Recover a Paid License After Moving the Site

Overview

Recover the paid license binding when a site was moved, restored from backup, or copied to a new domain and the paid plan no longer behaves as expected. This lets you rebind the current Joomla installation cleanly instead of leaving it stuck on an old activation record.

You may need this procedure if the dashboard suddenly falls back to Free, if Pro-only actions disappear after a migration, or if you intentionally moved the site to a new external URL. The recovery workflow is simple: clear the stored key once to drop the old local binding, then save the same key again so LemonSqueezy can activate the current installation.

Before you begin

You need administrator permission to edit Components -> Fediverse -> Options.
You need the same paid LemonSqueezy license key that should stay attached to this site.
Make sure the site’s Public base URL already matches the new live URL before you rebind the license.

Steps

Open Components -> Fediverse -> Options.
Open the License tab.
Remove the value from License Key.
- License Key - Clearing the field removes the local activation binding stored by Joomla Fediverse for this site. This is what makes a fresh activation possible on the next save.
Click Save.
Stay in the License tab, paste the same paid key back into License Key, and save again.
Return to the Fediverse dashboard and confirm the expected paid plan is active.

Check your result

The dashboard badge shows the expected paid plan again.
Paid-only toolbar actions and screens are available again.
Reopening the License tab shows the key still saved.

Troubleshooting

The site still falls back to `Free`

Likely cause: The old binding was cleared locally, but the key cannot be activated again because the purchase state is invalid or still tied up elsewhere.
Solution: Confirm the key is active in LemonSqueezy and that you are using the intended site. Then repeat the clear-and-save workflow once more.

The dashboard shows the wrong paid plan

Likely cause: A different key was pasted back into the field.
Solution: Replace the key with the correct purchased key, save again, and confirm the dashboard badge.

Paid features break again after another restore

Likely cause: The site backup included stale local license binding data and was restored over a newer installation state.
Solution: Repeat this recovery procedure after the restore and make sure the restored site uses the correct public base URL before reactivating the key.