It says expired and I have paid

Press Refresh licence on the Status screen. That button exists for exactly this moment, it is always honoured — no waiting, no floor, no "try again later" — and it is a click rather than a reinstall. In most cases it is the whole fix.

Before anything else, the thing worth knowing: nothing has been taken away. Whatever the Status screen says, Nico stays open and everything already transcribed stays yours — history, retained recordings and every session folder are still there and still exportable. There is no lock screen and nothing is deleted.

"Expired" is four different facts, and Nico names which one

Only one of them means your subscription has ended. Find the word the Status screen shows:

Needs a check-in

Nico needs to reach us once before it can carry on. Your subscription is fine — connect to the network and this sorts itself out. Press Refresh licence on the Status screen if you would rather not wait.

Your subscription is genuinely fine. This is almost always the short first licence (see How your licence works) reaching its end on a Mac that has not been online. Get it on a network, or press Refresh licence.

Payment failed

The last payment for your subscription did not go through.

Update the card and Nico comes back by itself — you do not have to tell us you have done it. The link to do that is in your receipt; if you cannot find it, email us and we will send it. This is a two-minute fix, and Nico does not lock you out on the first failed attempt, because a card that fails on the 1st is usually recovered within a fortnight by a retry nobody had to think about.

Ended

Your subscription ended on [date]. Resubscribe at wingmannico.com — everything on this Mac stays where it is. History, retained recordings and every session folder are still there and still exportable.

This is the one that means what it says. If you believe it is wrong, press Refresh licence first, then write to us.

Another Mac

This licence was issued for another Mac. Nico will fetch one for this Mac the next time it is online. Press Refresh licence on the Status screen to do it now.

Not an accusation — see Nico on more than one Mac.

Not readable, or a version too old

Not readable

Nico could not read the licence stored on this Mac. Open Status and enter your licence key again, or press Refresh licence. Everything already transcribed stays yours.

Update Nico

Two messages both mean the app is behind rather than anything being wrong with your subscription:

This licence was signed with a key this version of Nico does not trust. Update Nico. Your subscription is unaffected and the licence on this Mac is not the problem.

This licence was issued in a newer format than this version of Nico reads. Update Nico. Your subscription is unaffected.

"This Mac's date is wrong"

If your Mac's clock is a long way out, Nico says so, names both dates, and deliberately does not say your licence has expired — because that would be false, and a Mac whose clock is set years into the future would otherwise be locked out of software it had paid for, permanently.

The app's own sentence ends: Your subscription is fine — set the date in System Settings → General → Date & Time. Do that, press Refresh licence, and it is over.

It does not say expired, and it still will not record

Then it is not the licence. The two usual causes:

• The trial has ended — the Status screen says so separately from the subscription row. See How the seven-day trial works.

• The microphone — a denied microphone looks like silence rather than an error. See Microphone, and the permissions Nico does not ask for.

If none of that works

Email vinay@wingmannico.com, or just reply to your licence key email, which arrives with your purchase already attached. Include:

• What the Status screen says about your subscription, in words — the word and the sentence under it.

• The email address you paid with.

Please do not send us your licence key, or a screenshot of it, unless we ask.