RetroArch XMB Menu Map: A Practical Reference Guide

This guide is a structured summary of the official RetroArch "XMB Menu Map" documentation. It explains how the XMB interface is organized so you can find core functions, setting groups, and content-management tools faster. All menu names and paths below follow the source spelling. Because this is a documentation summary, the steps have not been hands-on tested.

How to read this map

The XMB interface is arranged as horizontal tabs, and each tab expands into a list of items and submenus. The main menu is the entry point where you load a core and load content. Once a core is loaded, the Quick Menu appears and changes based on the active core. The Settings tab holds grouped configuration categories such as Drivers, Video, Audio, Input, and Core. Some entries are described in the source as duplicates or shortcuts to settings found elsewhere, and some items only appear on certain platforms or devices.

Main Menu tab

The Main Menu is the first tab and contains the top-level actions for loading software, updating components, and managing configuration.

• Load Core, which changes into Quick Menu once a core is loaded
• Load Content, which expands to Start Directory, Downloads, Playlists, and a File Browser entry
• Online Updater, which expands to Core Downloader, Update Installed Cores, Playlist Thumbnails Updater, Content Downloader, Update Core Info Files, Update Assets, Update Controller Profiles, and additional update entries
• Show Desktop Menu
• Information, Configuration File, and Help entries
• Restart RetroArch and Quit RetroArch

Load Core and Load Content

• 1. From the Main Menu, select Load Core to choose the emulator or application core you want to run.
• 2. After a core is loaded, the same entry changes into Quick Menu, which provides content-level actions.
• 3. Use Load Content to browse to content. It expands to Start Directory, Downloads, Playlists, and the File Browser.
• 4. The source notes the File Browser entry under Load Content as a duplicate or shortcut to Settings > File Browser.

Online Updater

The Online Updater is the main menu section for downloading and refreshing RetroArch components. Its contents include Core Downloader, Update Installed Cores, Playlist Thumbnails Updater, Content Downloader, Update Core Info Files, Update Assets, and Update Controller Profiles. The source also notes that core availability in Core Downloader varies by platform or device.

• 1. On the Main Menu tab, open Online Updater.
• 2. To obtain cores, use Core Downloader. Availability of cores varies by platform or device.
• 3. To bring existing cores up to date, use Update Installed Cores.
• 4. To refresh support data, use Update Core Info Files, Update Assets, and Update Controller Profiles.
• 5. To add or refresh playlist imagery, use Playlist Thumbnails Updater.
• 6. To download content through the updater, use Content Downloader.

Other top-level tabs

• Favorites
• History
• Images
• Music
• Videos
• Any additional user-created playlists
• Netplay
• Import Content, which includes Scan Directory, Scan File, and Manual Scan options
• Explore, which includes Search Name and Show All

Quick Menu

The Quick Menu is the content-level menu that becomes available once a core is loaded. It contains actions such as Resume, Restart, Close Content, Take Screenshot, State Slot, Save State, Load State, Undo Load State, Undo Save State, Add to Favorites, Start Recording, and Start Streaming. It also contains submenus for Options, On-Screen Overlay, Rewind, Latency, Controls, Cheats, Shaders, Overrides, Information, and Download Thumbnails.

Several Quick Menu submenus are described in the source as duplicates or shortcuts back to main Settings categories, including On-Screen Overlay under Settings > On-Screen Display, Rewind under Settings > Frame Throttle > Rewind, Latency under Settings > Latency, and Turbo Fire under Settings > Input > Turbo Fire. The Options submenu varies by core.

The Controls submenu provides Load Remap File, Save Core Remap File, Save Content Directory Remap File, Save Game Remap File, plus Port 1 through Port 5 Controls and Turbo Fire. The source notes that the number of visible ports depends on the Settings > Input > Maximum Users setting, and that the RetroPad-to-core mappings vary by core.

Settings tab categories

The Settings tab groups configuration into topic categories. The table below lists those categories as they appear in the source.

• Drivers, Video, Audio, Input, Latency
• Core, Configuration, Saving, Logging
• File Browser, Frame Throttle, Recording
• On-Screen Display, User Interface
• AI Service, Accessibility, Power Management
• Achievements, Network, Playlists, User, Directory

Some categories include entries that are marked as duplicates or shortcuts to other settings. For example, the source lists Max swapchain images under both Settings > Video > Synchronization and Settings > Latency, and Sync to Exact Content Framerate under both Settings > Video > Synchronization and Settings > Frame Throttle. The source also marks Power Management as only available on certain devices.

Notes on reading the map

• Entries marked in the source as duplicates or shortcuts point to the same setting available elsewhere in the menu.
• Items such as Playlists, Downloads, and platform-specific entries vary by platform or device.
• Submenus such as Options, Shader Parameters, and Shader Passes vary by the active core or shader preset.
• The source notes that availability of cores, databases, cursors, and On-Demand Thumbnail Downloads can vary by platform, device, or installed content.