mGBA · Game Boy Advance, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color

Where mGBA keeps your saves.

mGBA writes each game's save as a .sav file next to the ROM, and save states as .ss1 to .ss9 beside it, unless you set other folders.

Save folders on each platform

Every platform (default)

Saves: <ROM folder>/<ROM name>.sav
States: <ROM folder>/<ROM name>.ss1

Settings

Windows: %APPDATA%\mGBA
Mac and Linux: ~/.config/mgba
Flatpak: ~/.var/app/io.mgba.mGBA/config/mgba

Steam Deck with EmuDeck

Saves: ~/Emulation/saves/mgba/saves
States: ~/Emulation/saves/mgba/states

Change the folder

Tools, Settings, Paths has Save games and Save states, each with Same directory as the ROM.

Moving saves between devices

mGBA's .sav is a raw save. Rename it to .srm for RetroArch, with the ROM's name.
File, Save games, Convert save game converts between formats.
On Windows, ROMs under Program Files can send saves to %LocalAppData%\VirtualStore. Keep ROMs elsewhere.

Sync mGBA saves between devices

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

Today, if you play Game Boy and GBA games in RetroArch with its mGBA 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 does mGBA save games?

Next to the ROM, as a .sav file with the ROM's name, unless Tools, Settings, Paths sets another folder.

Can I use an mGBA save in RetroArch?

Yes. Rename the .sav to .srm with the ROM's file name and put it in RetroArch's saves folder (in the mGBA core's subfolder if sorting by core is on).

Checked against mGBA's documentation and source in October 2026: mGBA FAQ, config.c (mgba), EmuDeck's setup script.

Pick up where you left off.

Start syncing