You took advantage of an advantageous promotion to get a license for a Kaspersky product: at the end of the transaction, you received the activation code by email… but no instructions on how to install the software you bought! The problem is that you’ve never used the security solutions produced by the Moscow-based company before and, now, you’d really like to understand how to install Kaspersky you’ve already bought and protect your devices.
Well, if this is the case, you are in the right place, at the right time! In the following pages of this tutorial, in fact, I’ll explain in detail all the steps to take to redeem the license of a Kaspersky product and install it on computers, smartphones and tablets.
So, without waiting any longer, sit back and read carefully everything I have to explain on the subject: I’m sure that, at the end of reading this guide, you’ll have acquired the necessary skills to achieve the goal you set yourself. Having said that, there’s nothing left for me to do but wish you a good reading!
Preliminary steps
The first thing you have to do in order to install Kaspersky on your computer is to retrieve the activation code of the program: this code is sent by email when you purchase the software digitally, or it is pre-printed on the product packaging (if you purchase the software in physical version). Once you have retrieved this code, you need to associate it to a new or existing My Kaspersky profile, which must then be used to access the product.
This is not necessary for purchases made from smartphones and tablets, as the license is automatically associated with the My Kaspersky profile in use at the time of the transaction.
If you’ve already redeemed your license, but you’ve reached the limit of the number of associated computers, smartphones or tablets, you’ll need to log in to your profile to delete the ones you no longer use, in order to make room for the new devices you want to protect. Read on for all the details.
Redeem activation code
In order to redeem a Kaspersky activation code (which consists of 5 sequences of 5 characters each, mixed between numbers and letters), connect to the My Kaspersky platform using any browser and, if you already have an account, click on the Sign In tab and login.
If you haven’t created a My Kaspersky profile yet, select the Register tab, enter a valid email address and a password to be used for account protection (which should be no less than 8 characters, including at least one number, one uppercase and one lowercase letter) and click the Create Account button to register a new profile immediately.
Next, log in to the previously stated email account, open the message you received from Kaspersky and click on the Verify email address button it contains to activate the newly created account.
Once you’ve logged in, select the Licenses tab at the top (if you don’t see it right away, first press the ☰ button at the top left and select Licenses from the menu that appears), locate the Add activation code box and enter the 25-digit code you have in the box below, without typing the hyphens between the groups of digits (“-“): they are inserted automatically.
Finally, click on the Add button and that’s it: after a few moments, you should see a notification message indicating the successful activation of the license, containing all the information related to the same (product name, type and quantity of devices that can be associated and so on).
If you are interested in obtaining information about the licenses activated in your My Kaspersky account, go to the Licenses section again and click on the name of the license you are interested in to view its details (personal protected/available devices, activation date, expiration/renewal date, technical support license key, etc.).
Unbundling old devices
If you have already redeemed your license by associating it to your account but you can’t use it because you’ve reached the maximum limit of devices associated to the same, you must necessarily disassociate the ones you no longer use, in order to make room for the new ones.
To do this, access your My Kaspersky profile as I indicated earlier and click on the Devices item at the top, if you’re using a computer. If, on the other hand, you are using a smartphone or a tablet, first tap the ☰ button and then the Licenses item located in the menu that appears.
Now locate the device you want to delete in the list that appears: when you’ve found it, tap on its name, then on the Disconnect device item (located on the left side on computers and on the side on smartphones and tablets) and finally tap on the OK button: after this operation, Kaspersky programs or apps will stop working on the chosen device and the license thus freed can be immediately used on a new device.
How to install already purchased Kaspersky
Once you have correctly associated the code of the previously purchased Kaspersky product within your account, you can proceed with the installation of the software on the device. The program or the app (in this case, I’ll refer to Kaspersky Security Cloud) will have to be associated to the same account on which the license was previously redeemed.
Windows
If you use the Windows operating system and you haven’t installed the program on your computer yet, proceed as follows: first, log in to your My Kaspersky profile as I indicated above, click on the Download item at the top, click on the Windows tab and then click on the Download button corresponding to the product for which you have previously activated the license (e.g. Security Cloud).
Now click on the Download for Windows button and wait for the file to be copied to your computer; when the download is complete, open the resulting file (e.g. ksX.Y.Zit_xxx.exe) and follow the instructions shown to you to proceed. In the case of Security Cloud, you have to click Continue, tick the boxes next to the License Agreement and Privacy Policy and then click on the Accept button.
Next, indicate whether you accept the conditions on the use of personal data by Kaspersky Security Network and for marketing purposes (it is not mandatory, you can reject the conditions by clicking the I do not accept button), specify whether to install Kaspersky Password Manager or not by clicking the appropriate box, then click the Install and Yes buttons and wait for the program download and installation procedure to be completed: depending on the speed of your Internet connection and computer performance, the procedure may take up to several minutes.
Once the setup is complete, choose the initial settings to be applied by checking the appropriate boxes (if you do not know what to do, leave everything as it is) and click on the Apply and Finish buttons to finish installing the program.
That’s pretty much it: the first time you start the program, you’ll be asked to sign in to My Kaspersky, in order to activate your license: so type the email address associated with your account in the text box, click the [>] button (or press Enter) and, in the same way, specify the password for the account in question. In a few seconds, the license will be imported into the program, which will become operational immediately.
I beg your pardon? You have previously installed and activated a free/trial Kaspersky product with a temporary license associated with another profile and now you would like to redeem your paid license? Don’t worry, it’s very easy.
To start with, call up the main screen of your Kaspersky product (e.g. Security Cloud) using the icon on the desktop or in the Windows Start menu, locate the email address associated with the temporary license in question, click on it and select Change account from the menu that appears. Then click on the Yes button and log in to the My Kaspersky profile that contains the license to be activated, following the same instructions as above.
macOS
The steps you have to perform on Macs are quite similar to the ones for Windows: so, if you haven’t installed the program yet, connect to your My Kaspersky profile as I explained in the previous chapter of this guide, click on the Download tab, select the Mac tab and press the Download button corresponding to the program you have a regular license for (e.g. Security Cloud). Then click on the Download for Mac button and wait for the program to be downloaded to your computer.
After the download is complete, open the file (e.g. Kaspersky Security Cloud.dmg), double-click on the Install [product name] icon in the window that opens, click on the Open (if necessary) and Download and Install buttons, and after checking the boxes for acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Kaspersky License Agreement and data protection, start the installation by clicking on the I Agree and Ignore buttons twice in order to prevent personal data from being sent for analysis and marketing purposes.
Then, when prompted, enter your Mac’s password in the text box provided, press the OK button and wait for the computer to copy and configure the files of your chosen Kaspersky product and complete the installation.
Once the setup is complete, click on the Finish button and proceed with setting the necessary permissions to run the program, following the instructions that appear on the screen: click on the Install, Open Security & Privacy and OK buttons, click on the padlock symbol in the lower left corner of the screen that appears, enter your Mac’s password when prompted and click on the Allow button, visible in the lower right corner, to authorize the Kaspersky system extension.
After this step, click on the first Allow button, open Security & Privacy by clicking on the appropriate button and, after enabling the system changes again (you have to click on the locked padlock in the lower left corner), check all the items related to Kaspersky
Now, click on the remaining Allow buttons, answer affirmatively to the warning messages that appear afterwards (also enter the computer’s password, if necessary) and press the Continue button. Finally, choose whether you want to enable additional protections by clicking the appropriate buttons and click the Continue button again to finish the program configuration.
If everything went smoothly, you should be able to log in to your My Kaspersky profile fully automatically, or you will be asked to enter the credentials of the account you have a license for.
If you need to change your account because, for example, you have used a trial license with another email address, open the main Kaspersky window, click on the “trial” email located in the lower left corner, press the Log Out button and log in using the My Kaspersky profile on which you activated the license.
Android/iOS/iPadOS
In order to use an already active Kaspersky license on your smartphone or tablet, all you need to do is download the relevant Kaspersky product from the store on your device and sign in using the account with which you associated the license.
So, for starters, open the Play Store, the App Store or any other market available on your device (e.g. HUAWEI AppGallery), search for the product you’re interested in (e.g. Kaspersky Security Cloud) using the store’s integrated function and, when you’ve found it, press the Install/Find button to download it. If necessary, verify your identity using facial recognition, fingerprint or the password of the account configured on the device.
After downloading the app, open it, accept the license agreement and privacy policy by clicking on the appropriate boxes, press the Confirm button and, when prompted, enter the email associated with your My Kaspersky profile in the appropriate field. Finally, press the Continue button, enter the account password and tap the Continue button again to import the license.
If you have already installed one of the Kaspersky apps and you want to associate it with the My Kaspersky profile on which you have activated the license, tap on the ☰ button in the upper left corner, tap on the email in use at the top of the menu that opens and tap on the square with the right arrow at the top to disconnect from the profile in use. Finally, tap on the Disconnect button and log in with the correct My Kaspersky profile, as seen above.
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