Running PCSX2

This page helps you download and run PCSX2. PCSX2 is offered both as a Stable build which is updated every several months and as a Nightly build which is updated continually as PCSX2 is developed.

Info – Stable and nightly builds

Use the Stable build if you:

• Do not want to be prompted for updates.
• Use an operating system which is rarely updated.
• Want minimal risk of regressions.

Use the Nightly build if you:

• Want improvements as soon as they're released.
• Need to ask the team for support.
• Wish to contribute to PCSX2.

Downloading and Running

Windows

PCSX2 on Windows can be used either as an installation (Stable only) or as a portable program (Stable and Nightly). The installer is more streamlined, while the portable version gives you more flexibility.

Note – Visual C++

PCSX2 on Windows requires that you have the latest x64 Visual C++ runtime installed.

Installer

• Download the latest PCSX2 build for Windows from the Download page.
• Double-click the .exe file which you downloaded.
• Windows will ask if you want to run this program. Click "Yes".
• Follow the instructions in the setup wizard, and you are ready to play!
  

Tip – Uninstalling

If you need to uninstall PCSX2, follow this guide from Microsoft for uninstalling programs.

Portable

• Download the latest PCSX2 build for Windows from the Download page.
  • The portable version will be called "Download".
• Use 7-Zip to extract the .7z archive.
  • Install 7-Zip.
  • Right-click on the archive.
  • Find the entry for 7-Zip.
  • Click Extract to "[archive name]\" to extract PCSX2 into its own folder.
    
• Double-click the pcsx2-qt executable file to open PCSX2.
  
• Windows will ask if you want to run this program. Click "Yes".
• Follow the setup wizard, and you are ready to play!
  

Tip – Portability and extraction

• If you want PCSX2 to save its data files to this extracted folder instead of the default (Documents), create a blank file in the folder named portable.ini or portable.txt.
• On Windows 11 version 23H2 or later, you can extract 7-Zip archives natively without installing 7-Zip by clicking Extract All....

Note – FFmpeg libraries

• PCSX2 requires additional FFmpeg libraries if you wish to use its built-in video capture.
  • Download the FFmpeg Windows files here.
  • Extract the contents of the .zip file.
  • Place the extracted .dll files in the same folder as the PCSX2 .exe file.

Expand to see FFmpeg compatibility with your PCSX2 version

FFmpeg Version	Compatible PCSX2 Versions	Direct Download
v8.0	≥ v2.5.142	📁
v7.0.2	v2.1.138 – v2.5.141	📁
v6.0.7	v1.7.4585 – v2.1.137	📁

macOS

PCSX2 on macOS is distributed as an application bundle.

• Download the latest PCSX2 build for macOS from the Download page.
• In Finder, double-click the .tar.xz archive you downloaded to extract the bundle.
• Drag the extracted bundle into the Applications folder.
  
• Open PCSX2 through the Applications folder, Launchpad, or Terminal.
  • If macOS prompts you to install Rosetta, click Install.
• Follow the instructions in the setup wizard, and you are ready to play!
  

Tip – Application name

PCSX2's application name will change to reflect version updates. If you don't want the name to change during updates, rename the application to remove the version number.

Linux

PCSX2 on Linux is officially supported through an AppImage version and a Flatpak version.

AppImage

• Download the latest PCSX2 AppImage build from the Download page.
• You may need to make the AppImage file executable.
  • To do this in the shell, run:

    chmod +x [path-to-AppImage-file]

  • Doing this graphically in your file manager varies by distro, but generally:
    • Right-click on the AppImage.
    • Click Properties.
    • Find and check a box marking the file as executable.
    Expand to see examples in different file managers

    KDE – Dolphin

    

    GNOME – Files

    

    Cinnamon – Nemo

    
• Open the AppImage by double-clicking it or by executing it through the terminal.
• Follow the instructions in the setup wizard, and you are ready to play!
  

Flatpak

PCSX2 is available on Flathub! You can install PCSX2 from Flathub through one of several compatible graphical package managers or through the shell.

Caution – Flatpak issues

• Due to limitations of the Portal API for sandboxing, the Flatpak version sometimes has bugs not present in the AppImage version.
• These issues are usually related to accessing files.

Graphical

Many distributions and desktop environments have a graphical package manager which can install and update Flatpak applications. These include:

• KDE Plasma's Discover
• GNOME Software
• Linux Mint's Software Manager
• Manjaro's pamac
• Pop!_OS' Repoman
• elementary OS' AppCenter
• Bazaar (e.g. on Bazzite)

Once you've installed PCSX2 using one of these, it should be in your list of applications. Open PCSX2, follow the setup wizard, and you are ready to play! You can use this package manager to keep PCSX2 updated in the future.

Shell

In the terminal:

1. a. For the Stable branch, run:

   flatpak install net.pcsx2.PCSX2

   b. For the Nightly branch, run:

   flatpak install https://flathub.org/beta-repo/appstream/net.pcsx2.PCSX2.flatpakref

2. Flatpak will ask if you would like to proceed. Type y and press Enter.
3. To start PCSX2, run:

   flatpak run net.pcsx2.PCSX2

4. Follow the setup wizard, and you are ready to play!
   

Expand to see an example in the command line

Stable branch:

$ flatpak install net.pcsx2.PCSX2
Looking for matches…

net.pcsx2.PCSX2 permissions:
    ipc       network       fallback-x11       pulseaudio
    wayland   x11           devices            file access [1]
    dbus access [2]

    [1] xdg-config/kdeglobals:ro
    [2] com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar, org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver,
        org.kde.KGlobalSettings, org.kde.kconfig.notify, org.kde.kdeconnect

        ID                     Branch         Op          Remote          Download
 1. [✓] net.pcsx2.PCSX2        stable         i           flathub         31.6 MB / 38.4 MB

Proceed with these changes to the system installation? [Y/n]: y

Installing… ████████████████████ 100%  31.6 MB/s
Installation complete.

$ flatpak run net.pcsx2.PCSX2
[    0.1094] Loaded translation file for language en-US
[    0.1103] PCSX2 v2.4.0
[    0.1103] Savestate version: 0x9a540000

...

Nightly branch:

$ flatpak install https://flathub.org/beta-repo/appstream/net.pcsx2.PCSX2.flatpakref

net.pcsx2.PCSX2 permissions:
    ipc       network       fallback-x11       pulseaudio
    wayland   x11           devices            file access [1]
    dbus access [2]

    [1] xdg-config/kdeglobals:ro
    [2] com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar, org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver,
        org.kde.KGlobalSettings, org.kde.kconfig.notify, org.kde.kdeconnect

        ID                     Branch         Op          Remote          Download
 1. [✓] net.pcsx2.PCSX2        beta           i           flathub-beta    37.3 MB / 46.5 MB

Proceed with these changes to the system installation? [Y/n]: y

Installing… ████████████████████ 100%  18.7 MB/s
Installation complete.

$ flatpak run net.pcsx2.PCSX2
[    0.1332] Loaded translation file for language en-US
[    0.1342] PCSX2 v2.5.162
[    0.1343] Savestate version: 0x9a540000

...

Tip – Flatpak download

• The Flatpak version is also available for direct download.
• To install it, download the Flatpak file and, in the shell, run:

  flatpak install [path-to-Flatpak-file]

• Installing directly from Flathub instead as described above is recommended for most Flatpak users.

Building From Source

PCSX2 can also be built from source on your computer. This option is not recommended for novice users.

• Building on Windows
• Building on macOS
• Build on Linux