Installing Cemu
This section will take you through installing and configuring Cemu for the very first time. It is important you read all of the text here before proceeding to fully understand the instructions.
Introduction
Cemu can be installed by extracting a .zip
file to somewhere on your PC. In this guide, we use the Desktop as this location.
Before we launch it, we tweak the program slightly to run better, including fixing some scaling issues and making sure it runs as administrator. This is to ensure it has access to all the files it needs.
When we finally open the application, it will take us through the quick-start guide. This helps to set up the emulator properly with the necessary files and folders.
Community Graphics Packs
Community graphics packs allow you to alter a game visually or how it will run, including:
- Displaying at higher resolutions
- Running at higher framerates
- Adjusting colours and bloom
- Improving anti-aliasing
- Applying game modifications
We recommend that you download these to allow tweaking your games for better performance.
Downloads
Preparations
- Extract the Cemu
.zip
file to your Desktop- Do not extract it to any folders that require admin permissions, such as Program Files
- Right click on the Cemu executable
- Click
Properties
- Navigate to the
Compatibility
tab - Enable the option “Disable fullscreen optimizations”
- Click on
Change high DPI settings
- Enable “Use this setting to fix scaling programs for this program instead of the one in settings”
- Enable “Override high DPI scaling behaviour. Scaling performed by: Application”
- Click
Apply
->OK
These options are set to help avoid issues on various Windows versions, file restrictions, or display resolutions. That said, one or more of these options will not be necessary for everyone, but not setting them may result in complications.
Installing Cemuhook
- Extract the contents of the Cemuhook
.zip
file to the Cemu directory - Ensure that your Cemu directory looks like this:
Configuration
- Double click the Cemu application
- When prompted, grant administrator access
- You will now be greeted with the Cemu quickstart guide
- This take you through setting up the emulator for first use
-
The mlc01 path stores the emulated Wii U internal memory, including:
- System files and apps
- Installed games, updates, DLC
- User-created save data
By default, the mlc01 path will be stored in the Cemu directory.
This should be on a storage drive that Cemu will always have access to, with lots of free space.
If you leave the field blank, the
mlc01
folder will default to be with Cemu.exe in Cemu's folder. This folder contains all of your game installs, installed updates, DLCs, and game save files.If you delete this folder everything will be gone. If this path ever gets reset, make sure to set it again in
Options
->General Settings
-
This will allow Cemu to install RPX format titles to the
mlc01
storage withFile
->Install ...
You will need double the space of the game while installing it. You will likely want to remove the source installation files after you are done to save space.
Alternatively, on a storage drive that Cemu will always have access to, with a lot of free space, create a folder in a safe location named
Games
or equivalent.In this directory you can place your WUD/WUX format games, or if you have extracted RPX format titles, make a folder for each game (labeled for the game) to place their
code
,content
andmeta
folders.Once you set your
Game paths
to theGames
folder itself, it will list all of the games in Cemu.If your hardware changes where the storage drive letters change, this can disrupt Cemu from finding your
mlc01
path or yourGame paths
.If you ever start Cemu and something is missing, make sure to restart your computer. Otherwise, please ensure that your paths are set correctly.
-
Community graphics packs allow you to alter a game visually or how it will run, including:
- Displaying at higher resolutions
- Running at higher framerates
- Adjusting colours and bloom
- Improving anti-aliasing
- Applying game modifications
We recommend that you download these to allow tweaking your games for better performance.
- Click
Next
Finishing set-up
- For now, do not click
Configure Input
- We will do this next in more detail
- Enable “Automatically check for updates”
- If you don’t wish to get update notifications, you may update Cemu manually with an option under the Help menu
- Click
Close
Now we’ve gone through the quickstart guide, we’ll move onto properly mapping controller inputs, (including motion controls).
Continue to Controller Configuration