Download & install

RetroXR is free and open source. It runs on Meta Quest and on Windows.

Quest — via SideQuestThe easy route. One click from the SideQuest listing.

Every downloadAPK and Windows build for the latest release, on GitHub.

RetroXR does not come with games

No ROMs, no disc images, no BIOS files are included — you supply your own. See adding your games for how to get them into the headset.

Meta Quest

RetroXR is not on the Horizon Store, so it has to be sideloaded. That sounds more involved than it is: you turn on developer mode once, install a free tool on your PC, and after that it is a single click.

Tested on Quest 3. Quest 2 and Quest Pro are the same install process.

Step 1 — Turn on Developer Mode

1. Install the Meta Horizon app on your phone, if it is not already there, and make sure it is paired with your headset.

2. Create a developer organization at developers.meta.com. It is free, and it only asks for a name — you are not signing up for anything.

3. In the Meta Horizon phone app, open your headset’s settings, find Developer Mode, and turn it on.

4. Reboot the headset.

Caution

Developer Mode will not appear in the phone app until your Meta account belongs to a developer organization. If the toggle is missing, step 2 is the one that was skipped.

Step 2 — Install SideQuest on your PC

Download SideQuest Advanced Installer from sidequestvr.com/setup and install it. It is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Step 3 — Connect the headset

1. Plug the headset into your computer with a USB-C cable.

2. Put the headset on. You will be asked to Allow USB debugging — accept it, and check Always allow from this computer so you are not asked again.

3. Back on the PC, SideQuest’s indicator in the top-left should turn green.

Step 4 — Install RetroXR

From the SideQuest listing

Open the RetroXR listing and press Install to Headset. That is the whole thing.

From the APK

Download RetroXR-<version>.apk from the latest release, then drag the file onto the SideQuest window — or use the Install APK file from folder button in SideQuest’s top-right toolbar.

Step 5 — Launch it

In the headset, open the app library and switch the source dropdown from All to Unknown Sources. RetroXR is in there. Sideloaded apps never appear in the main library list, which is the single most common “where did it go?” moment.

Upgrading later

Installing a newer version over an old one keeps your saves, settings and downloaded cores. There is no need to uninstall first.

Windows

1. Download RetroXR-win-<version>.zip from the latest release.

2. Unpack it somewhere sensible — not inside Downloads, since the app writes its data folder alongside your user profile.

3. Run RetroXR.exe.

With a headset connected over Link or Air Link it runs in VR. With no headset it falls back to a desktop mode with mouse and keyboard — see the desktop controls.

Linux and macOS

There is no packaged build for either yet, but both build from source. The README in the repository has the full recipe.

Two things worth knowing before you spend the time:

• Linux builds everything and all three render paths work. libVLC links against your system library, so the DVD player and VCR need vlc installed.
• macOS builds four of the six native extensions. There is no packaged libVLC and no Meta spatial audio blob for it, so the DVD player, the VCR and HRTF audio are absent, and emulator cores are limited to software rendering.

Where your files go

RetroXR reads your games, videos, discs and books out of one folder tree:

roms/      ROM files, one folder per system
books/     .pdf and .cbz
videos/    .mp4 .mkv .avi .webm .mov
dvd/       a VIDEO_TS folder, or an .iso / .img
music/     audio for the CD player and tape deck

Where that tree lives depends on the platform:

Platform	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\retroxr
Linux / macOS	~/retroxr
Quest	/sdcard/Android/data/com.xenu.retroxr/files

On a headset you do not have a file manager, so RetroXR includes one — turn on Web File Manager in OPTIONS, and copy files over from any browser on your network. That is the route to use on Quest, and it is covered step by step in adding your games.