Installing on Windows
Download Dolphin
Visit the official Dolphin website and download the latest version for Windows. Dolphin is available as:
- Installer version - NSIS installer that integrates with Windows
- Portable version - Extracted archive that can be run from any location
Install or extract
For installer version:
- Run the downloaded installer
- Follow the installation wizard
- Dolphin will be added to your Start Menu
For portable version:
- Extract the ZIP archive to your desired location
- No installation required
First launch
Launch Dolphin from the Start Menu (installer) or by running Dolphin.exe from the extracted folder (portable).
Install Visual C++ Redistributables (if needed)
Dolphin requires the Visual C++ Redistributables. If you encounter errors on launch, download and install the latest Visual C++ Redistributables from Microsoft. Windows 10 1903 or higher is required. Dolphin targets the latest MSVC shipped with Visual Studio or Build Tools.
Uninstalling on Windows
- Installer version: Uninstall through Windows Settings > Apps & Features
- Portable version: Simply delete the extracted directory
If you plan to completely remove Dolphin, you may also want to delete the user data directory located at Documents\Dolphin Emulator to remove save files, settings, and cached data.
Installing on Linux
Choose installation method
Linux users have several options:
- Download from website - Pre-built packages for Ubuntu and other distributions
- Build from source - Latest development version
- Package manager - Available in some distribution repositories (may be outdated)
Install dependencies
For building from source, install required dependencies. On Ubuntu/Debian:sudo apt install git cmake pkg-config gcc g++ libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev \
libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libevdev-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libxrandr-dev \
libxi-dev libpangocairo-1.0-0 qt6-base-dev qt6-base-private-dev libqt6svg6-dev \
libbluetooth-dev libasound2-dev libpulse-dev
Clone and build (for source installation)
git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git
cd dolphin
git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j $(nproc)
Install to system or run locally
Global installation (requires root):Local development build (no root required):cd build
ln -s ../../Data/Sys Binaries/
./Binaries/dolphin-emu
cp -r ../Data/Sys/ Binaries/
touch Binaries/portable.txt
Dolphin requires a recent version of GCC or Clang with C++20 support. CMake will inform you if your compiler is too old.
Uninstalling on Linux
If you installed globally, run from the build directory:cat install_manifest.txt | xargs -d '\n' rm
Installing on macOS
Install the application
- Open the downloaded DMG file
- Drag Dolphin.app to your Applications folder
- Launch Dolphin from Applications
Grant security permissions
On first launch, you may need to:
- Right-click Dolphin.app and select “Open”
- Click “Open” in the security dialog
- Grant any requested permissions for controller access
macOS 11.0 Big Sur or higher is required for the latest Dolphin releases.
Building from source on macOS
Install dependencies
Install Xcode Command Line Tools and CMake:xcode-select --install
brew install cmake
Clone and prepare
git clone https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin.git
cd dolphin
git submodule update --init --recursive
Build single architecture
Build for your current architecture:mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j $(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
./Binaries. Build universal binary (optional)
To build a universal binary supporting both x64 and ARM:mkdir build
cd build
python ../BuildMacOSUniversalBinary.py
universal folder.Building universal binaries requires installation of library dependencies for both architectures. Run python BuildMacOSUniversalBinary.py --help for details.
Uninstalling on macOS
Simply delete Dolphin.app from your Applications folder. To remove user data, delete ~/Library/Application Support/Dolphin.