# REFInd

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/REFInd
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/REFInd.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REFInd
> Source revision: 1338611329
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Boot manager for UEFI systems}}
{{lowercase}}
{{Infobox software
| name = rEFInd
| title = rEFInd
| logo = REFInd Boot Management logo.svg
| screenshot = REFInd 0.14.2 screenshot.webp
| caption = rEFInd with default theme showing boot selections of [Windows 11](/source/Windows_11) and [openSUSE Tumbleweed](/source/openSUSE_Tumbleweed) (with both [GNU GRUB](/source/GNU_GRUB) and kernel EFI stub loader)
| author = 
| developer = Roderick W. Smith
| released = {{Start date|2012|3|14|df=y}}
| discontinued = 
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|Q19599551|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q19599551|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| programming language = [C](/source/C_language)
| operating system = [Linux](/source/Linux), [macOS](/source/macOS), [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows), [TrueOS](/source/TrueOS)
| platform = [IA-32](/source/IA-32), [x86-64](/source/x86-64), [AArch64](/source/AArch64)
| size = ~ 4 MiB
| language = English
| genre = [UEFI](/source/UEFI) boot manager
| license = [GPL-3.0-or-later](/source/GNU_General_Public_License),<br>[BSD-3-Clause](/source/BSD_licenses) (original program), additional components released under various licenses
| alexa = 
|website = {{URL|https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind}}
}}

'''rEFInd''' is a boot manager for [UEFI](/source/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface) and EFI-based machines.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Linux Multi-boot with Refind|url=https://teejeetech.com/2020/09/05/linux-multi-boot-with-refind/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=TeeJeeTech|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Axelsson|first=Mats Tage|title=Refind Boot Manager|url=https://linuxhint.com/refind_boot_manager/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=Linux Hint|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316124150/https://linuxhint.com/refind_boot_manager/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It can be used to [boot multiple operating systems](/source/Multi-booting) that are installed on a single non-volatile device. It also provides a way to launch UEFI applications.<ref>{{cite web|title=The rEFInd boot loader for UEFI Systems: A life (and sanity) saver |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-refind-boot-loader-for-uefi-systems-a-life-and-sanity-saver/#!|website=[ZDnet](/source/ZDnet)|date=29 January 2013|first=J.A|last=Watson|access-date=19 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=rEFInd - ArchWiki|url=https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/REFInd|access-date=7 March 2021|website=[Arch Linux](/source/Arch_Linux) Wiki}}</ref> 

It was forked from discontinued [rEFIt](/source/rEFIt) in 2012, with 0.2.0 as its first release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The rEFInd Boot Manager: Revisions|url=https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/revisions.html|access-date=8 March 2021|website=www.rodsbooks.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=rEFIt - An EFI Boot Menu and Toolkit|url=https://refit.sourceforge.net/|access-date=8 March 2021|website=refit.sourceforge.net}}</ref>

rEFInd supports the [IA-32](/source/IA-32), [x86-64](/source/x86-64), and [AArch64](/source/AArch64) architectures.

== Features ==
rEFInd has several features:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The rEFInd Boot Manager: rEFInd Features|url=https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html|access-date=7 March 2021|website=www.rodsbooks.com}}</ref>

* Automatic operating systems detection.
* Customisable OS launch options.
* Graphical or text mode. Theme is customisable.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The rEFInd Boot Manager: Theming rEFInd|url=https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/themes.html|access-date=7 March 2021|website=www.rodsbooks.com}}</ref>
* [Mac](/source/Macintosh)-specific features, including spoofing booting process to enable secondary video chipsets on some Macs.
* [Linux](/source/Linux)-specific features, including autodetecting EFI stub loader to boot [Linux kernel](/source/Linux_kernel) directly and using [fstab](/source/fstab) in lieu of rEFInd configuration file for boot order.
* Support for [Secure Boot](/source/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface).

== Adoption ==
rEFInd is the default [UEFI](/source/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface) boot manager for [TrueOS](/source/TrueOS).

rEFInd is included in official repositories of major [Linux distributions](/source/Linux_distribution), such as [Arch Linux](/source/Arch_Linux),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Arch Linux - refind 0.13.2-1 (any)|url=https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/refind/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=archlinux.org|archive-date=2021-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120011543/https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/refind/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [Debian](/source/Debian),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Debian -- Details of package refind in bullseye|url=https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/refind|access-date=2021-09-03|website=packages.debian.org}}</ref> [Ubuntu](/source/Ubuntu),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ubuntu – Package Download Selection -- refind_0.12.0-1_amd64.deb|url=https://packages.ubuntu.com/hirsute/amd64/refind/download|access-date=2021-09-03|website=packages.ubuntu.com}}</ref> and [Gentoo](/source/Gentoo_Linux).<ref>{{Cite web|title=sys-boot/refind – Gentoo Packages|url=https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/sys-boot/refind|access-date=2021-09-03|website=packages.gentoo.org}}</ref><!-- Deleted image removed:  thumb|right|screenshot on Manjaro showing user-added GNUefi app to launch. -->

== Development ==
[GNU-EFI](/source/GNUefi) and [TianoCore](/source/Tianocore) are supported as main development platforms for writing binary UEFI applications in [C](/source/C_(programming_language)) to launch right from the rEFInd [GUI](/source/GUI) menu. Typical purposes of an EFI application are fixing boot problems and programmatically modifying settings within UEFI environment, which would otherwise be performed from within the [BIOS](/source/BIOS) of a [personal computer](/source/personal_computer) (PC) without UEFI.<ref name=":0" />

rEFInd can be built with either GNU-EFI or TianoCore EDK2/UDK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=rEFInd / Code / [08c617] /BUILDING.txt|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/code/ci/master/tree/BUILDING.txt|access-date=7 March 2021|website=sourceforge.net}}</ref>

== Fork ==
'''RefindPlus''' is a fork of rEFInd that add several features and improvements for [Mac](/source/Macintosh) devices, specifically MacPro3,1 and MacPro5,1, and equivalent [Xserve](/source/Xserve).<ref>{{Citation|last=dakanji|title=dakanji/RefindPlus|date=6 March 2021|url=https://github.com/dakanji/RefindPlus|publisher=GitHub|access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [GNU GRUB](/source/GNU_GRUB) - Another boot loader for Unix-like systems
* [Comparison of boot loaders](/source/Comparison_of_boot_loaders)
* '''efibootmgr''' - manipulate the EFI Boot Manager: create and destroy boot entries, change the boot order and other

== References ==
<references />

{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

Category:Free boot loaders
Category:Free system software
Category:Macintosh firmware
Category:Software using the BSD license
Category:Software forks

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [REFInd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REFInd) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REFInd?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.