If you are looking for a "better" solution today, relying solely on the hosts file is insufficient for the latest Creative Cloud versions (2022-2024).

This hosts file + Little Snitch rule + immutable flag is the current gold standard for keeping Adobe activation stable on macOS. Adobe patches this cat-and-mouse game every few months—this list was tested on macOS Sequoia 15.x with Adobe 2024 apps .

Editing the hosts file on Mac requires administrator privileges. Here's a step-by-step guide:

For users finding the hosts file insufficient on newer macOS versions (Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma), using a firewall application like Little Snitch is often more effective.