---
title: "Payment needed"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/payment-needed
category: "Licensing & payments"
tags: ["licence", "payments", "fix payment", "troubleshooting"]
summary: "\"Payment needed\" means your subscription stopped because a payment wasn't collected, so Storage Studio is paused. Everything you've moved is safe. Fix the payment and it unlocks straight away — no licence key needed."
updated: 2026-10-01T12:54:25.000Z
---

# Payment needed

"Payment needed" means your subscription stopped because a payment wasn't collected, so Storage Studio is paused. Everything you've moved is safe. Fix the payment and it unlocks straight away — no licence key needed.

**Payment needed** means your subscription has stopped because a payment wasn't collected, so Storage Studio is paused. Everything you've moved is safe and stays where it is. You don't need a licence key to get going again: fix the payment and Storage Studio unlocks straight away.

## What you'll see

The same panel appears in **Settings → License** (which opens on its own), and in the window Storage Studio shows at launch:

> **Payment needed** — Your last payment didn't go through, so Storage Studio is paused. Everything you've moved is safe. Fix the payment and it unlocks straight away — no licence key needed.

The License pane's status reads **Payment needed**, and the popover shows **Licence inactive**.

This is the step after [a payment that didn't go through](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/fix-payment). While a payment is being retried, your licence stays active and you see the red **Payment didn't go through** notice instead. **Payment needed** appears once the subscription has stopped being collected.

## How to fix it

1. Choose **Fix Payment**. A secure payment page opens in your browser, where you can pay the outstanding invoice, with a different card if you like.
2. Back in Storage Studio, choose **Check again**. It asks our servers straight away and unlocks once the payment shows. (It also re-checks by itself a few times over the following minutes.)
3. If you really do have a different licence key, choose **Have a licence key?** to enter it.

```mermaid
%% caption: Getting going again after Payment needed
flowchart TD
  A[Payment needed] --> B[Fix Payment]
  B --> C[Pay the invoice or use a different card]
  C --> D[Check again]
  D --> E{Payment confirmed?}
  E -->|Yes| F[Storage Studio unlocks, settings as you left them]
  E -->|Not yet| G[Wait a minute and Check again]
```

*Flowchart — Getting going again after Payment needed. Outline:*

- Payment needed
  - leads to Fix Payment
- Fix Payment
  - leads to Pay the invoice or use a different card
- Pay the invoice or use a different card
  - leads to Check again
- Check again
  - leads to Payment confirmed?
- Payment confirmed?
  - Yes: leads to Storage Studio unlocks, settings as you left them
  - Not yet: leads to Wait a minute and Check again

If the billing page won't open, the panel says: "We couldn't open your billing page just now. Try again in a minute, or reply to any of our payment emails and we'll send you a payment link."

## "Your subscription has ended"

You may see this heading instead. It means there is nothing left to pay on the old subscription:

- **Subscribe again** starts a new subscription on the same plan. Your settings are kept.
- If the old subscription still has an unpaid invoice, the button reads **Pay and reactivate** instead. Paying it brings your licence back without starting a second subscription.

## What still works while it's paused

Your moved folders and apps stay where they are, and the shortcuts left behind keep working while your drive is connected. What pauses is Storage Studio's own work: new moves, transfers, clean-ups and scheduled rules. Settings, Help and the logs stay open so you can sort things out — see [When a trial or licence ends](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-your-licence-ends).

See also: [How recurring payments work](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/how-recurring-payments-work), [Billing & invoices](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/billing-and-invoices), [The License pane](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-license-pane), [Getting help](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/getting-help).

## What links here

- [How recurring payments work](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/how-recurring-payments-work)
- [Payments due and what happens next](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/payments-due-and-what-happens-next)
- [When a payment didn't go through](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/fix-payment)
- [When a trial or licence ends](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-your-licence-ends)