# Activate Buttons offline

> License a machine without internet access by turning its Machine ID into a license token in the Bitfocus user portal and importing it.

If a Buttons machine has no internet access, you can still license it: Buttons generates a Machine ID you carry to a connected computer, and turns it into a license token you bring back and paste in. This page covers activating a machine offline and what that means for releasing the license later. Before you begin A Bitfocus account that owns an available license seat. A separate computer with internet access, to visit the Bitfocus user portal . A way to move a short piece of text between the two machines (a text file on removable media, or copy-paste if you have any indirect access). Activate the machine On the offline machine, open Settings → License and select Import Offline License . Copy your Machine ID and take it to the connected computer. Open the User Portal and assign a license : select Open User Portal , sign in with the account that owns the license, and assign it to this Machine ID. Assign the license to this Machine ID and download the token from the portal, and bring it back to the offline machine. Back on the offline machine, paste the license token into the field and select Import License . The machine is now licensed. Releasing an offline license later An offline license is bound to this machine. To release it (for example, to move it to different hardware), the machine needs internet access at that point; it cannot be released while offline. Once connected, release it the same way as an online license: see Manage your Buttons license . Where to go next Manage your Buttons license , to assign, release, or recover a license once the machine has internet access.