Bitdefender Subscriptions: Frequently Asked Questions

Your Bitdefender subscription starts as soon as you make the purchase. The countdown begins immediately after you buy the code from our online store at www.bitdefender.com, even if you haven’t redeemed it yet in your Bitdefender Central account. So, the subscription begins on the day you place the order, not the day you enter the code into Bitdefender Central.

You can check your subscription status and the expiration date of any subscription activated so far in your Bitdefender Central account. Open the My Subscriptions panel to find out if your new Bitdefender subscription was successfully activated.

No. Bitdefender codes only need to be activated once and may only be activated in one Bitdefender Central account. Once the subscription is active, the activation code is no longer needed in the (re)installation process, as all installations are managed directly from your Bitdefender Central account.

Automatic activation of a subscription may occur for recurring Bitdefender purchases processed by 2Checkout.

How does auto-activation work?

When you make a purchase through the Bitdefender website, the activation takes place immediately after completing the transaction. No further steps or actions are required on your part. Automatic activation is available only for current Bitdefender users who meet the following conditions:

• You have bought Bitdefender from our website before.
• You have previously activated a Bitdefender subscription in the same Bitdefender Central account.
• Your previous Bitdefender subscription is still valid.

If the new acquisition matches the name and seat number of a product already active in your Central account (e.g. both Bitdefender Total Security, 5 users) then the old subscription will be extended automatically. Otherwise, the new subscription is activated and added in parallel.

How do I know my subscription was automatically activated?

When the subscription activates itself automatically, customers receive a separate email, similar to the one below, informing them that the subscription has been automatically activated and associated with their Bitdefender Central account.

As a result, if a Bitdefender subscription is activated automatically, and you attempt to activate it using one of the activation methods described above, you will be prompted with the message “Your subscription is already active”.

If you purchased a subscription and the new validity is not reflected in the installed product, just log out and log back in again to your Central account using the Switch Account button (see the image below for reference). That should refresh your Bitdefender account and allow you to use the renewed subscription.

You don’t need to reinstall Bitdefender on devices that are already protected.

If you’ve already activated the subscription and need help with the installation process on a new device, check out these articles:

How to install Bitdefender on Windows  |  on Mac  |  on Android  |  on iOS

Yes, if you install Bitdefender on a virtual machine, it will use up a seat from your subscription.