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Installing EmuDeck Desktop

First of all download the appropriate installer for your system from emudeck.com, execute it and wait for the EmuDeck App to launch.

Once the app is installed you need to pick either Easy Mode or Custom Mode

EmuDeck guide

Which option should I pick?

If you are new to Emulation this is the recommended method for you.

EmuDeck will only let you customize where you want to store your ROMS and BIOS and how you want to integrate EmuDeck into your system, everything else will be setup with our default settings. You can always change settings, add or remove emulators after the installation.

EmuDeck guide

After the installation is complete EmuDeck will ask you to setup cloud saves.

EmuDeck will ask you several questions to customize your installation:

  • Location to store your ROMS and BIOS
  • Level of integration: EmulationStation or SteamLibrary
  • Emulators to install
  • Configure RetroAchievements
  • Bezels for 4:3 and 1:1 systems
  • Aspect ratio for systems
  • Shaders for LCD / CRT simulation
  • Controller Layout
  • CloudSaves
Possible issues when installing
  • I can't select my SD Card
    • Solution: Make sure your SD Card is formatted as EXT4. You can format it from Game Mode inside Preferences -> Storage
  • EmuDeck never downloads
    • Solution: Make sure you are using good Internet DNS.

  • I'm stuck on Collection Drives

    • Solution: Make sure you have git installed, run the installer again to install it.

  • EmuDeck never downloads

    • Solution: Make sure you are using good Internet DNS.
What's installing EmuDeck in my system?

  • Emulators: EmuDeck will install emulators in $HOME/.var in the case of Flatpack Emulators and in $HOME/Applications in the case of AppImage Emulators.

  • Settings: All settings and additional software that EmuDeck needs to work will be created inside $HOME/.config/EmuDeck

  • Emulation folder: EmuDeck will create an Emulation folder that will contain your ROMS and BIOS, this folder is created where the user selected on install.

  • Emulators: EmuDeck will install emulators in AppData/Roaming/EmuDeck/Emulators so if you have emulators already installed it won't overwrite them.

  • Settings: All settings and additional software that EmuDeck needs to work will be created inside AppData/Roaming/EmuDeck/

  • Emulation folder: EmuDeck will create an Emulation folder that will contain your ROMS and BIOS, this folder is created where the user selected on install.

What's inside the Emulation folder?

Inside Emulation you'll find these folders

Subfolder Description
bios Some Emulators need BIOS to work, this is where to place them
hdpacks HD Textures that some Emulators can use to improve the way games look
roms Your ROMS go in here, it's populated with a subfolder for each system
saves We store your saved games in this folder so it's easier to backup them if you need to
storage Assets that some Emulators or EmulationStation DE store
tools Some internal tools that EmuDeck uses