How to Back Up Your Saves Before a Firmware Update

2026-05-30

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Flashing new firmware almost always means reformatting your microSD card, and a reformat erases everything on it — including hours of game progress. The good news is that game saves are tiny and easy to back up if you do it before you flash. This guide is the routine to follow every single time you update or switch firmware.

This is a focused, procedural companion to our broader save state management guide — read that one for the full explanation of how saves and save states actually work. Here we cover just the migration: back up, flash, restore, verify.

Two Kinds of Saves (the Short Version)

You have two types of save data, and you want to protect both:

• In-game saves (.srm, .sav files, and PS1/PSP memory cards) — what the original cartridge or memory card wrote when you saved inside the game. These are stable and portable.
• Save states (.state files) — full snapshots of the emulator's memory. Instant and convenient, but tied to the specific emulator core and version that made them. A state may not load after a firmware update changes core versions.

Before you do anything else, load each game in progress and trigger a real in-game save. That converts your fragile save states into durable in-game saves, which survive firmware changes far more reliably. Treat save states as a convenience layer, not your only copy.

Step 1 — Find Where Your Saves Live

Saves are not stored with your ROMs. Each firmware keeps them in its own location. Here is where to look.

Two important notes:

• RetroArch on any platform has a setting for whether saves go into one shared saves folder or sit next to each ROM. Check Settings → Directory (and Settings → Saving) so you know exactly where yours are.
• Standalone Android emulators (PPSSPP, Dolphin, DraStic, etc.) each keep saves in their own location, often under the app's data folder. Back up each emulator you use.

When unsure, the safest move is the next step: back up the whole card.

Step 2 — Copy the Saves Off the Card

You have two ways to get the data onto a computer.

Option A — Card reader (recommended). Power off the handheld, remove the microSD, and put it in a card reader on your computer. Then either:

• Copy the entire card to a folder on your computer (e.g. HandheldBackup-2026-05-30). This is the foolproof option — you cannot miss a folder you did not know existed.
• Or copy just the save and state folders identified in Step 1, if you want a smaller, targeted backup.

Option B — Network transfer. muOS, KNULLI, ROCKNIX, and Onion OS can share the card over Wi-Fi (SMB/Samba or a built-in web file manager). Connect from your computer and copy the save folders across without removing the card. Slower for large transfers, but no reader needed.

Whichever you choose, verify the backup opened correctly on your computer before moving on. A backup you have not confirmed is not a backup.

Step 3 — Flash the New Firmware

With your saves safely on a computer, flash the firmware as normal. Follow the official instructions for your target firmware — for example our muOS setup guide, KNULLI setup guide, or Onion OS guide. This step typically reformats the card and wipes it completely, which is exactly why Steps 1 and 2 came first.

Step 4 — Restore Your Saves

After the new firmware boots and you have copied your ROMs back, restore the saves into the new firmware's save locations — which may differ from the old ones if you switched firmware.

• Same firmware, newer version: drop your saves back into the same folders they came from.
• Different firmware: map old → new using the table in Step 1. An .srm from muOS goes into KNULLI's saves folder, and so on. The save files themselves are portable; only the folder they live in changes.
• Filenames must match the ROM. In-game saves are matched to a game by filename (e.g. Pokemon Emerald.srm pairs with Pokemon Emerald.gba). If you renamed your ROMs, rename the saves to match.

Save states are the exception: if the new firmware ships a different core version, an old .state may refuse to load. This is normal and the reason Step "load and save in-game first" matters.

Step 5 — Verify

Boot two or three of your in-progress games and confirm the saves loaded. Check both a cartridge-style game (in-game save) and a disc-based game (memory card) so you have tested both paths. If a save did not take, it is almost always a filename mismatch or the file landing in the wrong folder — both fixable because you still have the full backup on your computer.

Make This a Habit

• Back up before every flash, no exceptions. It takes five minutes and saves heartbreak.
• Keep dated backups. A folder per date means you can roll back if a save corrupts later.
• Consider cloud or off-device storage for irreplaceable saves (long RPG runs). A copy on the card plus a copy on your computer plus a copy in cloud storage is genuinely safe.

Related Guides

• Save State Management: The Complete Guide
• How to Organize ROMs and BIOS Files
• muOS Setup Guide
• KNULLI Setup Guide
• How to Set Up Onion OS on the Miyoo Mini Plus