One aspect of the invention provides a recoil starter including: a reel support shaft; a rope reel that is rotatably mounted on the reel support shaft; a ratchet member that is swingably mounted on the rope reel; a ratchet guide that is rotatably mounted on the reel support shaft with friction resistance. The ratchet guide includes: a guide portion and a swinging-prevention portion. When the rope reel rotates in an engine starting direction, the guide portion pushes out the ratchet member to an outer diameter direction. When the ratchet member does not contact the guide portion, the swinging-prevention portion prevents the ratchet member from swinging to the outer diameter direction.