UE4: How to Download and Install Unreal Engine 4 (Updated)

Category: UE4

May 26, 2015 (Updated: July 30, 2019)

In this tutorial you will learn how to download and install Unreal Engine 4 on your computer.

The process if fairly simple, but it does require few additional steps before you can use Unreal Engine world/level editor.

Follow these 6 steps to download and install Unreal Engine 4.

1. Get Unreal - Unreal Engine Launcher

Go to Unreal Engine 4 website and click on "Get Unreal" icon.

This will take you to a log-in page.

You have to sign-up/register to Epic Games Community before you can have access to use Unreal Engine.

If you do not have an account, go ahead and sign up. Registration is free and it is required to download and use UE4.

2. Download Launcher - Unreal Engine Dashboard

Before you can download Unreal Engine, you have to download and install Unreal Engine Launcher. This is also called Epic Game Launcher.

Unreal Engine Launcher is very important. It is a portal through which you will be able to download and launch any Unreal Engine version you want. You will also be able to create new projects, manage your projects and download Marketplace Content.

Once you signed up and logged in, click on "Get Unreal Engine" icon button to download "Unreal Engine/Epic Games Launcher" installer.

Choose Game Developers tab and click Proceed to Download:

Next choose to download for Windows or Mac:

And you'll get EpicInstaller file like this:

3. Install Unreal Engine Launcher

Run EpicInstaller file on your computer:

Let it install into the default C: directory:

4. Open Unreal Engine Launcher

After installation, you should now have Epic Games Launcher shortcut on your desktop. Double click on the icon to open it:

You can also use Windows Start icon and search for Epic Game Launcher:

You will find "Unreal Engine/Epic Games Launcher" inside the default installation directory in: "C:\Program Files \Epic Games \Launcher \Engine \Binaries \Win64 \EpicGamesLauncher.exe"

5. Download Unreal Engine

After opening up the Epic Game Launcher you'll have to sign-in using the same log-in you created earlier.

First click over to Unreal Engine then Library tab:

Click on the plus icon to add Unreal Engine:

Then use the drop down menu to choose Unreal Engine version you want to download and install:

Keep the install location default and let it download and install:

This will take a bit of time but once it is done, you now will have Unreal Engine editor on your computer, ready to use.

6. Open Unreal Engine Editor

Click any of the Launch icons to open up Unreal Engine 4.

Important: in order to start Unreal Engine 4 editor you will have to create a new project, open existing project or open a project you downloaded from Learn or Marketplace section.