Where Does VBA-M Store Settings and Saves?
VBA-M portable ini plus battery saves beside your ROMs, and which of the two to back up.
Last updated
VisualBoyAdvance-M keeps settings in a vbam.ini beside the executable and writes battery saves next to the ROMs that created them. The split mirrors how the original cartridges worked: configuration belongs to the player, progress belongs to the game.
Link cable and BIOS settings live in the ini, which is why multiplayer setups break after careless copies that grab ROMs but forget the emulator folder. Save states sit in a states folder of their own, version tied to the exact VBA-M build that wrote them.
Where VBA-M stores this, by platform
[VBA-M folder]\vbam.ini
The ini holds display, input, link and BIOS paths in plain text. Battery .sav files sit beside their ROMs and work in other emulators. Copy both the emulator folder and ROM folders for a full migration.
Frequently asked questions
how do i move vba-m to a new pc
Copy the emulator folder plus your ROM folders with VBA-M closed. The ini and link settings travel in the emulator folder while battery progress travels with the ROMs, so both halves matter.
sav versus save states in vba-m
Battery .sav files load in other Game Boy emulators, while save states only load back into VBA-M itself. Use battery saves for moving between programs and states for rewinding tough spots inside VBA-M.
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