Issue keys on demand
Generate an activation key from your dashboard or your WooCommerce store the moment a customer buys. No manual key handling on your side.
Online activation
Decide who runs your workbook.
Change your mind at any time.
XLS Padlock binds every customer to an activation key. The key is validated against your own server, optionally bound to their machine System ID, and can be blocked through online validation. Trial windows, expiration dates, run-count limits, and subscription re-validation are all configurable.
Four controls the server connection adds over a static offline key.
Block leaked keys
Set online validation to blacklist a shared key. On its next validation check, the offending copy invalidates the key and asks for a new one. The control stays on your own server.
Trial windows with hard cutoffs
Issue a key that expires after a number of trial days, a maximum run count, or on a specific date. The limits are carried by the key and enforced by the compiled EXE.
Activations on your server
Every online activation is recorded on your own server. You can see which keys were activated and on how many machines, then clear or block them.
From dialog to running workbook.
- 01
Customer enters the key
On first launch, the compiled EXE shows the activation dialog. The customer pastes the key you emailed them after checkout.
- 02
EXE contacts your server
The EXE sends the activation data and the machine System ID to your activation server (PHP scripts shipped in the XLS Padlock Activation Kit).
- 03
Server validates and responds
Your server checks the order or key, confirms it is valid and has activations left, and returns the activation key. With the 2026 protocol the response carries a detached Ed25519 signature the workbook verifies.
- 04
EXE activates and runs
Once activated, the workbook runs without re-contacting the server each time. If you enable online validation, it re-checks with your server on the schedule you set: every startup, every X days, or every X runs.
Registration Form Editor
Customize the activation dialog your customers see.
The dialog shown on first launch is fully editable. The Registration Form Editor gives you a basic HTML editor with a live preview, so you can word the text yourself with tags like bold, line breaks, and fonts.
- Add your own fields (order number, email) that are sent to your server with the activation request.
- Drop in a Paste button to fill the token field, and mark any field as required.
Remote control, even after the workbook ships.
Validate activation regularly
With the Activation Kit or the WooCommerce kit on your server, an activated workbook can keep re-checking its activation. Block access when a customer asks for a refund, or simply control who is allowed to run the workbook over time.
Set the rules remotely without a rebuild
The web app that collects requests also generates the keys, so you set each key's properties from your server: expire after six months and force a re-activation, show a nag screen for a trial, or apply any XLS Padlock limitation. You change all of it without rebuilding the compiled workbook.
See it working, online
Watch online activation in action in our live workbook demonstration, right in your browser.
The license types you can issue.
Permanent
No expiry, no usage cap. Optionally bound to a machine System ID.
Time-limited trial
Expires after a set number of days or on a specific date. The limit is carried by the key.
Run-count trial
Capped at a maximum number of launches, enforced by the compiled workbook.
Subscription
Re-validates on a schedule through the WooCommerce or FastSpring kit. Expires when the subscription lapses.
The activation server is yours, written in PHP, shipped as source.
You host the activation kit yourself, with no recurring fee and your customer data staying on your own host. The PHP kit drops onto your web server and exposes the activation endpoints the compiled workbook expects. Customize it, host it wherever you want.