#4392·Playnite

Windows Registry overrides emulator executable location

Author: MabadmanCreated Sep 15, 2026Updated Sep 15, 2026
Labelsbug

Bug Description

If Windows Registry has a key for the emulator executable under either HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ that points to a valid exe, then Playnite uses this exe no matter what the installation path is set to by the user.

Seems to be specifically a problem with emulators. Tried reproducing it with manually added (non-emulated) games but those work as intended.

To Reproduce

  1. Add an emulator & an emulated game.
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ in the Registry and add new key {Emulator}.exe, named as appropriate. Must match the actual emulator executable name.
  3. Edit the Default string value so it points to a valid exe. Could be anything, e.g. C:\Windows\notepad.exe
  4. Try launching the emulated game using the emulator to see it instead runs the exe from step 3.

Diagnostics ID

a402de0b-8b51-4cfb-91c9-c7bfd00c09d9

Screenshots

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