GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot Subscription Not Active — How to Fix It

The 'GitHub Copilot subscription is not active' error appears in VS Code when the editor cannot verify your Copilot entitlement with GitHub's servers, even if your billing is up to date. This typically affects individual subscribers and enterprise users after billing cycles, account changes, or re-installations of VS Code. Fortunately, the fix usually takes less than two minutes and does not require canceling or restarting your subscription.

Why does this error happen?

GitHub Copilot validates your subscription status by checking an OAuth token stored in VS Code against GitHub's licensing API. When this token becomes stale, mismatched, or is associated with a GitHub account that has a billing hiccup — such as an expired card, a delayed renewal, or a recently changed email — the API returns an inactive entitlement signal. VS Code then surfaces this as a subscription error even though your payment history may appear clean. Additionally, if you have multiple GitHub accounts configured in your system credential manager, VS Code may be authenticating with the wrong account entirely, causing a false negative on subscription status.

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How to fix it

Check Your Copilot Subscription Status on GitHub

Navigate to github.com/settings/copilot in your browser and confirm that your plan shows as active and not expired or paused. If you see a warning banner about billing, resolve it there before proceeding to the editor — editor-side fixes will not work until the account-level status is clean.

Sign Out of GitHub and Sign Back In to VS Code

Open VS Code, click your account avatar in the bottom-left corner, and select 'Sign Out' next to your GitHub account. Once signed out, click 'Sign In' and complete the OAuth flow in your browser, making sure you authorize the correct GitHub account that holds the Copilot subscription. This forces VS Code to request a fresh token and re-validate your entitlement.

Verify Your Billing Is Not Overdue

Go to github.com/settings/billing and confirm that your payment method is valid, not expired, and that no invoice is marked as past due. GitHub may silently suspend Copilot access within 24–48 hours of a failed payment without sending an immediate in-editor notification. Updating your card and paying any outstanding balance will typically restore access automatically within minutes.

Re-Authorize GitHub in VS Code Editor Settings

Open the VS Code Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac), type 'GitHub Copilot: Sign In', and run the command to trigger a fresh authorization prompt. You can also navigate to Settings → Extensions → GitHub Copilot and check that the extension is enabled and not blocked by any workspace or profile-level override. Reload VS Code after completing authorization to ensure the new token is applied.

Pro tip

Set a calendar reminder a few days before your GitHub billing renewal date and pre-check github.com/settings/billing to ensure your payment method is current — this prevents the subscription validation from failing silently mid-sprint.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Copilot say my subscription is not active right after I subscribed?

New subscriptions can take up to 10–15 minutes to propagate through GitHub's licensing system after payment is confirmed. Sign out of VS Code, wait a few minutes, then sign back in to pick up the newly activated entitlement.

I have a GitHub Copilot for Business seat — why am I still seeing this error?

Enterprise and Business seats are granted by an organization admin, and your access can be revoked or pending if the admin has not yet assigned your seat in the organization settings. Contact your GitHub organization administrator to confirm your seat is allocated and active.

Will reinstalling VS Code fix the subscription not active error?

Reinstalling VS Code is rarely necessary and removes all your settings and extensions. Simply signing out and back in, as described in Step 2, achieves the same token refresh without any data loss.

Does this error appear on JetBrains IDEs or only VS Code?

The same subscription validation error can surface in any Copilot-supported editor including JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and Visual Studio — the fix process is identical: sign out, verify billing, and re-authorize the GitHub account that holds the subscription.

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