How to Download Elden Ring on PC: Install, Verify and Get Started

60 GB in the Lands Between, Shadow of the Erdtree included: unpacking, controller setup, the settings that stop stutter and where to go first.

Elden Ring sits in the Games section of the catalog as a pre-installed build, version 1.16, with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion included. The download is 60 GB, and there is no installer step, so the process is: download, verify, unpack, configure, play. Everything else in this guide is about the configure part, because FromSoftware treats PC settings with suspicion.

Requirements and space

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• 12 GB of RAM. The open world streams constantly, and 8 GB machines show it as hitching while riding.
• A GPU with 6 GB of VRAM for high settings at 1080p or 1440p.
• About 130 GB of free disk space while unpacking, and an SSD. Load times between deaths are the most common quality-of-life complaint from players on slow drives.
• A controller. The game is playable on mouse and keyboard, but the lock-on and rolling feel noticeably better on a pad.

Download and unpack

1. Open the Elden Ring item page from the Games section and use the Download button at the top.
2. Check the archive size against the item page before extracting.
3. Extract with 7-Zip or WinRAR to a short plain path such as D:\Games\EldenRing.
4. Run the game executable once as administrator, then close it, so the settings file is created in your user profile.
5. Copy the save folder to a second location straight away. Losing progress to a corrupted save after a boss fight is a known pain and takes one minute to prevent.

Settings that keep the frame rate stable

1. Set the resolution to your monitor's native value and pick Fullscreen rather than borderless, which removes some frame pacing problems.
2. Lower shadow quality and depth of field first. They cost the most and change the image the least.
3. Cap the frame rate at 60. The animation data was built around that figure, and forcing higher numbers introduces artefacts on dodges.
4. If you see stutter while the world streams, check that the install is on an SSD and that your power plan is set to High Performance.
5. Disable overlays from other applications before playing. They interfere with the render path more often than people expect.

Getting started without wasting hours

1. Pick the starting class that matches the weapon you actually want to swing. Stats can be respecced later, weapons can be swapped, but the early game is where the class matters.
2. Follow the guidance of grace to Limgrave, then to Stormveil Castle. Wandering into Caelid at level 15 is the standard first-time mistake.
3. Level Vigor before damage stats. Almost every 'this boss is impossible' complaint traces back to a health bar of 400.
4. Upgrade one weapon with smithing stones rather than spreading upgrades across four.
5. Spirit ashes are not cheating. They exist to make the fights manageable, and you can ignore them on a second run.

Keeping the install healthy

This copy is the complete single-player game, including the expansion, so plan around offline play. Back up the save folder before each major session, keep the original archive for a clean reinstall, and if a future game patch breaks something, wait for the build in the catalog to be updated rather than patching files yourself.