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Licence and activation problems

Last updated · SimHub 9.11.22

SimHub licences are delivered as .lic file attachments to your purchase email, normally within 24 hours, and you apply them inside SimHub through Manage Licenses and then Add licence. The motion addon needs two separate files — the main SimHub licence and the motion addon licence — and both must be loaded before it will run, which is the commonest cause of an addon that will not activate on a machine where SimHub itself is licensed. The most important thing to know is preventative: copies of licence files are not provided once activated, so the purchase email is the only copy you have. Back up that attachment somewhere that will outlive the PC.

Nothing here is difficult, and one part of it is not fixable after the fact, which is why it is worth five minutes now rather than an email exchange later.

Applying a licence

  1. Find the .lic file

    It is an attachment on your purchase email, sent within 24 hours of buying. If it has not arrived, check spam before anything else — a small file attachment from a payment-triggered sender is exactly what a spam filter dislikes.

  2. Open Manage Licenses

    In SimHub, go to the relevant settings — for the motion addon, its Global Settings — and choose Manage Licenses, then Add licence.

  3. Add the file and confirm

    Select the .lic file and confirm. It should then be listed.

  4. Repeat for the second licence if you have one

    The motion addon needs both the main SimHub licence and the addon licence. Loading one and not the other is the usual reason an addon stays inactive on an otherwise licensed install.

Check the list, not the dialog. After adding, confirm both licences appear in the list. A file that failed to load quietly is easier to spot there than by whether a feature seems to work.

The part that is not fixable later

Copies are not reissued. SimHub's documentation states that for safety reasons copies of licence files are not provided once activated. That makes the .lic attachment in your purchase email the only copy in existence, and it makes your email archive part of your rig's backup.

So, today rather than at the point you need it:

  1. Find the purchase email and save the .lic attachment somewhere durable — a cloud drive, a password manager's file store, a backup disk.
  2. Save it somewhere that is not the gaming PC. A licence file living only on the machine you are about to reinstall is not a backup.
  3. Note the email address you bought under, because that is what identifies the purchase if you ever do need to ask.

This matters most at exactly the moment it is least convenient: a dead drive, a Windows reinstall, or a new build.

If it has not arrived

  1. Wait the full 24 hours. Delivery is documented as up to that, and most of the panic happens in the first hour.
  2. Check spam and any promotions tab. This is the most common answer.
  3. Search your whole mailbox for .lic rather than for the sender name, which may not be what you expect.
  4. Contact SimHub through the official contact form at simhubdash.com with the email address you purchased under.

If you are moving to a new machine and cannot find the file, deal with it before you wipe the old one — a working activated install is a much better position to ask questions from than a fresh one.

Common questions

Where is my SimHub licence file?

Attached to your purchase email as a .lic file, normally within 24 hours of buying. Search your mailbox for ".lic" rather than for a sender name, and check spam and the promotions tab.

Can SimHub re-send my licence?

The documentation states that for safety reasons copies of licence files are not provided once activated, so treat the purchase email as the only copy and back up the attachment somewhere off the gaming PC.

How do I apply a licence?

Inside SimHub, open the relevant settings — Global Settings for the motion addon — then Manage Licenses, then Add licence, and select the .lic file. Confirm it then appears in the list.

My motion addon will not activate although SimHub is licensed.

The motion addon needs two licences: the main SimHub one and the addon one, both loaded. Loading only one is the usual cause. Check that both appear in the list rather than assuming the second went in.

Does my licence transfer when I move to a new PC?

Not automatically — copying the install folder does not carry it. Reapply it from your original .lic file on the new machine, which is why keeping that file matters.

How long does delivery take?

Up to 24 hours is documented. If it has not arrived after that and it is not in spam, use the contact form on simhubdash.com and quote the email address you purchased under.

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.