Why won't the files I made in the trial version open on another computer?

Why it happens

A job saved by the trial edition is tied to the computer that saved it. The official documentation says a trial file can be opened by the full version, but only on the same computer where the trial was installed. Taken to any other computer, even one running a licensed copy, it will not open. This is by design: it stops the trial being used as a free design seat that feeds a licensed machine computer.

The lock is removed the moment the file is opened and saved again by a licensed copy on that original computer. After that it behaves like any normal job file.

How to fix it

1. On the computer where the trial was used, uninstall the trial and install the full version from your V&Co portal account (a trial cannot be activated in place).
2. Open each trial-made job in the full version.
3. Save it again. Use Save As with a new name if you want to keep the original untouched.
4. Copy the re-saved file to the other computer. It now opens on any computer running the program.

Do this soon after buying. The documentation warns that a hardware change or a problem with that PC could later stop the full version from opening the trial files at all, and then the work is stranded.

If the trial computer is not yours (for example a friend designed the file for you in their trial), they cannot unlock it for you. The file has to be re-saved by a licensed copy on their own machine, or the design has to be redrawn.

How to confirm it is fixed

The re-saved file opens on the second computer with its vectors and toolpaths intact.

Pro tips

• Convert every trial-era job in one sitting right after installing the full version, before you reinstall Windows or replace the PC.
• A file that fails for this reason is not corrupt. Do not confuse it with the "created in a newer version" message, which is a version mismatch (see that entry).
• Makerspace members are the exception: the Makerspace edition is built to load designs members prepared at home in the trial, while signed in to the makerspace account.