Where Does Batocera Store ROMs and Saves?
Batocera keeps roms, bios, saves, and config on the SHARE partition at /userdata, separate from the boot files.
Last updated
Batocera boots from two partitions with opposite jobs. The small FAT32 boot side holds the kernel and batocera-boot.conf. Everything personal lives on the SHARE partition, mounted at /userdata: roms, bios, saves, screenshots, and system/batocera.conf.
Reach SHARE over the network at the BATOCERA share name, or plug the drive into another machine. Windows sees only the boot side by default, which is why newcomers think their files are missing. First boot expands SHARE to fill the drive, so size it before copying libraries.
Where Batocera stores this, by platform
/userdata
roms, bios, saves, and system config below it. Network share name is share. Boot once before copying so the tree exists.
/userdata/system/batocera.conf
Main config file for game and system options. EmulationStation keeps its own configs in the configs sibling folder.
Frequently asked questions
How do I migrate Batocera to a bigger drive?
Copy roms, bios, and saves from the old SHARE to the new install after its first boot. The userdata layout ports across Batocera versions and boards.
My fresh card has no roms folder. Where is it?
Boot once first. The SHARE tree with roms, bios, and saves only materializes on first boot, so an unbooted card shows nearly nothing.
Do saves follow ROMs to external drives?
Only roms merge across drives. Bios, saves, screenshots, and themes stay on internal storage by design, so keep them there.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.