Paths and Files

Paths and Files Reference

This page summarizes where Amiberry stores data and how to override defaults. For background on directory logic, see Amiberry Directories.

Environment overrides

If set and valid, these environment variables override defaults:

• AMIBERRY_DATA_DIR (data files)
• AMIBERRY_HOME_DIR (user files: floppies, roms, etc.)
• AMIBERRY_CONFIG_DIR (configuration files)
• AMIBERRY_PLUGINS_DIR (plugin libraries)

Common paths (default locations)

Purpose	Default (Linux)	Default (macOS)
HOME dir (user data)	~/Amiberry	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry
Config file (amiberry.conf)	~/.config/amiberry/amiberry.conf	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/Configurations/amiberry.conf
Configurations	~/Amiberry/conf	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/Configurations
Kickstarts / ROMs	~/Amiberry/roms	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/roms
Floppies	~/Amiberry/floppies	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/floppies
Hard drives	~/Amiberry/harddrives	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/harddrives
CD-ROMs	~/Amiberry/cdroms	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/cdroms
Save states	~/Amiberry/savestates	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/savestates
Screenshots	~/Amiberry/screenshots	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/screenshots
Logs	~/Amiberry/amiberry.log	~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry/amiberry.log
XDG data dir	~/.local/share/amiberry	n/a

Note: The macOS path ~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry contains a space. All internal operations (file copying, downloads, etc.) handle this correctly.

Case-sensitivity notes

• Linux filesystems are typically case-sensitive, so roms and Roms are different folders.
• macOS is often case-insensitive by default, but can be configured as case-sensitive. If you use a case-sensitive volume, match the exact folder names shown above.

Spaces in paths

The macOS HOME directory (~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry) contains a space in "Application Support". Amiberry handles this internally — file operations use std::filesystem APIs, and shell commands (for downloads) properly quote path arguments.

XDG data subdirectories

These are created under XDG_DATA_HOME (or ~/.local/share/amiberry):

• controllers (gamecontrollerdb.txt)
• whdboot
• ripper
• inputrecordings
• nvram
• videos

Additional paths managed by the GUI

Paths below are stored in amiberry.conf and managed via the Paths panel:

• controllers_path
• retroarch_config
• whdboot_path
• whdload_arch_path
• floppy_sounds_dir
• saveimage_dir
• ripper_path
• inputrecordings_dir
• nvram_dir
• plugins_dir
• video_dir
• themes_path
• shaders_path

If you need to move or customize these, update them in the Paths panel and click Rescan Paths.