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Visual Studio Product Key is not working

Luci Davidson 0 Reputation points
2026-06-12T11:35:34.66+00:00

I purchased a Visual Studio Professional Subscription for $1200. I received the Order Details via email and everything so I know it was purchased. I entered the product key that was given to me through the email in Visual Studio 2022 and it says that the "Product key is invalid".

I then went to the Microsoft website to "Activate" my product key and I got this error after typing it in:

Please come back later to redeem your product key.

Error Code:

TokenStateClaimed

Correlation Id:

a323cc23-f5f2-4fbd-b057-c983cc6c037b

Timestamp:

2026-06-12T11:29:46.251Z

I tried using the support chatbot and he ended up calling me and sending me to another AI over the phone who just took me to support.com so I don't know what to do now.

If anyone can help that would be amazing. Thank you!

Developer technologies | Visual Studio | Setup
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  1. Leon Tran (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 1,990 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-06-15T04:25:45.1+00:00

    Hi @Luci Davidson ,

    Thank you for reaching out.

    If you're unable to activate Visual Studio using the product key, we recommend signing in with the Microsoft account that was used to purchase the subscription. Once you sign in, the license should activate automatically.

    Please also verify your subscription status:

    1. Go to https://my.visualstudio.com
    2. Sign in with your account
    3. Navigate to the Subscriptions tab to confirm that your subscription is active

    If you still prefer to use a product key (for example, in offline scenarios), you can go to the Product Keys tab on the same portal and claim a key again.

    If the issue continues, it is unlikely to be caused by the product key or account itself. In that case, you can try clearing the local cache:

    Component Model Cache (MEF)

    %localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<version>\ComponentModelCache

    Identity Service Cache

    %localappdata%\.IdentityService

    Browser/IE cache Clear your system browser cache (used during sign-in)

    After clearing the caches, restart Visual Studio and try signing in again.
    Hope this helps! If my answer was helpful, you can follow this guidance to provide some feedback. This also help another find the solution easier. 

    I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

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  2. Bruce (SqlWork.com) 84,086 Reputation points
    2026-06-12T15:41:54.8566667+00:00

    go to

    https://my.visualstudio.com/Subscriptions

    create account if required. if the subscription is not listed, under retail subscriptions click activate retail subscription and enter the retail key.

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  3. AI answer

    2026-06-12T11:35:50.4233333+00:00

    Use of a product key is not required to unlock Visual Studio Professional from a Visual Studio subscription. The subscription is validated primarily by signing in with the account that owns the subscription; product keys in this context are mainly for offline scenarios.

    To get Visual Studio Professional working:

    1. Verify the subscription and download method
      • Sign in to the Visual Studio Subscriptions portal with the same account used to purchase the subscription.
      • Go to the Subscriptions page and confirm that a Visual Studio Professional subscription is listed for that account.
      • From the same portal, go to the Tools section, select the Visual Studio IDE tile, and use the Download link to install Visual Studio Professional from there, then sign in to the IDE using the same account. No product key is required for normal online use.
    2. If a product key is still needed (for example, for offline activation)
      • In the Subscriptions portal, open the Product Keys page at https://my.visualstudio.com/productkeys and locate the Visual Studio Professional key associated with the subscription rather than relying on the email text.
      • Use that key inside Visual Studio if offline activation is required.
    3. If sign-in or subscription recognition fails
      • Confirm that the account used in Visual Studio is the same one that owns the subscription.
      • If Visual Studio still does not recognize the subscription, follow the sign-in troubleshooting guidance in Sign in or switch Visual Studio user accounts.
    4. If the key continues to show as invalid or the portal shows token/key already claimed (TokenStateClaimed)
      • This indicates an account/subscription/token state issue that cannot be fixed from the client side.
      • Contact Visual Studio Subscriptions support directly via https://aka.ms/vssubscriberhelp and provide purchase details and the error information so support can correct the subscription or key state and, if necessary, reissue or fix the entitlement.

    For installation via command line using --productKey, ensure the key is passed as 25 alphanumeric characters without dashes (format XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX). If dashes are included, the installer will treat the key as invalid.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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