One Mac, Multiple Norton 360 Devices registered

[matthewmoran]

My wife and I share a single MacBook so we each have our own profiles. However Norton 360 makes each of us sign in and it looks like it is taking up a device registration for each user. So our one device, has two devices registered with Norton for each profile. I would think it should only take up one device registration, and use the S/N as the key or something.

[bjm]

@matthewmoran

My wife and I share a single MacBook so we each have our own profiles. However Norton 360 makes each of us sign in and it looks like it is taking up a device registration for each user. So our one device, has two devices registered with Norton for each profile. I would think it should only take up one device registration, and use the S/N as the key or something.

Could you clarify a couple of things?

1. When you say you each have your own profiles, do you mean separate macOS user accounts, or separate Norton accounts / Norton Password Manager profiles?

2. Are you both signing into the same Norton account, or does each of you have a different Norton account?

3. When you say the MacBook is showing as two devices, where are you seeing that — in Norton > My Devices, or somewhere else?

4. Does each Norton account actually show the MacBook as using one of your available device seats, or are you simply seeing the MacBook listed in each account?

5. Is Norton 360 installed once on the Mac, or does each macOS user have a separate Norton installation?

[matthewmoran]

1. I have both multiple MacOS accounts, and Norton account (one for each family member)

2. Different accounts

3. I am seeing that same device multiple times, one for each Norton user, and per MacOS account

4. Yes, the MacBook is using multiple device seats

5. Norton is installed for all users once, not per user

I think what is happening, is Norton is use a device seat per user, regardless if they are on the same device. I find this odd given the have the same S/N. and I did a test where I deleted the Norton device, and then went into my wife’s MacBook account and used my Norton login and it only showed up once. Not a massive issue since we don’t normally share a single device but still seems like something Norton should have worked to accommodate.

[bjm]

@matthewmoran

1. I have both multiple MacOS accounts, and Norton account (one for each family member)
2. Different accounts
3. I am seeing that same device multiple times, one for each Norton user, and per MacOS account
4. Yes, the MacBook is using multiple device seats
5. Norton is installed for all users once, not per user

I think what is happening, is Norton is use a device seat per user, regardless if they are on the same device. I find this odd given the have the same S/N. and I did a test where I deleted the Norton device, and then went into my wife’s MacBook account and used my Norton login and it only showed up once. Not a massive issue since we don’t normally share a single device but still seems like something Norton should have worked to accommodate.

Hello @matthewmoran

Thanks for clarifying and for doing that test. That makes the situation much clearer.

Since Norton is installed only once on the Mac, yet the same physical Mac is consuming a device seat for each separate Norton account/macOS user combination, this looks more like a Norton device-registration/licensing behavior than multiple Norton installations.

Your test using the same Norton login on both macOS accounts is particularly interesting, since that resulted in only one device being shown.

At this point, I think this is probably something Norton Support would need to confirm: is it expected behavior for one physical Mac to consume multiple device seats when different Norton accounts are used by different macOS users?

The fact that the Mac has the same hardware/serial information makes the behavior a little surprising, although I don’t know what identifier Norton uses internally for device registration.

Thanks — your test makes this considerably clearer, but I still find the behavior a little puzzling.

You have one physical MacBook and one Norton installation, which is available to all of the macOS users. Yet when different Norton accounts are used, Norton registers the same Mac as a separate device for each account. When you use the same Norton account on both macOS accounts, it only registers once.

That makes me wonder whether Norton is associating the device registration with the Norton account/user context rather than solely with the physical device.

I think this is one for Norton Support to clarify. It would be interesting to know whether this is expected behavior on macOS, and what Norton considers the “device” for licensing purposes in this situation.

Norton Official Support Help Center → Contact us (bottom of page)
Contact Official Norton Support → Let’s get started.

Edit: are you using Two-factor authentication for your Norton account/s?
When I used Norton account Two-factor Authentication…as I recall…seemed like every sign in added another device.

Creating a Norton account does not, by itself, consume a Norton device seat. That’s the key point.

You can create Norton accounts for:

• Norton Password Manager
• testing
• different family members
• whatever other legitimate reason

…and that doesn’t mean you’ve added another physical device to a subscription.

So I think we can now separate two things that we were getting tangled together:

Norton account ≠ device seat.

The OP’s situation is different because they’re saying that after signing that different Norton account into the already-installed Norton 360 on the same Mac, Norton creates a device registration that consumes a seat.

That’s the behavior that needs explaining.

The title — “One Mac, Multiple Norton 360 Devices registered” — is actually describing the symptom, not necessarily the mechanism. The OP has confirmed that the Mac is showing multiple device-seat consumption, but that doesn’t mean Norton is treating each Norton account itself as a licensed device.

head scracth

I already have this Mac registered. I then use a different Norton account on the same Mac, and Norton appears to register the same Mac again and consume another seat.

head scratch