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Where Does PICO-8 Store Carts and Config?

PICO-8 lexaloffle folder with carts, cdata saves and config.txt on every desktop OS.

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PICO-8 keeps everything in a per-platform lexaloffle folder: downloaded carts, persistent save data per cart, screenshots and config.txt. The layout is identical on every OS, only the root moves.

Carts are .p8.png files you can trade freely. Back up the carts plus cdata folders and games plus their save states survive anything.

Where PICO-8 stores this, by platform

Windows
%APPDATA%\pico-8

Holds carts, cdata per-cart saves, bbs chatter cache and config.txt. Paste the path into File Explorer to jump there. Confirm the lowercase name on your install.

macOS
~/Library/Application Support/pico-8

Same carts, cdata and config.txt layout. Reach it through Finder Go > Go to Folder.

Linux
~/.lexaloffle/pico-8

Same tree as the other builds, with carts you can open directly in the editor.

Frequently asked questions

How do I install a PICO-8 cart someone sent me?

Drop the .p8.png file into the carts folder above and run LOAD <name> inside PICO-8. Splore lists local carts automatically.

Where are PICO-8 save files?

In the cdata folder, one file per cart persistent ID. Copy it with the cart to move progress between machines.

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