Windows Installation Guide

This guide describes how to download, install and encrypt the Dash Core wallet for Windows. The guide is written for Windows 10, but the steps should be similar for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

Downloading the Dash Core wallet

Visit https://www.dash.org/downloads to download the latest Dash Core wallet. In most cases, the website will properly detect which version you need. Click Download Installer to download the installer directly.

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The website properly detects the wallet appropriate for your system

If detection does not work, you will need to manually choose your operating system and whether you need a 32 or 64 bit version. If you are unsure whether your version of Windows is 32 or 64 bit, you can check in Windows 10 under Start > Settings > System > About. For details on how to check this in other versions of Windows, see here.

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In Windows Settings, click System

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Under the System section, click About to view the System type. This is a 64 bit system.

Once you know which version you need, download the Dash Core Installer to your computer from https://www.dash.org/downloads and save the file you downloaded to your Downloads folder.

Verifying Dash Core

This step is optional, but recommended to verify the integrity of the file you downloaded. This is done by checking its SHA256 hash against the hash published by the Dash Core development team. To view the published hash, click the Hash file button on the wallet download page.

Once both the Dash Core file and the hash file have downloaded, open the hash file in a text editor or your browser and find the hash value for the Dash Core file you downloaded.

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Viewing the Dash Core hash file

This hash value should correspond with the hash value of the file you have downloaded to ensure it is authentic and was not corrupted during transit. To do this, open Command Prompt, browse to the location where you saved the file, and run the following command, replacing the version with the specific version of the file you downloaded.

certutil -hashfile <dashcore-version-windows>.exe SHA256
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Generating an SHA256 hash for the downloaded file

If the hashes match, then you have an authentic copy of Dash Core for Windows.

Running the Dash Core installer

Double-click the file to start installing Dash Core.

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The Dash Core installer in the Downloads folder

At this point, you may see a warning from Windows SmartScreen that the app is unrecognized. You can safely skip past this warning by clicking More info, then Run anyway.

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Bypassing Windows SmartScreen to run the app. This warning is known as a “false positive”.

The installer will then guide you through the installation process.

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The Dash Core installer welcome screen

Click through the following screens. All settings can be left at their default values unless you have a specific reason to change something.

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Select the installation location

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Select the Start menu folder

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Dash Core is being installed

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Installation is complete

Running Dash Core for the first time

Once installation is complete, Dash Core will start up immediately. If it does not, click Start > Dash Core > Dash Core to start the application. The first time the program is launched, you will be offered a choice of where you want to store your blockchain and wallet data. Choose a location with enough free space, as the blockchain can reach 30GB+ in size. It is recommended to use the default data folder if possible.

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Choosing the Dash Core data folder

Dash Core will then start up. This will take a little longer than usual the first time you run it, since Dash Core needs to generate cryptographic data to secure your wallet.

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Starting Dash Core

Synchronizing Dash Core to the Dash network

Once Dash Core is successfully installed and started, you will see the wallet overview screen. You will notice that the wallet is “out of sync”, and the status bar at the bottom of the window will show the synchronization progress.

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Dash Core begins synchronizing with the Dash network

During this process, Dash Core will download a full copy of the Dash blockchain from other nodes to your device. Depending on your internet connection, this may take a long time. If you see the message “No block source available”, check your internet connection. When synchronization is complete, you will see a small blue tick in the lower right corner.

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Dash Core synchronization is complete

You can now begin to use your wallet to send and receive funds.

Encrypting your Dash wallet

After your wallet has synchronized with the Dash network, it is strongly advised to encrypt the wallet with a password or passphrase to prevent unauthorized access. You should use a strong, new password that you have never used somewhere else. Take note of your password and store it somewhere safe or you will be locked out of your wallet and lose access to your funds.

To encrypt your wallet, click Settings > Encrypt Wallet.

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Encrypting the Dash wallet with a password

You will be asked to enter and verify a password.

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Enter a password

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Confirm you want to encrypt your wallet

When the encryption process is complete, you will see a warning that past backups of your wallet will no longer be usable, and be asked to shut down Dash Core. When you restart Dash Core, you will see a small blue lock in the lower right corner.

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Fully encrypted and synchronized Dash Core wallet

You can now begin to use your wallet to safely send and receive funds.