# Your license and Macs

> Activating Canto Pro, finding a lost license, Your Macs, moving Pro to a new Mac, working offline, and notices about your license.

Applies to Canto 1.0 beta 3 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/license

A Canto Pro license covers 1 or 3 Macs. You activate it on each Mac once; after that, the Mac checks in with LonelyDuck about twice a week and keeps Pro working, offline too, for up to 30 days at a time. Everything about the license on a Mac is in **Settings › Account**.

Canto and Tulip use the same kind of license. [Licenses and your Macs](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/general/licenses) covers what they share.

## Activate Pro on a Mac

Your license arrives by email after you buy. Activate it in any of these ways:

1. **Click the link in the email** on the Mac. It opens `lonelyduck.io/canto/activate`, which hands the license to Canto. Canto asks "Activate Canto Pro on this Mac?" with the plan and the email it's for; nothing is activated until you press **Activate**. The license sits after the `#` in the link, which your browser never sends to a server.
2. **Paste the license, or the whole email**, in **Settings › Account** under **Activate**. The license starts with `canto-license-v1…`; if you paste the whole email, Canto finds the license in it.
3. Choose **I have a license** on any Pro sheet.
4. Press `⌘K` and run **Activate Canto Pro…**

All four use the same form. The license is checked on your Mac first: Canto shows who it's licensed to and the new-features date, and sends nothing. When you press **Activate this Mac**, Canto sends the license, your Mac's model and a code made for this license to lonelyduck.io, once. Nothing else about you or your Mac.

When it's done: "Canto Pro is on this Mac."

A Canto 0.x license key works too: "A Canto 0.x license key. Activating moves it to Canto 1.0."

## Lost your license?

* **In Canto**: **Settings › Account** › **Lost your license?** Type the email you bought Canto with, and LonelyDuck emails the license to it again. Nothing else is sent.
* **On the website**: [lonelyduck.io/canto/activate](https://lonelyduck.io/canto/activate) › **Email my license**. If that address has a Canto license, it's on its way.
* **Signed in at lonelyduck.io** with the email you bought with: **Account › Canto** has **Copy license** and **Resend email**.

Still nothing? Check your spam folder, then write to [support@lonelyduck.io](mailto:support@lonelyduck.io) with the email you bought with and your order id.

## Your Macs

**Settings › Account › Your Macs** › **Show Your Macs** lists the Macs your license is on: each Mac's model, when it was activated and when it last checked in, with **This Mac** marked. Canto asks lonelyduck.io only when you show the list.

* **Release this Mac**: Canto Pro turns off on this Mac and its place is free for another. Nothing is deleted. You can always release the Mac you're on.
* **Release** another Mac: Canto Pro turns off on that Mac within minutes, and its place moves here. Nothing is deleted there. Moving Pro from another Mac this way needs **Pro · 3 Macs**.

A released Mac drops to Free and shows a notice; everything on it stays.

## Moving Pro to a new Mac

If your license still has a free place, just activate the new Mac.

If every Mac on the license is in use, activating says "This license is on all its Macs" and lists them. Release one, then press **Activate again**. Which Mac you can release from where:

| Your license                                | How to free a place                                                         |
| ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Pro · 3 Macs                                | Release any Mac from Your Macs, on any of your Macs, including the new one. |
| Pro · 1 Mac, old Mac still working          | On the old Mac, **Settings › Account › Your Macs › Release this Mac**.                                                        |
| Any license, old Mac gone                   | Sign in at lonelyduck.io with the email you bought with: **Account › Canto › Your Macs** › **Release**. |
| Bought with an email you can't sign in with | Write to [support@lonelyduck.io](mailto:support@lonelyduck.io).             |

## Working offline

A Mac with Pro checks in with lonelyduck.io about twice a week, sending your license and the id made for this Mac, never notes. Each check-in extends how long Pro works offline: **30 days**. **Settings › Account** shows "Works offline until *date*", with **Check now**.

* With fewer than 5 days left, a notice says "Connect once to keep Pro. Canto needs to reach lonelyduck.io before *date*." Connect your Mac to the internet once, or press **Check now**.
* After that, the Mac is on Free until it connects. Pro comes back by itself once it does. Nothing is deleted meanwhile.

## Notices about your license

When your license changes, Canto shows one small notice in the window's corner (and the same notice in **Settings › Account**). It never stops you working.

| Notice                                                                           | What happened                        | What to do                                           |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| "Canto Pro was released from this Mac on *date*."                                | The Mac was released from Your Macs  | **Activate again**, if a place is free               |
| "Canto Pro was turned off on this Mac on *date*."                                | LonelyDuck support turned it off     | **Contact support**                                  |
| "The purchase was refunded on *date*, so this Mac is on Free."                   | The purchase was refunded            | Buy Pro again if you want it, or **Contact support** |
| "The payment was disputed on *date*, so this Mac is on Free."                    | A chargeback                         | **Contact support**                                  |
| "Connect once to keep Pro."                                                      | Under 5 days of offline Pro left     | Connect, or press **Check now**                      |
| "Canto couldn't check this Mac's license since *date*, so it's on Free for now." | More than 30 days without a check-in | Connect; Pro comes back by itself                    |

The first four offer **Activate again** and **Contact support** (which opens [Support](https://lonelyduck.io/support)). In every case, nothing on the Mac is deleted. Closing a notice hides it for good; a new event shows a new one.

Settings › Account may also say **Pro is paused**:

* "This Mac's clock is behind, so Pro is paused." Set the date and time, then press **Check now**.
* "The license stored here belongs to another Mac (a restored backup)." Activate this Mac with your license.
* "The license stored here couldn't be checked." Paste your license again.

A license that was moved to another account says: "This license was moved to another account. Ask its owner for the new license, or contact support."

## License status updates

With Pro, Canto downloads an anonymous list of turned-off licenses, so a release or refund reaches your Mac in seconds. Nothing about you or your Mac is sent. Turn it off in **Settings › Account › Privacy › License status updates**; then your Mac learns about a release or refund at its next check-in. A free copy has no such switch, because it sends nothing about a license.

## Another license

If your Mac already has Pro, **Settings › Account** shows **Another license**. Activating a different license replaces the one on this Mac.

## Renewing and upgrading

**Settings › Account › Renew or upgrade** opens your account on lonelyduck.io. Renewals and upgrades need you signed in with the email you bought with. Prices and what they add are in [Free and Pro](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/pro#renewing-and-upgrading).