How to Add, Upgrade or Downgrade A License Key

Owned by Derek Batting
Last updated: Jun 23, 2022
9 min read

This How-To will illustrate the process of upgrade Fantasy Grounds from the Free/Demo version to a paid license. Since there are different license types, we will illustrate each update path below.

For information on how to find your license key, please see the following article:

Before upgrading your license in Fantasy Grounds, please be aware that Fantasy Grounds Classic and Fantasy Grounds Unity licenses are not cross-compatible and will show as Invalid when input.

Fantasy Grounds Unity License Upgrades / Downgrades

FGU - Upgrading from Free/Demo (no license) to Standard or Ultimate license

After download and installation, Fantasy Grounds Unity will be in Free mode by default as denoted in the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen

To upgrade, click Settings on the left side of the Main Screen

Once in Settings, click in the License Key field and paste your license key into the field using the CTRL-V (Paste) key combination on your keyboard

Upon successfully pasting in a Standard or Ultimate license key, you will see a green message stating Valid Standard License or Valid Ultimate License, depending on the license type

If you haven’t already done so, enter your Fantasy Grounds username and password, click the Log In button, then click the Save button. If you had previously entered a username and password, just click Save

Click the Launch Fantasy Grounds button to get back to the Fantasy Grounds Main Screen

The upper-right corner of the Main Screen will now show the version number along with the license type, either Standard or Ultimate, depending upon which was entered.

FGU - Downgrading from Standard or Ultimate license to Free/Demo (no license)

If you want to downgrade a license from Standard or Ultimate, you basically do the above steps in reverse, removing the key in the third step

In this example, we will downgrade from an Ultimate license to a Free/Demo (no license) version

Click on the Settings button on the left-side panel

Once in Settings, click in the License Key field and backspace or delete the license key (hidden by asterisks)

NOTE: You will see a warning stating that you have an Invalid License Key. In the case of removing the key altogether, this is normal. It will report an invalid key if it once checked a valid key, then that key was removed. You can disregard this error when downgrading to Free/Demo mode.

Click the Save button at the bottom

The Fantasy Grounds Updater Engine will welcome you once more and show that there is no license key saved. It may also assume that this is your first time running the Updater, but you can disregard this and click the Launch Fantasy Grounds button in the lower-right corner.

You will once again see that Fantasy Grounds is in Free/Demo mode by the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen

Fantasy Grounds Classic License Upgrades / Downgrades

FGC - Upgrading from Free/Demo (no license) to Lite license

NOTE: Lite licenses were discontinued at the end of 2013 and are no longer for sale.
If you have a legacy Lite license key for Fantasy Grounds Classic, it should still function properly, but upgrading to a Standard or Ultimate license is encouraged.

After download and installation, Fantasy Grounds Classic will be in Free mode by default as denoted in the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen. You will also notice Activate License and Buy a License buttons at the bottom. These will change or be removed depending on the license type entered.

From here, you can either click the Settings button, or the Activate License button to enter your Lite key into the License Key field shown below

Upon entering a Lite license (by right-clicking and choosing Paste or using CTRL-V on your keyboard), you will notice that an additional Lite to Full Key field appears. If you only have a Lite key, you can disregard the additional field and click OK at the bottom

The Settings window will disappear and you will be at the Fantasy Grounds Updater screen. Click Update at the bottom to get any updates for the application

After the update routine is complete, you will be returned to the Main Screen where you will now see that the license type has changed from FREE to PLAYER in the upper-right corner.

FGC - Upgrading from Lite license to Full license

Once you have your new Lite-to-Full license key, you will enter it below where you pasted the Lite license, then click OK at the bottom

The Settings window will disappear and you will be at the Fantasy Grounds Updater screen. Click Update at the bottom to get any updates for the application

After the update routine is complete, you will be returned to the Main Screen where you will now see that the license type has been removed in the upper-right corner. You now have a Full license which is the same as a Standard license that you can still purchase in the Store)

FGC - Upgrading from Free/Demo (no license) to Standard license

After download and installation, Fantasy Grounds Classic will be in Free mode by default as denoted in the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen. You will also notice Activate License and Buy a License buttons at the bottom. These will change or be removed depending on the license type entered.

From here, you can either click the Settings button, or the Activate License button to enter your Lite key into the License Key field shown below

Paste in your Standard key (by right-clicking and choosing Paste or using CTRL-V on your keyboard), then click OK at the bottom

The Settings window will disappear and you will be at the Fantasy Grounds Updater screen. Click Update at the bottom to get any updates for the application

After the update routine is complete, you will be returned to the Main Screen where you will now see that the license type has been removed in the upper-right corner. You now have a Full license which is the same as a Standard license that you can still purchase in the Store)

FGC - Upgrading from Free/Demo (no license) to Ultimate license

After download and installation, Fantasy Grounds Classic will be in Free mode by default as denoted in the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen. You will also notice Activate License and Buy a License buttons at the bottom. These will change or be removed depending on the license type entered.

From here, you can either click the Settings button, or the Activate License button to enter your Lite key into the License Key field shown below

Paste in your Ultimate key (by right-clicking and choosing Paste or using CTRL-V on your keyboard), then click OK at the bottom

The Settings window will disappear and you will be at the Fantasy Grounds Updater screen. Click Update at the bottom to get any updates for the application

After the update routine is complete, you will be returned to the Main Screen where you will now see that the license type has been removed in the upper-right corner. You now have a Full license which is the same as a Standard license that you can still purchase in the Store)

FGC - Downgrading from Lite, Standard or Ultimate license to Free/Demo (no license)

Downgrading from a Lite, Standard or Ultimate license is as simple as removing the key. From the Main Screen, click the Settings button at the bottom

Remove the license key (shown as asterisks for security), then click the OK button

The Settings window will disappear and you will be at the Fantasy Grounds Updater screen. Click Update at the bottom to get any updates for the application

You will once again see that Fantasy Grounds is in Free/Demo mode by the version number in the upper-right corner of the Main Screen