How to install SimHub

Q: Where does SimHub store my licence?

In %localappdata%, alongside your settings. The Local User Settings Reset repair option deletes that folder and your licence with it, so back it up before running any reset.

Last updated 4 August 2026 · SimHub 9.11.22

SimHub installs from a standard Windows installer downloaded from simhubdash.com or GitHub Releases. It needs Windows 11 x64 and .NET Framework 4.8. Windows SmartScreen will almost certainly warn about it and some antivirus products flag it as a false positive — this is expected, because SimHub reads UDP, TCP and shared memory the way telemetry software has to. Installation takes about five minutes, and the only step people get stuck on is a missing .NET, which makes SimHub hang on startup at "Initializing: CoreData".

This covers the whole install, including the two things that go wrong — the security warning and the .NET hang — because between them they account for almost every failed first run. If SimHub is already installed and simply will not start, go straight to SimHub won't start.

What you need before you start

Windows 11 x64. This is the stated minimum. Windows 10 is described by the developer as not tested and not guaranteed — in practice a great deal of it works, but you are outside what is supported.
.NET Framework 4.8. Free from Microsoft. This is the single most common install-time problem and it is covered in full below.
About 500 MB of disk. More if you install many dashboards, which carry their own fonts and images.
A game SimHub supports, if you want telemetry rather than just a look around. There are 112 of them — see the supported games list.

You do not need an account, a subscription, or an internet connection after the download. SimHub is a desktop application that runs entirely on your own PC.

It is a PC application, always. There is no console version and no phone app that replaces it. If you race on a PS5 or an Xbox, SimHub still runs on a Windows PC and takes telemetry from the console over your network — see SimHub on PS5 and Xbox.

Where to download SimHub

There are two official sources and they carry the same build:

simhubdash.com: The developer's own site. This is the download most people should use, and it is where the pay-what-you-want licence is also sold.
GitHub Releases, under SHWotever/SimHub: The same installers, plus the release notes for every version. Useful if you need an older build — which is occasionally the fix when a new release disagrees with your antivirus.

The GitHub repository itself contains only issue templates and the wiki. SimHub is closed source, so there is no code to build yourself, and anything claiming to be a SimHub source tree is not one.

Download from one of those two places only. SimHub is popular enough to attract repackaged installers on download-aggregator sites. Those bundles are where real malware lives, as distinct from the false positive described below.

Why Windows warns you, and whether to worry

Windows SmartScreen will very likely show a blue "Windows protected your PC" panel, and some antivirus products quarantine SimHub outright. This is a false positive, and the reason is structural rather than accidental.

Telemetry software has to do things that look, to a heuristic scanner, exactly like the things malware does: it listens on UDP and TCP sockets, it reads another running process's shared memory, and it uses cryptography for licence handling. There is no way to write SimHub without those behaviours, so there is no way to write it without tripping heuristics.

On the SmartScreen panel, choose More info, then Run anyway. The panel does not offer that until you click More info, which is why people assume they are blocked.
If Defender has already removed the file, force a definition update before anything else — new SimHub releases are usually cleared within about 24 hours of a report.
If it persists, add an exclusion for the SimHub install folder, or install the previous release from GitHub and update in a week.

The full version of this, including how to report a false positive back to the vendor, is on SimHub and antivirus.

Installing it

Download the installer
From simhubdash.com/download-2. It is a single .exe.
Install .NET Framework 4.8 if you do not have it
Windows 11 ships with it. If you are on an older machine or a stripped Windows image, get it from Microsoft first — installing it afterwards works too, but you will have spent the intervening time looking at a frozen splash screen wondering what went wrong.
Run the installer and clear SmartScreen
More info → Run anyway. Accept the default install location unless you have a reason not to; some plugins assume it.
Start SimHub and pick your game
First run opens the game selection screen. Tick the games you actually play — SimHub only watches for the ones you enable, and ticking all 95 gains you nothing but startup time.
Verify it is reading telemetry
Launch a game and drive. SimHub's home screen should show live values. If it does not, the game is either not enabled or not sending — see game not detected.

If SimHub hangs at "Initializing: CoreData"

This is the .NET problem, and it looks nothing like a missing dependency — SimHub starts, shows its splash screen, prints Initializing: CoreData, and simply stops. There is no error dialog.

Install .NET Framework 4.8 from Microsoft and restart. That is the fix in the large majority of cases.

On the two .NET numbers you will see quoted. The application requires 4.8. The wiki page about Dash Studio's web server separately cites 4.7.2, because that is what that subsystem needs. 4.8 satisfies both, so install 4.8 and the distinction never matters — but it is worth knowing why two different numbers are in circulation.

If .NET 4.8 is present and it still hangs, the next suspect is a third-party plugin, which the official troubleshooting page names as the leading cause of SimHub instability generally. SimHub won't start has the full ladder.

Where SimHub keeps your things

Worth knowing before you ever need it, because one of the repair options deletes half of it.

The install folder: Program files: the application, bundled plugins, and any third-party plugin DLLs you have added.
%localappdata%: Your settings, profiles, dashboards, ShakeIt configuration — and your licence.

Back up your licence file. It lives in %localappdata%, which means the Local User Settings Reset repair option deletes it. This catches people who are following troubleshooting advice in good faith. Copy that folder somewhere before you run any reset.

Updating, repairing and uninstalling

SimHub ships frequently — several releases landed in the weeks around version 9.11.22, which is what this cluster is checked against. Updating is just running the new installer over the top; your settings, dashboards and profiles are kept.

When something is broken, there is a repair ladder, and it matters that you climb it in order because each rung costs more than the last:

The reset ladder, least destructive first
Step	What it does	What you lose
Light Reinstall	Replaces program files, keeps everything else	Nothing
Local User Settings Reset	Clears `%localappdata%`	Your licence, settings, profiles and dashboards
Full Reset	Everything above plus the install	As above

Try a Light Reinstall first, and always disable third-party plugins before assuming SimHub itself is at fault — that one step resolves a large share of problems that look like corruption.

Common questions

Is SimHub free to download?

Yes, and it is fully functional without paying. There is an optional pay-what-you-want licence that raises hardware update rates from 10FPS to 60FPS and adds a few conveniences — see is SimHub free? for exactly what it changes.

Does SimHub work on Mac or Linux?

No. It is a Windows desktop application built on .NET Framework and WPF, neither of which runs on macOS or Linux. There is no port and none has been announced. A Mac can only be the phone-style client — a browser looking at a dashboard served by a Windows PC.

Will SimHub run on Windows 10?

The stated requirement is Windows 11 x64, with Windows 10 described as not tested and not guaranteed. Much of it does work on Windows 10 in practice, but problems on it are yours to solve. Note also that Windows 10 versions 1507 and 1511 cannot install the .NET the web server needs at all.

Why does my antivirus say SimHub is a virus?

Because it reads UDP, TCP and shared memory and uses cryptography — the exact behaviour signature heuristic scanners look for. It is a false positive. Force a Defender definition update, which usually clears a new release within 24 hours, and download only from simhubdash.com or GitHub Releases.

Do I need to uninstall the old version before updating?

No. Run the new installer over the top. Settings, dashboards, profiles and your licence are preserved.

Where does SimHub store my licence?

In %localappdata%, alongside your settings. The Local User Settings Reset repair option deletes that folder and your licence with it, so back it up before running any reset.

Sources

SimHub is developed independently by Wotever and is not affiliated with oesimracing. This page was checked against SimHub 9.11.22 on 4 August 2026; where the interface has moved on since, the version stamp tells you how far. More on what SimHub is and what it costs.