How to Install the MAME Emulator on a Windows PC

Your simple guide to installing MAME and loading games

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: January 23, 2026 Fact Checked

Installing MAME

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Installing & Loading ROMs

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Troubleshooting

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

MAME, which stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, is a program that allows you to play arcade games directly from your Windows computer. To install and use MAME on Windows, you must first download MAME from the developer’s official website, then download ROMs and move them to your MAME folder. This guide will walk you through installing MAME on Windows and teach you how to download and install ROMS.

How to Install MAME: Quick Steps

Download MAME from mamedev.org/release.html.
Create a MAME folder on your computer.
Extract the downloaded file to the MAME folder.
Download ROMs of games to the "roms" subfolder.
Open the MAME folder in File Manager.
Type "cmd" into the address bar and press Enter.
Type "mame <gamename>" and press Enter to play a game.

Section 1 of 3:

Installing MAME

Go to the release page on MAME’s official website at www.mamedev.org/release.html. This is the official download page for MAME.
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Click the download link for your Windows system. Click the .exe link for the type of processor you have. If you have x64, click the link for "Windows x64 binaries." For ARM processors, click the link for "Arm64."^{[1]
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- If the download doesn't start automatically, click Yes or Save to start it.
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To keep all your MAME files in one place, create a folder called MAME before you continue. You can place it on your desktop if you'd like, or create it somewhere like C:\MAME.
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Double-click the downloaded file. It should be in your default downloads folder. This prompts you to extract files from the self-extracting archive.^{[2]
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- If you're using Windows 11, you may see a message that says "Windows protected your PC. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk." This sounds scary, but don't worry–it's safe. Click More info, then click Run anyway to continue.
When prompted to select a location to extract the files to, select the MAME folder you created (e.g., C:\MAME). At this point, MAME is installed–no need to run any installers.^{[3]
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Section 2 of 3:

Installing and Loading ROMs

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Download some MAME ROMs to your ROMs folder. ROMs are the games you can load into the MAME emulator, and they come as ZIP files. You don't need to extract the ZIP files–just download them directly to your MAME roms folder (e.g., C:\MAME\roms).^{[4]
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Research source} Keep in mind that downloading ROMs for commercial use may be illegal in some jurisdictions.^{[5]
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Research source} You can find tons of MAME ROMs on the web:
- mamedev.org/roms (all free for non-commercial use)
- planetemu.net/roms/mame-roms
- romsfun.com/roms/mame/
For example, if you created the MAME folder in C:\MAME, open C:\MAME in File Explorer now.
To do this, click the address bar at the top of File Explorer, type cmd, and then press ↵ Enter. This opens a command prompt window to the correct folder.
Use the game's ZIP file name when specifying a game (the part before .zip). For example, if you downloaded “Puzzle Bobble 4” and the ZIP file is called "pbobble4.zip", use mame pbobble4 to start the game.
The game will launch and display on-screen.
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Press the Tab ↹ key to open the configuration menu. This allows you to choose which keys control the game. By default, most MAME games are controlled with your arrow keys, along with the Control, Alt, and Space keys. After configuring your game, you can enjoy playing your ROM using MAME.^{[6]
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- For a full list of MAME keyboard commands, see EasyEMU's keyboard shortcut list.

Section 3 of 3:

Troubleshooting MAME

” This error usually means that the ROM’s developer may have updated or released a new version of the ROM that has replaced its previous version.
Do this if MAME informs you that extra components are needed to play the game. Some ROMs require additional hard disks and files to run properly in MAME, which can often be provided by the developer.^{[7]
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If you encounter any error messages when launching certain ROMs, the MAME guide hosts a wealth of information, including tips and tricks to help you overcome problems with ROMs. For example, if playing Phrase Craze for the first time, the message “Push Any Switch” displays on-screen because its NVRAM requires initialization. In this case, you would press the Space key to proceed with gameplay, as instructed by MAME’s game guide.

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Open a command window here is not an option when I shift right-click?

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Don't do this if you aren't computer savvy because you can break your computer. Find the registry key for cmd.exe - HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd. You will have to edit the key.

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How to install Roms with Windows 10?

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This software may not be supported on Windows 10. Search for another emulator, there are plenty out there that are open source. Use virustotal's website to scan your executables before you run them to prevent getting malware.

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Tips

It can be difficult to find ROMs that play perfectly in MAME. Other emulators may be easier to use and have a wider variety of games that work, including RetroArch and DOSBox (for DOS games).

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