The Arduino Philhower core provides support for RP2350 microcontroller boards. This page covers getting your Arduino IDE set up to include your board.
Arduino IDE Download
The first thing you will need to do is to download the latest release of the Arduino IDE. The Philhower core requires version 1.8 or higher.
Download and install it to your computer.
Once installed, open the Arduino IDE.
Adding the Philhower Board Manager URL
In the Arduino IDE, and navigate to the Preferences window. You can access it through File > Preferences on Windows or Linux, or Arduino > Preferences on OS X.
The Preferences window will open.
In the Additional Boards Manager URLs field, you'll want to add a new URL. The list of URLs is comma separated, and you will only have to add each URL once. The URLs point to index files that the Board Manager uses to build the list of available & installed boards.
Copy the following URL.
https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico/releases/download/global/package_rp2040_index.json
Add the URL to the the Additional Boards Manager URLs field (highlighted in red below). If you already have a board support package in that field, type a comma at the end then add the address above. Both will then be loaded by the Arduino IDE.
Click OK to save and close Preferences.
Add Board Support Package
In the Arduino IDE, click on Tools > Board > Boards Manager. If you have previously selected a board, the Board menu item may have a board name after it.
In the Boards Manager, search for RP2040. Scroll down to the Raspberry Pi Pico/RP2040/RP2350 by Earle F Philhower, III entry. Click Install to install it.
Once installation is complete, click Close to close the Boards Manager.
Choose Your Board
In the Tools > Boards menu, you should now see Raspberry Pi RP2040/RP2350 Boards (in sketchbook).
Navigate to the Raspberry Pi RP2040/RP2350 Boards menu. You will see the available boards listed.
Choose Raspberry Pi Pico 2 from the menu.
If you are programming a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 or Pico 2W, ensure you select the board you have and not a another board as the W boards have LED pinning different (though it should be transparent to the user if it is coded as shown).
Re. If you have a Pico 2 board, do not select Pico, Pico W, or Pico 2 W. If you have a Pico 2 W, select Raspberry Pi Pico 2W and don't select Pico 2 or the Pico boards.
If there is no serial Port available in the dropdown, or an invalid one appears - don't worry about it! The RP2350 does not actually use a serial port to upload, so its OK if it does not appear if in manual bootloader mode. You will see a serial port appear after uploading your first sketch.
Now you're ready to begin using Arduino with your RP2350 board!
Page last edited October 14, 2025
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