Beginner’s Guide for RecalBox on Raspberry Pi (+ Pictures)

I’ve tested just about every retro gaming system on Raspberry Pi, and I keep coming back to Recalbox. It’s simple, fast, and perfect if you want to start playing quickly. If you’re not sure how to install it or add your games, I’ll show you exactly how to do it step by step.

RecalBox is a free retro gaming operating system that can be installed on Raspberry Pi. The easiest way to do this is to use Raspberry Pi Imager and to flash Recalbox to an SD card. Game controllers will be configured automatically, and there are even free games included.

In this tutorial, I’ll explain what RecalBox is, how to install it on Raspberry Pi and the first steps you need to take to have fun with Recalbox as soon as possible (controller configuration, downloading games, etc…).

By the way, if you’re looking for some great retro games, I’ve got a list of my 24 favorites for Retropie, Recalbox, or Lakka. It’s packed with screenshots, descriptions, and download links to make it easy for you. Grab the list for free here!

Discover Recalbox

Let me give you a quick overview of Recalbox before we go over how to install it.

I recommend following this tutorial with a Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5 for better performance, with a decent controller (here’s the one I use) and a fast and big SD card to store all your games (benchmark here).

What is Recalbox?

Recalbox is a free operating system that is dedicated to retro gaming.
It allows you to play old games on your Raspberry Pi.

Here is a short presentation video on the RecalBox system:

https://youtu.be/6aEtKRp565Q

If you don’t understand the differences with RetroPie, you can click on the link to learn more about this. I also have a video comparing the 4 main solutions for retro gaming that you can watch now.

RecalBox Features

RecalBox supports all the main gaming systems: NES/SNES, Game Boy, PSP, Megadrive, PlayStation, PC, Atari, etc. It’s also especially good for arcade titles, and the Recalbox company even sells hardware directly for arcade cabinets (like this adapter).

So you can play games for all these platforms in one place, on your Raspberry Pi.

When not playing games, you can also use RecalBox as a media center solution, as it also includes Kodi by default. Check out my post on Kodi, if you don’t know what it is.

Other features:

• Up to 10 players maximum (if supported by the game).
• Online multiplayer built in!
• Comprehensive support for wireless controllers and all sorts of controllers.
• Support for arcade cabinets and arcade peripherals.
• Automatic sorting and advanced search for games.
• Rewind.
• Save state to continue your game later.
• A web admin panel to configure your gaming system remotely.

But instead of talking about theory, let’s see how it looks!

Download and Install Recalbox

In this section, I’ll show you how to install Recalbox onto your Raspberry Pi.
It’s quite simple, with only two big picture steps involved:

• Flash the Recalbox image onto an SD card.
• Boot the Raspberry Pi with Recalbox.

Let’s go over each one in detail.

Flash Recalbox onto an SD Card

While an image of Recalbox can be downloaded from the official website and flashed with any tool like Etcher or Rufus, the easiest way to install Recalbox on a Raspberry Pi is to use Raspberry Pi Imager.

Here’s how to use Raspberry Pi Imager to install Recalbox:

• Download and install Raspberry Pi Imager.
  It’s available on all operating systems and pre-installed on Raspberry Pi OS Desktop.
  You can read my Raspberry Pi Imager guide here.
• Launch Raspberry Pi Imager, and make the following selections.
• Device – select your Raspberry Pi model, or choose “No filtering” to see all images.
• OS – navigate to Emulation and game OS > Recalbox.
  Pick the image corresponding to your device (if you didn’t filter for it earlier):
  
• Storage – choose the SD card you want to flash Recalbox on.
  (I used a USB SD card reader on my PC for this step.)
• Customisation – Click SKIP CUSTOMISATION as these settings don’t fully work for Recalbox.
  
• Writing – click the WRITE button to begin the installation.

A few minutes later, your system is ready to use, and you can start the Raspberry Pi with it.

First Boot with Recalbox

Now it’s time to start up your new retro gaming system:

• Insert the SD card in the Raspberry Pi slot.
• Start the Raspberry Pi.
• You’ll see a few introduction slides and then get access to the main menu.

The installation process is now done and you can move on to configuration.

Configure Recalbox

Before playing your first game on RecalBox, there are a few things to configure to complete the system setup.

Controller Configuration

I recommend using a USB controller for RecalBox (for setup at least). You’ll find my favorites on my recommended products page if you don’t have one.

One of the great things about Recalbox is that your controller will most likely be detected automatically, and you can start using it right away.

If you want to use a wireless controller, you might be interested in this tutorial.

You can now move through the main menu by using your controller.

Network Configuration

Next, let’s check the network configuration. If you use an RJ45 cable with DHCP (AKA, a wired connection), there probably isn’t extra you need to do.

But to connect to Wi-Fi, you’ll need to follow this procedure:

• Press the “Start” button on your controller to open the configuration main menu.
• Scroll down to “Network Settings” and click on it.
• A configuration menu like this will appear:
  
• Enable the Wi-Fi like in the screenshot.
• Then select your Wi-Fi SSID from the list.
• Finally, enter your Wi-Fi password, and close the window to apply your changes.
• Come back to this screen to note your IP address—you’ll need it later.

Audio Settings

RecalBox plays music in the menu. If you want sound in your games, you might need to configure the audio device to use and the volume level.

To do this, open the start menu and choose “Sound Settings.” In the new window, you can adjust the volume and force the output device to use.

Other Settings

You’ll find all of the settings in the start menu.
You can check every submenu to see if there’s anything else you want to configure.

For example:

• Language and keyboard in System Settings.
• Autosave and shaders are under In-Game Settings.
• Add a wireless controller in Controller Settings.
• Overscan and over-clocking in Advanced Settings.

Update Your System

The last thing I recommend you do before playing is update your system.
You probably already got an update pop-up after the network configuration.

• Open the start menu > Updates.
• Click Check for Update Now.
  
• If a new version is available, select Download and Update My Recalbox.
• At the end of the update, the system will automatically reboot and complete the upgrade.

Play Games with Recalbox

Now that you’ve got your Recalbox system up and running, let’s learn how to add games to it so you can start playing!

Free Games

RecalBox includes free games with the installation.
So you can play it immediately by choosing a game in the main menu.

• Scroll to your favorite system, ex: Super Nintendo.
• Then choose a game in the list, ex: Classic Kong.
• And click on it to start the game.
• That’s it!

But you aren’t limited to the included games. You can also download and add new games.
This is what we’ll discuss in the next section.

Download Games

I already wrote an article on how to download games for RetroPie.
You can follow the same procedure for RecalBox.

Let’s take an example:

• Open RomHustler in your web browser.
• Click on Super Nintendo in the top menu.
• Scroll down to Street Fighter II Turbo and click on it.
• Click on “Click here to download this ROM”.
• Wait a few seconds and click on the second link.

You have now a file called “Street Fighter II Turbo.7z” on your computer.
Let’s learn how to upload it to RecalBox.

Install Games

The most important thing to know is where to put your games:
Put them into /recalbox/share/roms, inside the folder for the game’s system (like SNES).

How do you get your ROM files there? There are multiple ways you can do this.

The first way to transfer ROMs onto your system is to do it physically: by plugging in a USB drive or the SD card into your PC and copying the ROMs onto it.

A second way is to transfer files via SFTP. You can connect using these credentials:
login: root
password: recalboxroot

Lastly, you can connect via network share to \\IP\recalbox\share\roms to transfer files over.

For more details, here’s a tutorial: How to Add Games on Raspberry Pi.
(This guide says RetroPie, but the methods listed above work the same.)

Note: As of the newest version, it’s no longer possible to add ROMs via the Recalbox web panel. The old instructions are below in case this feature returns in the future.

There are multiple ways to add ROMs to your system, but I think that the easiest way to install new games on RecalBox is to use the web interface:

• From your computer, open the web interface using: http://IP_ADDRESS.
  The IP address can be found in the start menu > Network Settings.
  In my case, I used http://192.168.1.17.
• A page with RecalBox Manager opens.
• Click on ROMs in the left menu.
• Find “Super Nintendo Entertainment System” in the list and click on it.
• You’ll get a page like this:
  

  

• Click on Upload ROMs (blue button).
• Browse to your Downloads folder and find the ROM we just downloaded.
• The game will appear next to Classic Kong in the game list.
• Finally, you need to Restart EmulStation (yellow button) to apply changes.

Play Games

As soon as your interface is back on the Raspberry Pi, you can play your new game.

• From the main menu, scroll to Super Nintendo.
• Select “Street Fighter II Turbo” in the game list and click on it.
• The game will start:
  

  

Video

If you want to see a summary of the steps to install Recalbox on your Raspberry Pi, you can watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMw7HF9gp0

And you can subscribe here to receive the new videos about Raspberry Pi.

That’s it, you now know everything you need to get started with RecalBox on Raspberry Pi.
It’s an easy-to-use retro gaming system, with everything ready for you to enjoy gaming sessions.

I find it easier for beginners than Retropie, as it already includes everything in the EmulStation start menu. There is no need to go into sub-sub-menus to enable something important.

If you like retro gaming with Raspberry Pi, I have a few articles available.
Feel free to check them to find your favorite gaming platform:

• Retropie Beginner’s Guide
• Nostalgic Retro Games
• Use PS4 Controller on RetroPie
• Where to Download ROMs for RetroPie
• Lakka Tutorial
• 7 Proven Methods to Boost Your Raspberry Pi Emulation Performance

By the way, the GPi Case 2W I tested recently is the perfect fit for Recalbox, I highly encourage reading my reviewer here if you’re into retro-gaming.

Related Questions

How do I access advanced settings in the web admin panel?

Recalbox has a web admin panel called Recalbox Manager. You can access by visiting this address in your browser: http://recallbox.local
(Or just use the exact IP address: http://IP)

You might need to change the language using the option at the bottom of the left menu.

Why can’t I see thumbnails for new games in the interface?

To get pictures, reviews and descriptions for new games you install, you need to run the scraper process. In the start menu, choose “Scraper” then “Scrape Now”. If the tool finds the information, it will add it to your new games.

How do I use Kodi from the RecalBox interface?

Click on Start and select “Kodi Media Center”. You’ll be taken directly to Kodi. Then, to get back to EmulStation, click on the Power icon on the top and choose Exit. Kodi is a powerful media center software, you can read my guide here about it.

Where can I get more information about RecalBox?

If you need to go further, you’ll find the official documentation here on GitHub. It’s available in 6 languages and covers all the main features. There is also a forum on the official website, you can use it to ask specific questions.

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:

Test Your Raspberry Pi Level (Free): Not sure why everything takes so long on your Raspberry Pi? Take this free 3-minute assessment and see what’s causing the problems.

The RaspberryTips Community: Need help or want to discuss your Raspberry Pi projects with others who actually get it? Join the RaspberryTips Community and get access to private forums, exclusive lessons, and direct help.

Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days: If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.

Master Python on Raspberry Pi: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.

You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page.