Chrome Education Upgrade Licence change

[d13373d]

Hi everyone, thought I needed to share this with anyone else thinking of using ChromeOSFlex to upgrade old devices.

We thought we would try it on one trolley of laptops first. Happy with the though that even though they are old devices we have lots of spares to replace them when they die.

 

I was surprised to see last week that when I tried to do this with a dead laptop the "conditionally available" licence didn't apply. Exact same model laptop.

 

I contacted Google Support and long story short: "... the conditionally available licenses ... due to policy change one license can be used to only one device and it cannot be reused irrespective of Deprovisioning reason."
 

No mention of this policy change in any Google articles so be warned. It's making us question whether we continue with the reuse of old devices now. Is it worth £30 for the licence on an old device that might not last that long?

 

Mike

[3s-gtech]

That's been the policy for longer than we've had ChromeOS devices - the upgrade license is tied to the device - it doesn't free up when that's retired. Bit of a shame, and can have a fair financial knock-on effect, but well known.

[synaesthesia]

This isn't correct - shout louder at your Google account manager. I had to shout VERY loud when I was replacing failed devices with identical ones. Support just kept saying no, it's policy and even "no, the device UUID is too different" despite being from the exact same manufacturing batch of devices. Whether it's a Chrome device or Flex makes no difference.

Account manager was incredulous, overruled them immediately and credited us with licenses with no questions. 

Edited December 1, 2025 by synaesthesia

[paulkerton]

This is absolutely not correct. Licenses are transferrable in two circumstances afaik:

1. You're transferring from a ChromeOS Flex machine to a ChromeOS device within a year of the ChromeOS Flex machine being enrolled.

2. You're swapping a like for like device due to a repair/warranty issue and have had to replace the device with another of the same model. You can't have an ASUS Chromebook, replace it with a brand new HP one. It has to be the same make/model.

If this has changed, they've failed to inform their customers.

[d13373d]

Thanks for the replies, I've already emailed customer support back about this. I'll see if I can take it higher as something doesn't sound right.

I'll come back and update the thread when I hear more.

[d13373d]

So support have just doubled down. Not sure where to go next...

 

Quote

Thank you for your detailed and candid feedback regarding the recent change in the Chrome Education Upgrade license reuse policy. I have carefully read your email and fully understand your disappointment, as well as the operational and financial challenges this change presents for your organization.

First and foremost, please accept my sincere apologies for the lack of clear, timely, and public communication regarding this shift in policy. You are absolutely correct that the expectation for administrators is to rely on published documentation.

I want to assure you that I have immediately escalated your feedback regarding both the policy change itself and, more critically, the failure in documentation and notification. Thank you again for holding us accountable. We value your partnership greatly and are committed to improving our communication standards.

 

[synaesthesia]

Do you not have an account manager as your school or trust?

[jthompson]

The OP screenshot relates to the perpetual license type.

 

There's a different license type that is an annually renewable license (so approx £40 per device per year, not a one-off) that can be moved to different ChromeOS Flex devices more freely. Not used them myself, so can't be 100%, but if that's indeed the case, then it might still be cost-effective for you if you're cycling through old devices at a rate.

 

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9147838?hl=en#zippy=%2Cannual

Quote

• You can unenroll a device and transfer the upgrade to another device (of any model) in the same domain.

 

 

[Alis_Klar]

Does this affect migrating Chromebooks from one Workspace domain to another?  Can't find the edugeek thread about this which had a clear order of events.  Do you de-provision to free up licences before you contact Google Support?

[KK20]

Still hasnt changed for perpetual licenses it seems

 

Use Chrome upgrades - Chrome Enterprise and Education Help

Repair, repurpose, or retire ChromeOS devices - Chrome Enterprise and Education Help

 

This is a shame if it has changed.   I have never tried using a conditional license for flex, ive only ever used for a warranty repair and reprovision.