Tracking Your Mac’s Software Serial Numbers

If there is a challenge all Mac users face it’s keeping track of information. Think of your Mac as big database that creates, finds, retrieves, modifies, and distributes data. That requires that our Macs have more than the software that comes with each new Mac.

Most of those software titles, whether applications, utilities, or games, require software serial numbers; the license which lets us use the software, get future upgrades, and support. I work for a school which licenses hundreds of software titles. How do we keep track of the serial numbers? LicenseKeeper.

One Tricky Pony

Mac360 has covered a number of utilities that securely store data of all kinds on our Macs.

Many of them come with high level encryption, synchronization capability, secure entry, all of which is good for login ID’s and passwords, and credit card information. Ease of use? Not so much.

LicenseKeeper is truly a one trick pony, a Mac utility that does one thing very well. It stores serial numbers and license files. You could use a spreadsheet, or a Word or Excel document, and just list all your serial numbers and license files.

That’s easy. And cheap. And Spotlight search might get your what you want if you lose what you’ve got.

More Tricks

LicenseKeeper simply stores and retrieves license and serial number information, perfect for Mac software, though it can be used for any product with a license, warranty, or serial number.

For example, a purchase often contains not only a license and serial number, but date of purchase, receipt, registration information, manufacturer, and so on. LicenseKeeper keeps all that in a single, easy-to-use interface.

If you’re already using something like Excel or another database, LicenseKeeper can import that license data and place it into the database. Using the Auto Scan feature, LicenseKeeper even scans email for serial numbers and drops them into your Mac’s clipboard so you can paste it into the registration form.

It’s one thing to have data on your Mac, but it’s something else to have a hard copy. LicenseKeeper even prints a detailed report of your product inventory. Tracking software costs is important, too, so having multiple currency options is an added plus—from Dollars to Euros, from Yet to Pounds and more.

Automatic Tricks

Who likes data entry? Even if you get paid by the hour, data entry is a tedious, time-consuming, mind-numbing process. LicenseKeeper eases the pain with auto fill options so you don’t have to type in the same information with every license or serial number.

What about saving data? Don’t worry about forgetting to save what you enter. That’s done automatically. What about exporting the data for other uses? LicenseKeeper even exports to common data formats.

The interface is at once recognizable and easy to use. The left column displays icons of the software or graphics for the products listed. The tool bar at the top gives you specific utility functions, such as New Item, Import, Attach Email, and Search.

The center right column of LicenseKeeper displays the product details. Options include Attachments, Registration, Publisher, Purchase Info, and Notes.

That’s it. No night class. No License Management for Dummies book. LicenseKeeper is elegant simplicity at a very affordable price. If you outgrow what it does, your data moves on to another utility.