This page summarizes where Amiberry stores data and how to override defaults. For the full startup rules, see Amiberry Directories.

Environment-variable support is platform-specific:

With the exception of Linux AMIBERRY_DATA_DIR, non-empty overrides are treated as explicit targets and can be created later by Amiberry. AMIBERRY_DATA_DIR still needs to point to an existing bundled data directory.

Note: On macOS, first launch imports legacy amiberry.conf / amiberry.ini files from older locations into ~/Library/Application Support/Amiberry, and also merges compatible legacy Themes / Shaders / Bezels folders into the new ~/Documents/Amiberry/Visuals layout without deleting the old copies. A later launch can then offer to move the leftover legacy files and folders to Trash once the new layout is already in use.

Official Windows portable ZIP releases include an amiberry.portable marker next to Amiberry.exe.

• The archive extracts into a single top-level portable folder
• Portable bootstrap settings live in <portable-root>\\Settings
• Portable .uae configs live in <portable-root>\\conf
• Managed writable directories such as Controllers, Whdboot, Roms, Floppies, and Savestates stay next to Amiberry.exe
• Portable mode is resolved from the executable directory, not the current working directory

The Paths panel includes an optional Base content folder setting.

• Amiberry stores this as base_content_path in amiberry.conf.
• When set, Amiberry derives the standard managed content/config directories from that root.
• Derived paths place visual assets in a separate Visuals / visuals subtree instead of under the machine-configuration directory.
• This is the easiest way to relocate the Amiberry content tree on macOS without launcher scripts or shell environment variables.
• Changes in the GUI are staged until you click Apply.
• If the selected root is missing managed folders, Amiberry shows a confirmation dialog listing them and lets you either create them or use the path as-is.
• Editing an individual path afterwards makes that entry an explicit override.
• Clearing Base content folder removes the bulk root and reverts only the still-derived entries to their normal defaults, while keeping any individual path overrides you already made.
• base_content_path does not move the bootstrap location of amiberry.conf or amiberry.ini.

• 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.

These paths are stored in amiberry.conf and managed through the Paths panel:

• base_content_path
• config_path
• controllers_path
• retroarch_config
• whdboot_path
• whdload_arch_path
• floppy_path
• harddrive_path
• cdrom_path
• logfile_path
• rom_path
• rp9_path
• floppy_sounds_dir
• saveimage_dir
• savestate_dir
• screenshot_dir
• ripper_path
• inputrecordings_dir
• nvram_dir
• plugins_dir
• video_dir
• themes_path
• shaders_path
• bezels_path

If you need to move or customize these, update them in the Paths panel and click Rescan Paths to create any missing folders and refresh the related resources.