend an hour repairing services.
The softlock / FlexNet case
“The security system (softlock license manager) is not functioning or is improperly installed” is a different animal. It belongs to the older FlexNet-based mechanism, and the fixes are specific.
Step one — restart the FlexNet service. In Control Panel search for services, open View Local Services, find FlexNet Licensing Service 64, set Startup Type to Automatic, start it if it is stopped, then stop and start it once more for good measure.
Step two — regenerate the trusted-storage files. Turn on hidden files and folders, then delete or move the files beginning with adskflex — for example ADSKFLEX_NUMBERS_TSF.data — from C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet. Start the program; a new _TSF.data file is created and the product will ask you to register again.
Step three — reinstall from an administrator account, having first confirmed full permissions on the registry keys HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\AUTODESK and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AUTODESK, and on C:\ProgramData\Autodesk, C:\ProgramData\Flexnet, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared, and the Autodesk folders under both AppData\Local and AppData\Roaming.
Error [0.0.0] is not your computer
“Network License Not Available. Error [0.0.0]” means the licence server is not set up correctly or is out of date — commonly an incompatible version of the Autodesk Network License Manager installed on the server. Nothing you do on the workstation will fix it. Send it to whoever administers the licence server, with the exact message; the resolution is upgrading the Network License Manager.
Common questions
Why does the same error come back after a reinstall?
Because reinstalling the product does not touch the licensing components. The Desktop Licensing Service, the sign-in component and the trusted-storage files live outside the product installation and survive it. That is exactly why the repairs above target them individually.
I get the error on one user account but not another. What does that mean?
Almost always permissions — start with Fix 5 (ProductInformation.pit inheritance), then the registry and folder permissions listed under the softlock section. A Windows profile can also be corrupt in its own right; testing with a freshly created local administrator account tells you which it is.
Does any of this apply to Autodesk software on macOS or Linux?
The Desktop Licensing Service repair does — Autodesk documents Windows, macOS and Linux procedures for it. The Windows-specific items (services.msc, FlexNet, registry permissions) obviously do not. Note that of the main Autodesk applications, Maya is the one that runs natively outside Windows.
Should I contact Autodesk Support?
After you have worked this list, yes — and the level of support you get depends on your subscription plan. Autodesk also offers a guided troubleshooting tool for licensing errors and checkout timeouts that walks the same steps interactively, which is worth trying if you would rather be led through it.
Related
If the failure happens during installation rather than at launch, that is a different code and a different list: see Autodesk install error 1603. If the product starts and then crashes, see AutoCAD fatal error or Revit crashing on startup.
If the error turns out to be “your subscription has expired” and it is accurate, our pricing guides set out what renewal actually costs for AutoCAD, Revit and Civil 3D, including the cheaper routes most people do not know exist.
Sources
Compiled from Autodesk’s own support documentation, checked on 29 August 2026: Troubleshooting generic and unknown Autodesk licensing issues, “Licensing Error. A licensing error occurred…”, How to fix “License checkout timed out”, and “The security system (Softlock license manager) is not functioning”.
