Flycast · Dreamcast, NAOMI, and Atomiswave

Where Flycast keeps your saves.

Flycast keeps Dreamcast saves as VMU files (vmu_save_A1.bin), arcade saves as .nvmem and .eeprom, and save states as .state, all in its data folder.

Save folders on each platform

Windows

Data folder: data folder next to flycast.exe

Mac

Data folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Flycast/data

Linux and AppImage

Data folder: ~/.local/share/flycast

Linux Flatpak

Data folder: ~/.var/app/org.flycast.Flycast/data/flycast

Steam Deck with EmuDeck

Saves and states: ~/Emulation/saves/flycast/saves

Save states land here too, not in the states folder next to it.

Android

Data folder: Android/data/com.flycast.emulator/files/data

Find or change the folder

Settings, General shows the data folder (on Mac, with a Reveal in Finder button). On a computer, Custom Paths there sets separate VMU, save state, and game save folders.

Moving saves between devices

From version 2.7, Flycast gives each game its own VMU (<game ID>_vmu_save_A1.bin). Before, every game shared vmu_save_A1.bin. After updating, copy or rename the shared file to keep old saves.
RetroArch's Flycast core shares one VMU by default (its Per-Game VMUs option is off). Match the setting when moving between the two.

Sync Flycast saves between devices

The SaveSync app for Windows, Mac, Linux, Steam Deck, and Android will watch Flycast's save folders and sync them when you close a game. It is coming next.

Today, if you play Dreamcast games in RetroArch with its Flycast core instead, RetroArch's built-in Cloud Sync syncs them with SaveSync on every device. See how to set it up.

SaveSync keeps the newest 20 versions of every save, so a bad sync or an overwritten slot is one click to undo.

Questions

Where are Flycast VMU saves?

In Flycast's data folder: vmu_save_A1.bin when games share a VMU, or <game ID>_vmu_save_A1.bin per game (the default from version 2.7).

My Dreamcast saves vanished after updating Flycast. Where are they?

Version 2.7 turned on per-game VMUs, so games now look for their own file. Your old saves are still in vmu_save_A1.bin; copy it to the game's per-game file name.

Checked against Flycast's documentation and source in October 2026: oslib.cpp (flycast), main.cpp (flycast), Flycast core (libretro docs), EmuDeck's setup script.

Pick up where you left off.

Start syncing