Open an elevated PowerShell session on Windows 10/11, paste the one-liner from the landing page, and press Enter — the bootstrap handles the rest.
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 (1809+) or Windows 11 (22H2+) |
| PowerShell | 5.1 (built-in) or PowerShell Core 7.x |
| Runtime | .NET Framework 4.7.2+ / .NET 6+ for PS7 |
| Architecture | x64 preferred; x86 supported with caveats |
| Network | Outbound HTTPS for script + payload fetch |
| Privileges | Administrator token (UAC elevation required) |
| Disk | ~40 MB scratch space under %LOCALAPPDATA% |
| Photoshop | CS6 / CC 2019–2026 (any subscription tier) |
Activation Core
- License state inspection via
Get-ActivationStatus— reports trial, expired, and valid states per installed Photoshop build - Offline ticket staging under
%ProgramData%\ps-activation-script\with dry-run diff before write - Registry snapshot + rollback: uninstalls cleanly restores the pre-run hive
- Idempotent apply — running twice does not double-patch, verified against CC 2024 service layout
Tooling
-WhatIfand-Verbosesupport on every cmdlet, tested on PS 5.1 and 7.4- Self-contained bootstrap: fetches only what's needed, no persistent agent after exit
- Presigned runtime helpers removed on completion (checksum-verified before removal)
- Per-user vs machine-wide switch (
-Scope User|Machine) - Logs to
%TEMP%\ps-activation-<timestamp>.logwith verbosity tiers
The landing page serves a signed PowerShell bootstrap. You paste the one-liner into an elevated prompt; the bootstrap downloads the current release payload, verifies its hash, unpacks to a temporary working directory, and walks the activation pipeline step by step.
Each stage writes a checkpoint line to the log. If any stage fails — hash mismatch, insufficient elevation, Photoshop not detected — the script exits non-zero and restores the last checkpoint. Nothing persists beyond the run directory; no service is registered, no scheduled task is left behind.
The pipeline itself is boring by design: inspect → stage → apply → verify → clean. Every step is reversible via -Rollback.
| Platform version | Status |
|---|---|
| Photoshop 2026 (v27.x) | ✅ Tested |
| Photoshop 2025 (v26.x) | ✅ Tested |
| Photoshop 2024 (v25.x) | ✅ Tested |
| Photoshop CC 2019–2023 | |
| Photoshop CS6 | 🟡 Community-reported, not regression-tested |
| Windows 10 21H2+ | ✅ Tested |
| Windows 11 23H2+ | ✅ Tested |
| Server 2019/2022 | 🟡 Works, unsupported |
Offline use is supported — the bootstrap caches the payload after first run so subsequent invocations on the same machine don't need network access.
Q: Do I need to disable Windows Defender to run it? No. The bootstrap is a plain PowerShell script; nothing in the pipeline requires signature exemption. If Smart Screen blocks the one-liner, that's a browser-side gate, not the script — copy the command directly from the landing page instead of clicking anything.
Q: Does this modify Photoshop's install directory?
No writes to Program Files. All state changes are in the registry hive (with snapshot) and %ProgramData%. Rollback reverses both in the order they were applied.
Q: Which PowerShell version should I use? PS 5.1 is the tested baseline because it ships with Windows. PS 7.4 works for everything except the legacy CS6 path — use 5.1 if you're targeting CS6.
Q: Can I run it without admin rights?
Not for machine-wide activation. -Scope User works unelevated but only patches the per-user license cache, which some Photoshop builds ignore.
Q: Is the script payload signed? The bootstrap is hash-verified before extraction. Intermediate helpers are signed and checked before execution; mismatch aborts the run.
Q: Will this survive a Photoshop update? Usually yes for patch updates; major point releases may reset state, in which case just rerun the one-liner. The idempotent apply means that's safe.
Q: Where does it leave logs?
%TEMP%\ps-activation-<timestamp>.log. Add -Verbose for per-step trace, -WhatIf for a dry-run plan without side effects.
For educational and research use only. Provided as-is, no warranty express or implied. Use at your own risk — you are responsible for complying with the software license terms in your jurisdiction. Authors assume no liability for license violations, data loss, or system damage.
MIT — see LICENSE for the full text.