License settings
The License settings page: activation status, checking the licence, moving it to another Mac by deactivating, and where to buy or recover a key.
Outbound is paid software with no trial. The License page shows who the licence on this Mac belongs to, how to check it, and how to move it to another Mac. To open it, click Outbound at the top of the Settings sidebar. You can also manage the licence from Terminal with outboundctl license. Buying and what a licence covers are on Trial and licence.
License
Section titled “License”Status: “Active on this Mac” with a seal while a key is activated here, “No longer active” when the key was refunded or disabled, and “Not activated” when there is no key. “No longer active” and “Not activated” hide Licensed to and Key.
Licensed to: the email address the purchase was made with, when the licence server recorded one.
Key: the key as Outbound shows it. Longer than eight characters, it is the first four, an ellipsis, and the last four, with no extra hyphens (“ABCD…WXYZ”). Eight characters or fewer, the whole key is shown. You can select and copy it.
A problem from the last attempt is shown under the status.
Buttons
Section titled “Buttons”While a check, an activation or a deactivation is running, a spinner appears and the buttons wait.
Check License Now asks the licence server about the stored key. It is disabled until a key is active on this Mac. The line under the status then reads “Checked just now”, “Couldn’t verify; current activation kept” when no answer came (offline, or the server did not respond), or “This license is no longer active.” when the key was refunded or disabled. “This license is no longer active.” is the result that ends the licence. An unknown answer keeps the current activation.
Use a Different Key… stays available whenever a check is not already running. The sheet is titled “Use a Different Key” and reads: “Paste the key from your purchase email. If it can’t be activated, your current license stays as it is.” The field is License key. Cancel closes the sheet. Activate is disabled while the field is empty. Activating a new key saves the new licence first, then frees the old Mac’s seat, so a mistyped key leaves the working licence in place.
Deactivate on This Mac… is disabled until a key is active. It asks “Deactivate Outbound on this Mac?” The button is Deactivate. The warning is: “Outbound asks for a license key again. Your rules and settings stay on this Mac.” The footer explains the point: “Deactivating frees this Mac’s place on the license so you can use it on another Mac. Outbound asks for a key again afterwards.”
If activation fails, the page shows one of these:
- “That license key wasn’t recognized. Check it against your purchase email.”
- “This license is already active on all the Macs it covers. Deactivate it on another Mac in Settings › License, or contact support.”
- “This license is no longer active (refunded or disabled). Contact support if that’s unexpected.”
- “That key belongs to a different product. Use the Outbound license key from your purchase email.”
- “Outbound couldn’t reach the license server. Check your connection and try again.”
- “The license server reported a problem: “ and the server’s message.
- “Outbound couldn’t use your keychain to keep the license. Unlock your keychain and try again.”
- “The license was activated but couldn’t be saved. Try again; if it keeps failing, contact support.”
- Find My License Key opens an email to support@outboundfirewall.com. The subject is “Find my Outbound license key” and the body starts “Please send my license key to this address. I bought Outbound with: “.
- Pricing and licenses opens
https://outboundfirewall.com/pricing/?utm_source=outbound-app&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=licence. - Contact support opens an email to support@outboundfirewall.com with the subject “Outbound license”.
How the licence works
Section titled “How the licence works”A key is checked with the server when you activate it, when you deactivate it, and when you choose Check License Now. In the background Outbound looks about every six hours, and that look contacts the server only when the last successful check was more than seven days ago. The key and its seat are stored in the keychain. The seat’s name is “Mac” plus the hardware model in parentheses, not the computer name.
On the activation screen, a Personal licence covers 2 Macs and a Family licence covers 5. The seat-limit message above is what this page shows when every seat is taken.
The licence gates the app, not the network: the filter never depends on it, so a licence problem never cuts off your traffic.