LaunchBox Boxart Not Downloading — Scraper and Metadata Setup Fix

How LaunchBox's scraper works: LaunchBox pulls metadata and images from the LaunchBox Games Database (a community-built database). The scraper matches your ROM filename to a database entry. If the filename is too different from the official game title, it returns "No Results Found."

To download metadata for existing games:

1. In LaunchBox, right-click a game that's missing artwork → Edit.
2. In the Edit Game window, click Download Metadata & Media (the cloud icon at the top).
3. LaunchBox searches the database and shows a list of matches. Select the correct entry and click OK.
4. Choose which media types to download (Front Box Art, Fanart, Screenshots, Video Snaps) and click Download.

For a full library import:

1. Go to Tools → Import → ROM Files.
2. Select your ROM folder, choose the platform (e.g. "Nintendo Entertainment System"), and check "Download metadata and images after import".
3. Let the import complete — LaunchBox will auto-scrape each game. Large libraries can take several minutes.

Fix "No Results Found" for a game:

• Edit the game → change the Title to match the official game title exactly (e.g. rename "Super_Mario_Bros_(U)" to "Super Mario Bros.").
• Re-run Download Metadata & Media. A cleaner title matches the database entry correctly.
• If the game still isn't found, use the Search field in the download dialog to try alternate titles or regional names.

Configure which images LaunchBox downloads:

1. Go to Tools → Options → Images.
2. Under Game Images, set priorities for each image type: Front Box Art → Clear Logo → Fanart - Background, etc. LaunchBox shows the highest-priority image it has.
3. Enable "Use Game Theme Videos" if you want animated video snaps in Big Box mode — these are separate downloads from boxart.

Download missing artwork in bulk:

1. In your game library, select all games (Ctrl+A).
2. Right-click → Download Metadata & Media.
3. In the bulk download window, check only the media types you're missing (e.g. uncheck "Metadata" if titles/descriptions are already correct, just download images).
4. Set "Don't replace existing media" to avoid re-downloading art you already have.

Video snaps note: LaunchBox doesn't store video snaps in its own database — for most platforms, video snaps are distributed as a separate pack from EmuMovies (free account required). Download and extract to LaunchBox\Videos\{Platform Name}\.

If LaunchBox finds the game but won't launch it: your emulator path may not be set up.

1. Go to Tools → Manage Emulators.
2. Click Add and browse to your emulator's .exe file (e.g. RetroArch.exe, Dolphin.exe, duckstation-qt-x64-ReleaseLTCG.exe).
3. For RetroArch: in the Associated Platforms tab, map each platform to the correct libretro core. Example: "Nintendo - Game Boy Advance" → core mgba_libretro.dll.
4. For standalone emulators (Dolphin, PCSX2, DuckStation): LaunchBox passes the ROM path as a command-line argument. Confirm the default command-line parameters in the Emulator edit window match the emulator's launch syntax.

Test a single game: right-click a game → Play. If it opens the emulator without a ROM, the command-line parameters are wrong. Check the LaunchBox wiki for per-emulator command-line templates (search "LaunchBox [emulator name] parameters").

If LaunchBox downloaded incorrect boxart (wrong region, wrong game), or artwork appears broken:

1. Right-click the game → Edit → go to the Media tab.
2. Click the trash icon next to any incorrect image to delete it.
3. Run Download Metadata & Media again — with the wrong image gone, it will re-download the correct one.

To clear all cached scraping data and start fresh for a platform:

1. Open LaunchBox\Images\{Platform Name}\ in File Explorer.
2. Delete only the folders containing incorrect images (Box - Front, Fanart - Background, etc.).
3. Re-import or bulk-re-scrape the platform. This does NOT delete your ROM files — only the downloaded images.

LaunchBox account tip: create a free LaunchBox account and log in via Tools → Options → LaunchBox Account. This increases the scraping rate limit significantly for large libraries.