Please follow below steps for TurboTax Desktop 2025:
- Goto C:\ProgramData\Intuit Canada and check for umid file
- If umid file exists then open a file "C:\ProgramData\Intuit Canada\tt2025\TTConfig.ini" and enter UseCustomUMID=1 at the end of file
- Close and save TTConfig.ini
- Restart the TurboTax application
- TurboTax will launch as previously activated
If you are still not able to resolve this issue, please contact our phone support team for more assistance.
I had the same issue
needing to register again at the second restart of TurboTax 2025
but it stopped there, it never happened again for subsequent launches
Hello,
I tried to activate again and it works for me. Thank you.
I have the same problem when trying to restart turbotax 2025 after activating and using it 3 days earlier. I have the umid file but adding UseCustomUMID=1 on a new line at the end of the .ini file did not help. Calling the customer support was useless as all they could say was it shouldn't happen so just use up a second activation to use the program again. I don't want to use up all my activations because I do wish to install it on my laptop etc. And who's to say this wont just happen again? I just had the same problem with turbotax 2024 not recognizing a previous activation on the laptop I was using last year. This is not good Turbotax. What now?
@NGW Are you using Windows 11? When you changed the umid file, did you do make sure to do it for the 2025 program = "C:\ProgramData\Intuit Canada\tt2025\TTConfig.ini" as I might have put 2024 in my previous post by mistake.
Yup, that fixed it. Sorry I should have noted that year issue myself but I just copied and pasted (like a lemming). Sigh... Thanks very much for such prompt and helpful assistance.
Update: I kept searching and eventually found the files that you suggested updating. I did the modification suggested above, and it seems to have worked.
For anyone else facing this problem, you need to search
C:\ProgramData\Intuit Canada
in the File Explorer. It takes a while. Then open that folder, and you will find the various files mentioned in the Intuit Response above, in this thread. When you find the file, right click, and "open with Notepad" in order to edit it. Hope this helps.
What if there is no UMID file? I am having this "2nd Activation" problem, which seems to be fairly common. TurboTax needs to fix it, not send us editing hidden files.
@2manyyear- The error stems from a legacy utility being removed from Windows 11, which TurboTax Desktop previously to use to generate the unique machine id (UMID). We have already updated TurboTax to remove the code that used the removed utility. However, if you installed TurboTax before it was updated (and after the legacy utility was removed), then the proper UMID was not associated with the license. Changing the TTConfig.ini file forces the software to use whatever was used in place of the UMID.
If you don't see a UMID file , then please contact our phone support team for more assistance.
Thank you TurboTaxSusan. While you were replying, I kept working on the issue, and eventually manage to find the files that I needed to modify. I have added some clarification to my original post, to help others.
Your explanation is clear, and I am very glad to hear that TurboTax has solved it for future users.
I routinely access past year Turbotax apps and files when doing current year taxes. As with the majority of users, I have a new computer due to Windows 11 requirement. I did add all of these past year TT apps to the new computer. However, when I go to the Program Data folder mentioned higher in this post, I only have 2 years of subfolders, 2023 and 2025 (I've had TT desktop since 2020). I need to run 2024 but the activation code doesn't work, and there is no TTconfig file to update the UMID. How do I activate these past years of TT?
@bertible Are you getting an error code when you enter the License Code? Are you using the same login info as you did when you installed TurboTax on your old computer?
