Where muOS keeps your saves, and how to back them up or move them

Your save files are the one thing on a handheld you can’t download again. This guide shows where muOS keeps them, the difference between the two kinds of save, and how to back them up or carry them to a new card.

Tested on: Anbernic RG40XXH · muOS 2601.0 Jacaranda · Wi-Fi Transfer 2.0.1.

Two kinds of save

In-game saves: the game saves itself, as it would on the original console (a save point, “Save game” in a menu). With most emulators these are small files ending in .srm.
Save states: a snapshot of the whole emulator at one moment, made from the emulator’s menu. They end in .state1, .state2… plus .state.auto, the automatic one made when you leave a game. Each comes with a small .png preview.

In-game saves are the safer ones to keep: a save state may not load any more after an emulator update, an in-game save almost always does.

Where they are

All on SD card 1, inside muOS’s own MUOS folder:

What	Folder
In-game saves	`MUOS/save/file/<emulator>/`
Save states	`MUOS/save/state/<emulator>/`
Nintendo DS (DraStic)	`MUOS/save/drastic/`
PICO-8	`MUOS/save/pico8/`

The <emulator> folder is named after the emulator that ran the game, not after the system. For example:

MUOS/save/file/Gambatte/My Game.srm        ← Game Boy / Game Boy Color
MUOS/save/file/mGBA/My Game.srm            ← Game Boy Advance
MUOS/save/state/Snes9x/My Game.state1      ← SNES
MUOS/save/state/PCSX-ReARMed/My Game.state.auto   ← PlayStation

The file name is the game’s file name with a different ending, so My Game.gba saves as My Game.srm.

If you moved your saves to SD card 2 with Configuration → Storage, muOS keeps them on SD card 2 instead.

“My save is gone”

Usually it isn’t. Two things make a save look lost:

You changed the emulator. The save is in the old emulator’s folder, for example Gambatte, and the new one looks in its own, for example mGBA. Switch back (highlight the game, SELECT → Core), or copy the .srm file into the new emulator’s folder.
You renamed the game file. The save keeps the old name. Rename the .srm (and states) to match, or rename the game back.

Back up your saves

With muOS’s Device Backup. Configuration → Device Backup packs your saves (along with apps, BIOS files and settings) into one .muxzip file in the BACKUP folder on SD card 1. To restore it, Applications → Archive Manager and pick the file. Keep in mind that this file is on the same card: if the card dies, the backup goes with it. Copy it to your PC.

With Wi-Fi Transfer, no card reader needed. Open Wi-Fi Transfer, go to MUOS → save on the SD card 1 tab and tap the download icon: your browser saves the whole folder as one .zip. The same works for the BACKUP folder. For everything at once, including muOS and your games, make a full backup of SD card 1.

Move saves to a new card or another muOS handheld

Copy MUOS/save from the old card to your PC (Wi-Fi Transfer, SFTP or a card reader).
Put the game files on the new card with exactly the same names.
Copy the save files into the same MUOS/save/file/<emulator>/ and MUOS/save/state/<emulator>/ folders on the new card. With Wi-Fi Transfer: open the folder and use Upload files.
Start the game with the same emulator as before.

Summary

In-game saves: MUOS/save/file/<emulator>/. Save states: MUOS/save/state/<emulator>/.
The folder is the emulator’s name, and the file is the game’s name.
Back up MUOS/save regularly: Device Backup, then copy the file off the card, or download the folder with Wi-Fi Transfer.

Sources: muOS documentation: Device Backup and Storage; Storage migration information and Assigning a core to a directory (muOS community FAQ). Save folders checked on an RG40XXH with muOS 2601.0.

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PocketKode is not affiliated with muOS or Anbernic.