Surfshark VPN is a subscription service. Your order gives you a code for the term in the product name, and the Surfshark app and account come from Surfshark. This guide shows the path from the email to a connected VPN, and it is open about the one step Surfshark does not document for codes from other sellers.
What you received
Your order confirmation email contains your code. The same code is in My Library in your Lizensa account. Lizensa supplies the code, not the app.
The product name gives the term and the number of users:
Each product is a subscription for one year. The user entitlement is the one stated in the product name you ordered.
Read your order email once before you start. If it describes steps that differ from this guide, follow the email.
Get the software
- Open Surfshark's download page.
- Choose your system, for example Windows or macOS, and download the app.
- Save the installer where you can find it again.
Surfshark's download page does not list the supported versions of Windows and macOS. If the installer reports that your system is not supported, contact our support with your order number.
Redeem the code
Surfshark documents how a coupon code is applied when you choose a plan. It does not publish a separate page for codes from other sellers. The steps below are Surfshark's coupon procedure. Follow them for your code unless your order email gives different instructions.
- Open Surfshark's plans page and choose a plan.
- Enter your code in the coupon code field and select apply.
- Surfshark's guide says a valid coupon shows the confirmation "coupon applied".
- For any further step, follow your order email.
If the plans page rejects the code, or if it asks you to pay after you applied it, stop and contact our support with your order number. Surfshark's guide: How to use a coupon code.
Install
- Open the installer you downloaded.
- On Windows, if a permission prompt appears, check that it is for the Surfshark installer before you select Yes.
- Follow the instructions of the installer. When it finishes, start the Surfshark app.
Activate
- In the app, sign in with the account that holds your subscription, or create an account if you do not have one yet.
- Select a server and connect.
- If your system asks you to allow a VPN configuration, read the request and allow it only if it comes from the Surfshark app.
Surfshark also offers a login by code. On Surfshark's login page, the instruction is to open a Surfshark app that is already signed in and enter the code under Settings > My account > Enter login code. This is for signing in on another device with the same account.
Check it worked
- Check that you have connected to a VPN server in the app.
- Your subscription runs for the term in its product name. If you cannot confirm that your one-year subscription is active, contact our support with your order number.
If something goes wrong
The plans page does not accept the code. Paste the code again from your email and check that no space came along. If the page still refuses it, contact our support with your order number. Do not pay for a plan to work around the message.
The app reports that you have no active subscription. Check that you are signed in with the account you used when you redeemed the code. If you are unsure which account that was, contact our support.
The VPN connection does not start. If you declined your system's request to add a VPN configuration, contact Surfshark's support for instructions for your system. Include the error message the app shows.
You want to add more time later. Contact our support first to ask whether another code can extend an existing subscription.
You need the app on a phone. Surfshark's download page lists the available apps. Use that page and sign in with the same account.
Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number and the message you see.
