Cannot enable GitHub Copilot Student because of “account locked due to failed billing authorization”

[SlenderDigital]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Benefit Activation/Waiting

Hi everyone,

Hi everyone,

I’m a student and my GitHub Education benefits are already verified. On my Education page I see something like:

“You have a current student coupon applied. Verified (benefits available)”

My benefits are active until July 09, 2028.

When I click the “Use GitHub Copilot for free” button (GitHub Copilot Student), I get this message:

“Your account is currently locked due to a failed billing authorization. Please update your payment information.”

I only want to use GitHub Copilot Student for free through GitHub Education, not a paid Copilot subscription.

I already checked my Billing & plans page and I don’t want to add a payment method just to use the free student benefit.

Could someone from GitHub please help me remove this “failed billing authorization” lock from my account, or tell me exactly what I need to do so I can activate Copilot Student correctly?

Thanks in advance!

after clicking the button:

[xusnitdinov]

That "account locked due to failed billing authorization" message is a billing / payment method lock, not an Education verification problem. Student verification can look fine while Copilot still refuses to enable.

What usually works:

1. Open GitHub Billing and check for failed charges, expired cards, or a locked billing state.
2. Remove any broken payment method, or add a valid one if GitHub asks (even if you only want free Student Copilot).
3. Wait a bit after fixing billing, then retry enabling Copilot Student from the Education / Copilot settings page.
4. If it stays locked with no bad card on file, this is account-specific - open a ticket at GitHub Support and mention Education is verified but Copilot shows the billing authorization lock.

Community cannot unlock billing holds from here. Support has to clear the flag on the account.

[RUMON07]

This error happens because your overall GitHub account has a billing restriction or lock on it, usually due to a previous paid subscription, a trial that ended, or a marketplace item that failed to authorize payment in the past. Even though GitHub Copilot Student is completely free, the system automatically blocks any new service activations if the account's general billing status is flagged.

Here is what you need to do to resolve this:

1. Check for Failed Invoices: Go to your Settings > Billing and plans > Payment history and check if there are any past due or failed invoices listed there.

2. Contact Billing Support: Since this involves account-specific billing details, community members cannot clear this lock for you. You need to open a ticket directly with GitHub's billing team. Go to the GitHub Support Portal
   , select Account, billing, and organizations, and explain that your student benefits are verified but you are blocked from activating free Copilot due to an old billing authorization lock.

The support team can easily clear the stuck billing flag from the backend without requiring you to add a payment method.

If this helped resolve your issue, please consider marking this comment as the Answer! It helps others in the community find the correct solution faster. ✅

[monmoymondol]

Hi SlenderDigital,

You’re absolutely right — this situation can be confusing, especially when your GitHub Education benefits are already verified. The “account locked due to failed billing authorization” message usually appears when GitHub’s billing system detects a previous failed payment attempt or an incomplete authorization on your account, even if you’re only trying to use the free Copilot Student benefit.

Here’s what you can do to fix it:

1️⃣ Check your billing settings:
• Go to github.com/settings/billing.
• Remove any expired or inactive payment methods.
• If you previously tried Copilot Pro or Business, cancel or clear those subscriptions first.

2️⃣ Retry enabling Copilot Student:
• After cleaning up your billing info, go back to the Education page and click “Use GitHub Copilot for free.”
• The system should now recognize your verified student coupon and activate Copilot without requiring a payment method.

3️⃣ If the lock persists:
• Contact GitHub Support at support@github.com (github.com in Bing).
• Include a screenshot of your Education page showing “Verified (benefits available)” and mention that your benefits are active until July 09 2028.
• Ask them to manually remove the “failed billing authorization” lock from your account.

Many verified students have resolved this issue after Support manually cleared the billing lock — it’s a known edge case when transitioning from a paid Copilot trial to the free Student plan.

You’re doing everything right — once Support resets your billing authorization, Copilot Student will activate normally and you’ll be able to use it completely free.

Hope this helps, and thank you for raising this — it’s valuable feedback that helps GitHub improve the Education onboarding experience for everyone.

[SlenderDigital]

Thank to all of you!!, all those responses work for me :)))