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Dolphin uses CMake for building on all platforms except Windows, where Visual Studio solution files are used. This page provides an overview of the build system architecture.

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Build Systems

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Windows

Windows builds use the Visual Studio solution file located at Source/dolphin-emu.sln. Dolphin targets the latest MSVC shipped with Visual Studio or Build Tools.
Other compilers might be able to build Dolphin on Windows but have not been tested and are not recommended.

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Linux, macOS, and Android Native

All non-Windows platforms use CMake 3.20 or later as the build system. CMake generates platform-specific build files (Makefiles, Ninja files, etc.) that are then used to compile Dolphin.

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Android

Android builds use Gradle as the primary build system. The Gradle script automatically invokes CMake to build Dolphin’s native components while building the Java/Kotlin code.

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Compiler Requirements

Dolphin requires modern compilers with C++23 support:
  • GCC: Version 12 or later
  • Clang: Version 15 or later
  • AppleClang: Version 14.0.3 or later (Xcode 14.3+)
  • MSVC: Version 19.32 or later (Visual Studio 2022 17.2.3+)
CMake will inform you if your compiler is too old and does not meet these requirements.

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Git Submodules

Dolphin uses Git submodules for some external dependencies. You must initialize submodules before building:
Failing to initialize submodules will result in build errors.

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Dependencies

Dolphin has two types of dependencies:

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Bundled Dependencies

Many libraries are bundled in the Externals/ directory and used automatically if system versions aren’t available:
  • fmt
  • glslang
  • pugixml
  • enet
  • xxhash
  • bzip2
  • liblzma
  • zstd
  • zlib-ng
  • minizip-ng
  • LZO
  • lz4
  • libspng
  • FreeSurround
  • cubeb
  • libusb
  • SFML
  • miniupnpc
  • mbedtls
  • curl
  • hidapi
  • mGBA
  • gtest (for tests)

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System vs Bundled Libraries

CMake can use system-installed libraries or bundled versions. The USE_SYSTEM_LIBS option controls this behavior:
  • AUTO (default): Use system libraries if available, otherwise use bundled
  • ON: Always use system libraries and fail if unavailable
  • OFF: Always use bundled libraries
Individual libraries can be controlled with USE_SYSTEM_<dependency> options.

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CMake Options

Dolphin provides many CMake options to customize the build:

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Build Configuration

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Frontend Options

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Platform-Specific Options

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Video Backend Options

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Audio Backend Options

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Controller Backend Options

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Feature Options

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Development Options

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Build Directories

The build system outputs files to different locations:
  • Linux/macOS: build/Binaries/
  • Windows: Binary/x64/ or Binary/ARM64/ (depending on architecture)
  • Android: Source/Android/app/build/outputs/apk/

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Next Steps

Refer to the platform-specific build guides: