How to Add ESP32 Board in Arduino IDE?

The ESP32 is a powerful, low-cost microcontroller with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, making it an attractive choice for IoT projects and wireless applications. Although not an official Arduino board, you can use the Arduino IDE to program the ESP32 by installing the necessary board definitions. This article will provide a step-by-step guide on adding the ESP32 board to the Arduino IDE, so you can start developing and uploading your projects in no time.

Before adding ESP32 support, ensure that you have the latest Arduino IDE installed on your computer. To download and install the Arduino IDE, visit the official Arduino website and follow the instructions for your operating system:

Official Arduino download page: [//www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software](//www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software)

To install the ESP32 board definitions in the Arduino IDE, you will first have to provide the JSON URL that contains the board's package information. Follow these steps to add the ESP32 board URL:

a. Launch the Arduino IDE.

b. Click on "File" in the top menu, then select "Preferences" to open the Preferences dialog.

c. In the "Additional Boards Manager URLs" field, paste the following URL:

```
//dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json
```

d. If you already have other URLs in the field, separate them with a comma.

e. Click "OK" to save your changes.

With the URL added, you can now install the ESP32 board definitions using the Boards Manager:

a. In the Arduino IDE, click on "Tools" in the top menu, then select "Board: " (e.g., "Board: Arduino Uno") and click on "Boards Manager."

b. In the Boards Manager dialog, type "ESP32" in the search bar, and the "esp32" package by Espressif Systems should appear in the search results.

c. Click on the "esp32" package, and then click the "Install" button. The Arduino IDE will download and install the ESP32 board definitions and tools.

d. Once the installation is complete, close the Boards Manager dialog.

After installing the ESP32 board definitions, you can select the specific board you're using:

a. Click on "Tools" in the top menu, then hover over "Board: " to display the list of available boards.

b. Scroll down to the "ESP32 Arduino" section, and select your ESP32 board from the list (e.g., "DOIT ESP32 DEVKIT V1").

Before uploading your sketch to the ESP32, configure the upload settings according to your board:

a. In the "Tools" menu, set the "Flash Frequency," "Flash Mode," and "Partition Scheme" as recommended by your board's documentation.

b. Select the appropriate "Upload Speed," considering the trade-off between faster upload times and potential communication errors. A speed of 921600 bps usually works well.

c. In the "Tools" menu, click on "Port" and select the COM port corresponding to your ESP32 board.

With the ESP32 board and upload settings configured, you can now create, compile, and upload Arduino sketches to your ESP32 board:

a. Open or create a new Arduino sketch.

b. Click on the "Verify" button (checkmark icon) to compile your sketch and check for errors.

c. Click on the "Upload" button (right arrow icon) to upload your sketch to the ESP.concat-cli/tty..

Follow this step-by-step guide you a smooth experience when adding the ESP32 board to the Arduino IDE. This integration empowers you to leverage the versatile and user-friendly Arduino development environment for your ESP32 projects, enabling you to easily create and upload code to this powerful microcontroller for a myriad of IoT, wireless, and other applications.