Settings & keep-time · Services and self-healing
Why does Services say background work stays paused until I activate?
Short answer: Not activated means there's no active trial or licence on this Mac, so automatic work waits. Activate in Settings → License. Items already moved keep working either way.
When Your plan reads Not activated, Storage Studio has no active trial or licence on this Mac, so automatic background work waits until you activate. Open Settings → License to start or activate a plan.
License on hold is different: things you've already moved keep working and nothing is deleted, but new moves and offloads pause until the hold is lifted. Invalid license asks you to re-activate in Settings → License. More in activating your licence.