You can reactivate your QuickBooks Desktop payroll subscription easily. But there are 4 procedures for different scenarios.   Scenario 1: If QuickBooks Desktop Payroll is purchased in a retail store.  Open QuickBooks Desktop payroll. Visit the menu bar, and select the ‘Employees’ option. Click on the ‘Payroll’ option then select the ‘Install Payroll’ option from the box. Then follow the prompts to activate the payroll subscription again.    Scenario 2: If QuickBooks Payroll is Purchased from the Web.   Select the ‘Payroll’ option from the ‘Employees’ tab. Then enter the service key, and follow the on-screen prompts.    Scenario 3: If QuickBooks Payroll is Purchased Officially.   QuickBooks will active the payroll subscription automatically. It doesn’t need a manual setup procedure to activate it.  Scenario 4: If you have the QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll      The QuickBooks ProAdvisor can guide you to activate the Assisted Payroll subscription.