# How to activate Tableau Desktop & manage license keys?

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2021-08-23
- **Format:** Video · 2 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Tool strategy
- **Tools:** Tableau (server)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-activate-tableau-desktop-manage-license-keys
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l7NO-b40R0

I give a quick walkthrough of where to find and manage product keys in Tableau Desktop. I show how to open the manage product keys interface, refresh and synchronise keys with Tableau's servers, and activate or deactivate a licence by key or by signing into Tableau Server.

## Key takeaways

- The manage product keys option lives under the Help menu in Tableau Desktop, accessible without any workbook open
- Hitting refresh pings Tableau's servers to synchronise your keys, which requires an internet connection to work
- You can activate Tableau either with a licence key directly or by signing into a Tableau Server or Tableau Online environment
- Managing keys this way is useful when switching machines, leaving an organisation, or circulating tightly controlled licences

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-activate-tableau-desktop-manage-license-keys

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena