# Paid but still locked

What happened, what it means, and what to do next.

- [All support guides](/snapattic/support/)
- [Snapattic home](/snapattic/)

You purchased continued recovery, but Snapattic still shows the configured preview limit.

## First: use the provider and mailbox you purchased for

A purchase is tied to one provider-qualified mailbox. Gmail dots, `+tags`, letter case, and
`googlemail.com` are canonicalized for licensing, so `A.B+oldtag@googlemail.com` and
`ab@gmail.com` refer to the same Gmail purchase. The same email on another provider, or a genuinely
different mailbox, is a separate purchase.

## Restore without running another free preview recovery

Choose **Restore purchase**, select the purchased provider, enter the mailbox used for the
purchase, and allow a short connection to the licensing service. A free preview
recovery is not required first. A successful verification stores fresh purchase access for that account locally;
it is never shown or logged.

If checkout has only just completed, use **Check purchase** again after Stripe has processed
it. Ensure the app is online and that both provider and mailbox match the purchase.

If a promotion code made Checkout zero-total, the same steps apply: an approved voucher grants
the same account-bound entitlement as payment. Enter the value only in Snapattic's labelled private
code field before Checkout opens; never send it to support or paste it anywhere else.

## Reinstalled, cleared data, or using another device

Those cases have no local purchase access cached, so restoration requires the server:

1. Select the purchased provider and enter the mailbox.
2. Choose **Restore purchase**.
3. If the server reports entitled, continue recovery without another purchase or preview run.

## If restoration says not found

A `not found` result means the service has no active restoration entitlement for that canonical
provider-qualified account. Do not buy again immediately. Check the selected provider, mailbox,
and receipt, then contact support with the minimum necessary purchase reference.

If the purchase was refunded, the server-side restoration entitlement is revoked. Reinstalling or
restoring on another device then correctly fails. A device that already has valid purchase access
cached may still work offline until it normally expires; a refund does not remotely remove that
cache. See
[Refunds and purchase restoration](./refunds.md).

## Keep credentials private

Never send an app password, OAuth token, recovered photo, local path, or purchase token to support. Card
details and Promotion Codes are handled through Snapattic's bounded Stripe checkout path. Do
not send a Checkout URL or voucher value.

## If local purchase access was removed

**Remove purchase access from this Mac** deletes only the local purchase access after confirmation.
It does not secure or revoke mail-provider access, cancel the purchase, or change the server record.
Use **Restore purchase** to request fresh purchase access for the same canonical account.