How RetroArch works

RetroArch is a frontend: on its own it does not play any games. It runs cores, small programs such as emulators and game engines that plug into RetroArch. Your games and other files are called content. To play, you need a core and your content, and RetroArch takes care of the rest: the menus, your controller, sound and video, all set up once for every core.

RetroArch does not include any games. Your games and BIOS files must be your own, obtained in accordance with your local laws.

Finding your way around

• On a computer, move with the arrow keys, select with Enter and go back with Backspace. With a controller plugged in, you can also move with the D-Pad.
• The Main Menu is where you load games and download cores. Load Core, Load Content and the Online Updater are the items you will use most.
• While playing, press F1 (or the RetroArch button on mobile) to open the Quick Menu.

1. Install a core

1. Go to Main Menu → Online Updater → Core Downloader.
2. Select the core you want to download.

Many consoles have more than one core. Some are more accurate, at the cost of needing a faster machine. See the cores page for what is available.

Don't see the Core Downloader? Turn it on under Settings → User Interface → Menu Item Visibility → Show Core Downloader. If you installed RetroArch from the Ubuntu PPA, install cores through your package manager instead. On Steam, which cores are available depends on permissions and licenses.

2. Add your games

Play a single game

1. Choose Load Content from the Main Menu.
2. Browse to the folder with your games and select the one you want to play.
3. RetroArch picks the right core from the file type. If more than one core can play it, it asks you which one to use: choose the core for the system the game was made for.

Tip: set the folder where your games are stored as the File Browser directory under Settings → Directory, and Load Content → Start Directory will take you straight there. Games for disc-based systems should not be zipped.

Build a game library

RetroArch can scan a folder, including all the folders inside it, and sort the games it recognizes into playlists, one per console.

1. Install a core for those games first.
2. Go to Online Updater and choose Update Databases, then update the core info files as well. Some releases, such as the Windows one, already include the databases.
3. Open Import Content, found under Playlists (or in the Main Menu, if you moved it there), and scan the folder with your games. Large collections can take several minutes.
4. Open a playlist, select a game and choose Run.

The automatic scan only adds games that match RetroArch's database. Box art is optional: get it through Online Updater → Playlist Thumbnails Updater. Games you play also appear in the History playlist, and you can keep a short list of games in Favorites.

3. Controllers

Plug in your controller and it should just work. RetroArch detects your controller and configures it automatically, both for the menus and for every core, so you don't have to set up buttons for each console. You can use different controllers for each player, and swap one for another, even of a different brand.

• To get the latest controller profiles, go to Main Menu → Online Updater → Update Controller Profiles.
• Still not recognized? Map the buttons yourself with Settings → Input → RetroPad Binds → Port 1 Controls → Set All Controls, then save them with Save Controller Profile in the same menu.

More details are on the controller autoconfiguration page.

4. BIOS files

A BIOS file is a copy of the console's own built-in software. Some cores need one to work correctly, others can use one but don't require it.

BIOS files usually go in RetroArch's system folder; you can find its location under Settings → Directory. Each core's documentation says exactly which files it needs and where, and our setup guides list them for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube and Wii and Sega Saturn. Dump your BIOS from your own console, in accordance with your local laws.

Next steps

• The Quick Menu (F1 while playing) is RetroArch's pause menu: save and load states, remap your controller, change shaders, take screenshots, and pick Close Content to return to the Main Menu.
• Quitting: on a computer, pressing Esc twice closes RetroArch without saving, so leave a game with Close Content instead.
• Shaders change how the picture looks, and netplay lets you play multiplayer over the internet.

More information

• Getting started guide: the official documentation's step-by-step introduction.
• Importing content and ROMs, playlists and thumbnails: more on scanning and playlists.
• BIOS files: what they are and where they go.
• Download RetroArch for other devices, and the FAQ for common questions.