Getting Started
Last revision 2026/01/08
This guide for beginners covers the basics of Arduino, including understanding its I/O ports, power sources, and onboard LEDs, and provides a step-by-step process to download the Arduino IDE, install it, and upload a Blink program to test the board's functionality.
1.Download Arduino IDE
Go to https://www.arduino.cc/en/software to download the installation file according to your operation system.
2.Install Arduino IDE
To install the Arduino IDE 2 on a Windows computer, simply run the file downloaded from the software page.
Follow the instructions in the installation guide. The installation may take several minutes.
You can now use the Arduino IDE 2 on your Windows computer!
3. Upload a Blink program
Open Arduino IDE and take a moment to move your mouse along each icon to get to know their functions.
Here we will use a very basic sample code, "Blink" to go through the whole process and test whether the controller is working.
Open the LED blink example sketch. You will find it under Files->Examples->01. Basics->Blink.
Then, we should choose what board we are uploading to.
Select your microcontroller by click Select Board & Port, it detected Arduino boards automatically show up here, along with the port number.
Beside the verify and upload button you should see a a drop down menu, this will, in most cases, display Arduino boards that are connected to your computer. If your board is not automatically detected, you can either press "Select other board and port..." in the drop-down and follow the instructions, or go to Tools > Board and Tools > Port in the toolbar menu to select the board and port manually.
Click "Verify" to compile your code. The IDE changes the code, from text into instructions that the computer can understand. This process is called compiling.
Verifying...
Finished!
The code we are using should not have errors since it is an example code. If a code does have errors in it will fail to verify.
Time to upload the code to your Arduino!
Click “Upload”to send the instructions via the USB cable to the Arduino.
Uploading...
Uploaded!
After it is finished, the Arduino will run the code automatically and the onboard LED will start to blink, just as programed!
REVIEW
We must do the following steps before we uploading the code:
Select Board & Port -> Verify Code -> Upload
...then your sketch will be uploaded.
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