We understand how frustrating it is when you have paid for a product and something prevents you from using it. This article walks through every known cause of unlock failures, in order of likelihood, so you can get up and running as quickly as possible.

Where to find the unlock dialog

The unlock dialog is only available when Helium is running in free mode. To open it:

  1. Click the menu button in the top-left corner of Helium.
  2. Click Get Premium version.
  3. Click Unlock Premium.

The Unlock Premium Version dialog opens. It contains three fields:

  • Full name
  • Email
  • License key

There is also an OK button and a Cancel button. The OK button starts greyed out and becomes clickable only when Helium recognises the combination you have entered. No internet connection is required.

What to enter in each field

  • Full name — The name you provided when you purchased Helium. Use the exact name from your purchase confirmation email, including the same capitalisation and spacing. This is not your Windows username or your email display name.
  • Email — The email address used to make the purchase, exactly as it appears in the confirmation email.
  • License key — The long string of characters from your confirmation email (roughly 64 characters, made up of letters, numbers, and symbols such as +, /, and =). Enter it exactly as received; it is case-sensitive throughout.

Checklist: things to verify

Work through these checks in order. The most common causes are listed first.

  1. Fields swapped
    Make sure you have not entered your email address in the Full name field, or your name in the Email field. It is an easy mistake to make when copying from an email.
  2. Wrong capitalisation
    Every character in every field is case-sensitive. A single letter in the wrong case — upper instead of lower, or lower instead of upper — will prevent the OK button from becoming active. Copy directly from the confirmation email rather than typing manually.
  3. Extra spaces (the most common copy-paste problem)
    A space at the start or end of any field, or an accidental double space anywhere, will cause the unlock to fail silently. To check for hidden spaces, paste each value into Notepad first. If you see a space before the first character or after the last character, remove it before pasting into Helium.
  4. Hidden line break inside the license key
    Some email clients wrap long lines, splitting the license key across two lines. If you copy the key by dragging across both lines, a hidden line break is included in the middle of the key. Open Notepad, paste the key, and check that it appears as a single unbroken line. If it wraps onto two lines, delete the line break so it becomes one continuous string.
  5. Key purchased for an older version of Helium
    License keys are version-specific. A key purchased for Helium 17, Helium 16, or any earlier version will not work in Helium 18. If your key was for an older version, please contact support (see below) to discuss an upgrade.
  6. OK button clicks but nothing changes
    If the OK button becomes active and you click it but Helium does not show a success message, Windows may be preventing Helium from saving the activation to your computer. Try closing Helium, then right-clicking the Helium shortcut and choosing Run as administrator. Open the unlock dialog again and enter your details. This is required on some systems with strict security settings.

The OK button stays greyed out

Helium does not show an error message when the details you enter are incorrect. Instead, the OK button simply remains grey. This is how Helium tells you that the combination of name, email, and license key has not been recognised.

If the OK button has not become active after entering all three fields, go back through the checklist above and check each item carefully. Pay particular attention to extra spaces and capitalisation, as these are the most frequent causes.

After a successful unlock

When the three fields match, the OK button lights up. Click it. Helium will display the following message:

Congratulations! You have successfully registered Helium. Click OK to restart Helium and enjoy all Premium features.

Click OK in that message. Helium will close immediately. It does not relaunch automatically — you need to start it again yourself.

After restarting, you will notice the following changes:

  • The title bar now reads Helium - Premium version instead of Helium - Free version.
  • The Get Premium version menu item no longer appears.
  • All Premium features are now available.

Reinstalling Helium or Windows

Your license key is permanent and can be used on any number of computers. The activation is stored locally on each machine, so if you reinstall Helium or reinstall Windows, you will need to enter your name, email address, and license key again. Use exactly the same details from your original purchase confirmation email and the unlock will work just as it did the first time.

Still not working?

If you have worked through all the checks above and still cannot activate Helium, please contact our support team at https://imploded.freshdesk.com.

To help us resolve your case as quickly as possible, please include:

  • Your purchase confirmation email.
  • Your order number.
  • A description of what happens when you try to unlock — for example, whether the OK button stays grey, or whether it becomes active but nothing changes after clicking it.