Step 1. Download the file conn##.zip from the latest CONN release at github.com/alfnie/conn/releases and unzip this file (e.g. if the original file was downloaded to ~/software/, a software subdirectory within your home directory, CONN will be unzipped to ~/software/conn)
Step 2. Download the file spm##.zip from the latest SPM release at github.com/spm/spm/releases and unzip this file (e.g. if the original file was downloaded to ~/software/, a software subdirectory within your home directory, SPM will be unzipped to ~/software/spm). This step may be simply skipped if SPM is already installed on your system.
Step 3. Start Matlab, click on the 'Set path' button (or type pathtool in the Matlab command-window), and then click on 'Add folder', and select your CONN installation folder (e.g. ~/software/conn). After this, click again on 'Add folder' and now select the SPM installation folder (e.g. ~/software/spm). Click on 'Save' and 'Close' to save these changes for future Matlab sessions
After these steps, to start CONN simply type conn in the Matlab command-window
note1: installation errors may arise as a result of other toolboxes shadowing/overloading basic SPM functionality. To avoid these issues simply make sure that both CONN and SPM are the folders placed at the top of Matlab's path list
note2: when installing SPM/CONN on new Apple machines (with Apple chip M1/M2/M3) please make sure to install the latest versions to ensure compatibility (Matlab R2023b, CONN v2024, and SPM 25 or above)
What you need first
Matlab: Matlab is a high-performance programming language and interactive computing platform for engineering and scientific applications. Universities will often offer free access to Matlab to students and researchers. See the following link if you need to download a trial version or purchase a personal Matlab license: https://www.mathworks.com/downloads/ (note: only Matlab base is necessary to use CONN&SPM, no other toolboxes are needed).
If you prefer to use CONN without the need of using or purchasing any Matlab license, we also distribute pre-compiled versions of CONN as a standalone application. See the section below for instructions on how to download and install CONN's standalone releases on Mac, Windows, or Linux platforms.
Pre-compiled standalone releases are meant for those environments without access to Matlab licenses. One very common scenario, for example, is in cluster environments without Total-Academic-Headcount or equivalent licensing agreements, where users taking advantage of CONN parallelization options may quickly deplete the pool of available Matlab licenses. Standalone releases provide access to all of the functionality of CONN Matlab release encapsulated in a single application (while only missing some of the added flexibility and speed that the Matlab environment provides)