Installing Unreal Engine

To download and install Unreal Engine, you need to:

1. Download and install the Epic Games Launcher.
2. Sign up for an Epic Games account, if you don't have one.
3. Sign in to the Epic Games Launcher.
4. Install Unreal Engine.

Download and Install the Epic Games Launcher

The Unreal Engine tab in the Epic Games Launcher is where you manage all of your Unreal Engine (UE) installations. You can have multiple versions of UE installed on the same computer.

To download and install the Launcher, follow these steps:

1. Access the Download Unreal Engine page.

2. Select the license type that best matches how you intend to use UE.

   There are two types of licenses available:

   • Publishing, if you plan to make games.

   • Creators, if you plan to make other types of content.

     You can learn more about the different kinds of licensing available from the Unreal Engine FAQ.

3. Click the DOWNLOAD NOW button that corresponds to the license type you selected. This will download the Launcher installer to your computer. Depending on your operating system settings, you might be asked to select a save location, or have to approve a security prompt before the download can start.
4. After the download finishes, run the installer and wait for it to complete.

In addition to the Launcher, this may also install other programs you require to run Unreal Engine, such as DirectX.

Create an Epic Games Account

After the setup program installs the Epic Games Launcher on your machine, you will be prompted to sign in with your Epic Games account.

If you have an account, sign in to the Launcher and continue to the next section.

If you don't have an account, click Sign Up to create one. You can sign up for an Epic Games account with your email, or with a supported social media or gaming platform account.

Click image to expand.

You can also proceed without creating an account by clicking Sign In Later. However, you will not be able to download or use Unreal Engine without an account.

Your account information is processed in accordance with the Epic Games Privacy Policy.

After you've created your account, Sign In to the Launcher.

Install Unreal Engine

Now that you've signed in to the Epic Games Launcher, you're ready to install Unreal Engine.

1. Click the Unreal Engine tab inside the Epic Games Launcher, then click the Install Engine button.

   Click image to expand.

2. (Optional) Click the Browse button to change the install path.

   Click image to expand.

3. Click the Options button to select which Engine components you want to install. This is where you select components such as:

   • Platform support
   • Starter content
   • Debug symbols
   • Engine source code

   You can add or remove components from an installed version of Unreal Engine at any time, by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the Launch button for that version, then selecting Options.

   Before you install Unreal Engine, make sure you have enough disk space. Requirements vary depending on the engine components you select. The Options screen will show you how much space you need for the installer download, as well as the engine itself.

   Click image to expand.

   Because each additional platform increases the binary size of your Unreal Engine installation, Mobile and XR platforms are not checked by default. If you do not specify to install them during this step, you will not be able to use them.

   After you finish selecting the engine components you need, click the Apply button.

4. Click the Install button and wait for the installation to complete. Depending on your system specifications and Internet connection speed, downloading and installing Unreal Engine can take between 10 to 40 minutes, sometimes longer.

You can have multiple versions of Unreal Engine installed. To add more versions, in the Library tab, click the Add (+) button next to ENGINE VERSIONS, then select the Engine version you want to install from the drop-down and click Install.

Click image to expand.

Launch Unreal Engine

After the install completes, click the Launch button to open Unreal Engine.

Click image to expand.

Congratulations! You are now ready to start using Unreal Engine.

To download and install Unreal Engine, you need to:

1. Download and install the Epic Games Launcher.
2. Sign up for an Epic Games account, if you don't have one.
3. Sign in to the Epic Games Launcher.
4. Install Unreal Engine.

Download and Install the Epic Games Launcher

The Unreal Engine tab in the Epic Games Launcher is where you manage all of your Unreal Engine (UE) installations. You can have multiple versions of UE installed on the same computer.

To download and install the Launcher, follow these steps:

1. Access the Download Unreal Engine page.

2. Select the license type that best matches how you intend to use UE.

   There are two types of licenses available:

   • Publishing, if you plan to make games.

   • Creators, if you plan to make other types of content.

     You can learn more about the different kinds of licensing available from the Unreal Engine FAQ.

3. Click the DOWNLOAD NOW button that corresponds to the license type you selected. This will download the Launcher installer to your computer. Depending on your operating system settings, you might be asked to select a save location, or have to approve a security prompt before the download can start.
4. After the download finishes, run the installer and wait for it to complete.

Create an Epic Games Account

After the setup program installs the Epic Games Launcher on your machine, you will be prompted to sign in with your Epic Games account.

If you have an account, sign in to the Launcher and continue to the next section.

If you don't have an account, click Sign Up to create one. You can sign up for an Epic Games account with your email, or with a supported social media or gaming platform account.

Click image to expand.

You can also proceed without creating an account by clicking Sign In Later. However, you will not be able to download or use Unreal Engine without an account.

Your account information is processed in accordance with the Epic Games Privacy Policy.

After you've created your account, Sign In to the Launcher.

Install Unreal Engine

Now that you've signed in to the Epic Games Launcher, you're ready to install Unreal Engine.

1. Click the Unreal Engine tab inside the Epic Games Launcher, then click the Install Engine button.

   Click image to expand.

2. (Optional) Click the Browse button to change the install path.

   Click image to expand.

3. Click the Options button to select which Engine components you want to install. This is where you select components such as:

   • Platform support
   • Starter content
   • Debug symbols
   • Engine source code

   You can add or remove components from an installed version of Unreal Engine at any time, by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the Launch button for that version, then selecting Options.

   Before you install Unreal Engine, make sure you have enough disk space. Requirements vary depending on the engine components you select. The Options screen will show you how much space you need for the installer download, as well as the engine itself.

   Click image to expand.

   After you finish selecting the engine components you need, click the Apply button.

4. Click the Install button and wait for the installation to complete. Depending on your system specifications and Internet connection speed, downloading and installing Unreal Engine can take between 10 to 40 minutes, sometimes longer.

You can have multiple versions of Unreal Engine installed. To add more versions, in the Library tab, click the Add (+) button next to ENGINE VERSIONS, then select the Engine version you want to install from the drop-down and click Install.

Click image to expand.

Launch Unreal Engine

After the install completes, click the Launch button to open Unreal Engine.

Click image to expand.

Congratulations! You are now ready to start using Unreal Engine.

Unreal Engine on Linux supports precompiled installed builds as well as source code builds. For information about using source builds, refer to Building Unreal Engine from Source.

To use a precompiled build, follow these steps:

1. Open the Unreal Engine for Linux page. It will prompt you to to create or sign into an Epic Games account. If you already have one, sign in to access the page. If you don't have an account, click Sign Up to create one.

   

   You can sign up for an Epic Games account with your email, or with a supported social media or gaming platform account.

   

2. Download the .zip file containing the version of Unreal Engine that you need.

   

3. Unzip the contents of the .zip file to your desired installation directory.

4. Run Engine/Binaries/Linux/UnrealEditor from the Terminal to launch Unreal Engine.

If you have a previous installation of Unreal Engine on your disk, but the Epic Games Launcher does not recognize it, follow the steps below to register this installation with the Launcher. You can also use this method to move an existing installation to a new location on disk.

1. In the Epic Games Launcher, click the Add (+) button to add a new version. Select the version that corresponds to the Unreal Engine version you want to register or move.

   Click image to expand.

2. Click the Browse button to choose the location on disk where you want to move the installation. The folder you choose must be empty.

   Click image to expand.

3. (Optional) Click the Options button to configure which engine components you want to install.

4. Wait until the engine starts to install (the text Installing should appear on the tile), then click the Cancel (X) button to stop the installation.

   

   The tile should now display a Resume button.

5. Open Windows Explorer and move the files from the original install location into the new location (that is, the folder you selected in step 2).

6. Return to the Launcher and click the Resume button to resume the installation.

   

After you've completed the steps above, the Launcher will start verifying the installation. It will also download any optional components you selected that it can't find in the installation folder. This might take some time.

When this process completes, you will be able to launch this version of Unreal Engine from the Epic Games Launcher.

If you have a previous installation of Unreal Engine on your disk, but the Epic Games Launcher does not recognize it, follow the steps below to register this installation with the Launcher. You can also use this method to move an existing installation to a new location on disk.

1. In the Epic Games Launcher, click the Add (+) button to add a new version. Select the version that corresponds to the Unreal Engine version you want to register or move.

   Click image to expand.

2. Click the Browse button to choose the location on disk where you want to move the installation. The folder you choose must be empty.

   Click image to expand.

3. (Optional) Click the Options button to configure which engine components you want to install.

4. Wait until the engine starts to install (the text Installing should appear on the tile), then click the Cancel (X) button to stop the installation.

   

   The tile should now display a Resume button.

5. Open Finder and move the files from the original install location into the new location (that is, the folder you selected in step 2).

6. Return to the Launcher and click the Resume button to resume the installation.

   

After you've completed the steps above, the Launcher will start verifying the installation. It will also download any optional components you selected that it can't find in the installation folder. This might take some time.

When this process completes, you will be able to launch this version of Unreal Engine from the Epic Games Launcher.

The Epic Games Launcher is not available on Linux.

Relocating Unreal Engine on Linux works the same way as relocating any other application.