Reactivate & Recover Licenses

Oct 25, 2023

Follow these instructions to recover Waves licenses for lost, stolen, or damaged USB flash drives or computers.

  Click here for an interactive tutorial in Waves Central

  1. Launch Waves Central and log into your account.
    Windows: via the desktop shortcut or via Start Menu > All Programs > Waves Central.
    Mac: Applications > Waves Central.
  2. Select the Licenses page.
  3. Select the Disconnected Devices tab. Use the arrow on the right to expand the list.
  4. Choose the license you want to recover.
  5. Use the Target Device for Licenses panel to select where you want to send the license. By default, a recovered license will be deactivated, and ready to be activated again.
    You can also recover it to a USB flash drive or to your computer. For both OS X and Windows compatibility, your USB flash drive must be exFAT-formatted. For more information, click here.
  6. Read the notice on the right and select “I Understand.”
  7. Click Recover Licenses.

Your Waves licenses are now recovered.

Please note:

Each product license can be recovered only once per year. If you later find or retrieve a device for which a license has been recovered, connect it to your computer and log into Waves Central: The license recovery period (1 year) will then automatically reset.

In the event a replaced license is found, transfer of ownership or sale of the found license is strictly prohibited. Violation of this policy will result in the revocation of license recovery privileges for the associated account.

Here's how to reactivate licenses if you reformat your hard drive, reinstall the operating system, or install a new hard drive:

As long as the computer or USB flash drive itself is the same, there is no need to recover your licenses as described above.

  • If your licenses were activated to a USB flash drive, just connect the flash drive, launch Waves Central and log into your account, and you're good to go.
  • If your licenses were activated to the computer, make sure it's connected to the Internet, launch Waves Central and log into your account. Your licenses will be reactivated automatically.
  • If your licenses were activated to a USB flash drive which has since been reformatted, connect the flash drive to your computer, launch Waves Central and log into your account. Your licenses will be reactivated automatically.