Dolphin is an emulator for two recent Nintendo video game consoles: the GameCube and the Wii. It allows PC gamers to enjoy games for these two consoles in full HD (1080p) with several enhancements: compatibility with all PC controllers, turbo speed, networked multiplayer, and even more!
Publisher’s description
What is Dolphin?
Dolphin is an open-source pc game program for Windows from Dolphin Team. It ranks 12th by popularity among pc games in this catalogue. It is written in C++. Besides Windows, it is available for Linux.
Installation and requirements
Official installers exist for 64-bit as EXE (NSIS). The main installer is 2 KB. Installation asks for administrator rights. It needs Windows 10 or newer. The installer supports unattended (silent) installation.
Popularity and file types
The Chocolatey package has been downloaded 397,873 times. The source code on GitHub (dolphin-emu/dolphin) has 15,696 stars. On Windows it registers 8 file types, including .iso, .ciso, .elf, .wbfs and .gcm. Similar programs include RetroArch, PPSSPP and OpenTTD.
Project description on GitHub: “Dolphin is a GameCube / Wii emulator, allowing you to play games for these two platforms on PC with improvements.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Documented silent install
- Small download (2 KB)
- Also runs on Linux
- Large user base
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
- Installation needs administrator rights
- No update for more than a year
- The official download link did not answer at the last check
In short: Dolphin is an open-source pc game tool for 64-bit PCs. Updates have slowed down. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Is Dolphin safe to download?
- The file is served by dl-mirror.dolphin-emu.org, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
E1B3AE8FC890C6588E5656F77EF2747AE7DDFC90B6530B240C0C5B9D0AB3CE8C· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link did not answer when we last checked it (October 22, 2026)
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Security practices (OpenSSF Scorecard)
Automated checks of the dolphin-emu/dolphin repository on GitHub by the Open Source Security Foundation, last run on October 19, 2026.
- Code review10
- Actively maintained10
- Licence declared9
- No binaries in the repository8
- OpenSSF Best Practices badge0
- Security policy0
- Fuzzing0
- Static code analysis0
The score rates how the project is developed and released, not whether the program is safe to install. scorecard.dev
Recent versions
All 1 versions ›| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0Latest | August 3, 2021 | 2 KB | 64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id DolphinEmulator.Dolphin -echoco install dolphin -ydolphin-x64-5.0.exe /SRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install --cask dolphinflatpak install flathub org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emuInformation
- Publisher
- Dolphin Team
- Category
- PC games
- Licence
- GPL-2.0-or-later/GPL-3.0-or-later
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin
- Written in
- C++
- Content rating
- All ages
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10 (Windows 10+)
- Architecture
- 64-bit
- Installer
- EXE (NSIS)
- Other platforms
- Linux
- Version
- 5.0
- Released
- August 3, 2021
- Added to the catalogue
- August 3, 2021
- Versions listed
- 1
- Chocolatey downloads
- 397,873
- GitHub stars
- 15,696
- GitHub forks
- 3,345
- Website
- dolphin-emu.org
- winget ID
- DolphinEmulator.Dolphin
- Chocolatey package
- dolphin
File types it opens (8)
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
Alternatives to Dolphin
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dolphin free?
Yes. Dolphin is open-source software under the GPL-2.0-or-later/GPL-3.0-or-later licence.
Is Dolphin safe to download?
The download comes from dl-mirror.dolphin-emu.org, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Dolphin with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can Dolphin be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Which Windows versions does Dolphin support?
The installer requires Windows 10 or newer and is available for 64-bit.
Does Dolphin run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 64-bit version through emulation.
What are alternatives to Dolphin?
RetroArch, PPSSPP, OpenTTD, Steam and ScummVM. The alternatives page compares them.
