Trial & licence

The 14-day trial

For 14 days you can use everything in Tern Files, Pro included. You don't need an account or a card, and there is nothing to cancel.

• The trial starts the first time you start Tern Files on a PC.
• Settings › License shows Trial with the days left – for example "12 of 14 days left" – and a bar.
• In the last three days, the status bar shows a hint like Trial: 2 days left. A click on it opens the licence dialog Keep Tern Files.

When the trial ends, nothing is deleted, and jobs that are running always finish. Tern Files stays a complete file manager – see What stays free. The status then reads Trial ended, and Pro features show the licence dialog when you open them. You can unlock them at any time, without a restart.

You can also buy during the trial – Pro then simply stays unlocked when the 14 days are over.

What stays free

After the trial, Tern Files keeps working as a full file manager – free and without a time limit. This stays free:

• Browsing with tabs, two panes, all views and folder sizes
• Instant search across your drives (without natural language) and the preview with Space
• All file operations with the transfer queue, the Recycle Bin, ZIP and the full history with undo
• The context menu, including the Windows entries
• The storage overview
• Git status, terminal and editor right from the folder
• Phones and cameras, network drives and OneDrive
• All settings, including the default file manager in the direct version

Your Pro data stays as it is. Tags stay visible, workspaces and saved searches stay in the sidebar, and saved searches keep showing live results. Your rules pause – Tern Files tells you once with Rules paused – and run again as soon as you have a licence.

What Pro adds

Pro unlocks the tools for tidying up and working faster. During the trial you have all of them; afterwards they need a licence:

• The launcher (Alt+Space) and the quick switch in open and save dialogs
• Workspaces, tags and new saved searches
• Duplicates, large and long unused files and the cleanup suggestions in the storage view
• Batch rename and quick actions (ZIP stays free)
• Rules and compare and sync
• The local AI: AI tidy-up, natural-language search and names by content

After the trial, opening a Pro feature shows the licence dialog Keep Tern Files instead; the quick switch simply no longer appears next to dialogs. Once you enter a key or buy in the Store, everything is unlocked at once – no restart needed.

One licence includes all 1.x updates and is for you on up to 3 PCs.

Buy Pro

Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It includes all 1.x updates and is for you on up to 3 PCs.

1. Open the licence dialog: click the trial hint in the status bar, open any Pro feature after the trial, or go to Settings › License, where the row Keep Tern Files Pro has the same button.
2. Click Buy directly in the direct version or Buy in the Microsoft Store in the Store version.
3. Direct version: complete the purchase on ternfiles.com. Your licence key comes by e-mail – then enter the key. Store version: confirm the purchase in the Store window; Pro is unlocked right away (see Microsoft Store).

The dialog shows the price: €49 once in the direct version; in the Store version, the Store shows its price for your country. Each version shows only its own buy button, because a Store purchase can't unlock the direct version.

Both versions are the same app. Choose the Store if you want to pay with your Microsoft account; choose the direct version if you prefer a key without an account or want the default file manager and the index service.

Enter a licence key

With a licence key you unlock Pro in the direct version – offline, without an account and without a restart. The key comes by e-mail after the purchase and starts with TERN-.

1. Copy the whole key from the e-mail; line breaks don't matter.
2. Open Settings › License and paste it into the field License key. In the licence dialog, click Enter license key first.
3. Click Unlock.

Tern Files answers Thank you! Tern Files Pro is unlocked. From then on the status reads Pro – licensed, with your name and e-mail address. If something is wrong, you see why:

• That is not a complete key. – part of it is missing; copy it again.
• This key is not valid. – the key was changed or mistyped.
• This key is for another major version. – keys are valid for all versions 1.x.

Use the same key on up to 3 of your PCs. Keep the e-mail – you'll need the key again on a new PC or after reinstalling. The Store version accepts keys, too.

Microsoft Store

In the Microsoft Store version, the Store handles payment and licence through your Microsoft account – no key to keep.

1. Open the licence dialog or Settings › License.
2. Click Buy in the Microsoft Store and complete the purchase in the Store window.

Pro is unlocked immediately, and Settings › License shows Bought in the Microsoft Store. Tern Files asks the Store for your licence each time it starts, so on another PC you simply install Tern Files from the Store with the same Microsoft account.

• Updates come through the Store automatically.
• Bought a key directly and now using the Store version? Enter your key there – the Store version accepts it.
• A Store purchase can't be used in the direct version, which is why that version has no Store button.

Store and direct version have the same features, except that only the direct version can become the default file manager and set up the index service.