Access Android emulator savefiles
Accessing files on the latest versions of Android can be a pain, especially as Android decided to lock users out of the Android/data folder. As such, it’s also a pain to access savefiles from emulation (e.g. Lemuroid game files).
This guide will walk you through how to access these files and go around Android’s restrictions.
Table of contents
Workaround for restrictions
To access the files, I found that an app called EX File Manager was really helpful in accessing the Android/data folder.
NOTE: I’m not quite sure how safe this software is. It has ads and is definitely not FOSS. However, I can vouch for its effectiveness.
For the rest of this guide, I will assume that you are using this app.
Getting the files
Now that we have a working file manager, we can go into the required folders.
The Android/data folder
From the homescreen of EX File Manager click on the hamburger menu icon on the upper-left. This should reveal a menu.
Under Storage, click on Internal Storage.
This should lead you to a screen with all your folders under /storage/emulated/0. Think of this as your home folder.
Find and access the folder named Android, then data. You’re in!
Finding the application’s folder
You might notice that /storage/emulated/0/Android/data has tons of folders. Each folder is managed by one of your applications.
From what I figure, the folders are named by the domain name of the app’s publisher. For instance, we have org.fdroid.fdroid for F-droid, and md.obsidian for Obsidian.
Let’s say you’re using Lemuroid as your emulator. From here on, I’ll assume that you’re using this.
For me, Lemuroid is all the way down, as com.swordfish.lemuroid. It’s a lot to scan through, but EX File Manager shows a thumbnail of the application for each folder.
Getting the savefile
Under com.swordfish.lemuroid/files, there are four folders:
romssavesstate-previewsstates
The file structure may differ per emulator, but usually you’ll find a folder containing similarly-named folders.
Navigate into the saves folder.
Here, you should see a bunch of files in the format romName.dsv. The file extension (e.g. .dsv or .sav) differs between emulators.
NOTE: saves are different from save states! Save your games in-game in order to generate the actual savefiles.
Long press on the file you need to select it, then on the lower-left click on Copy.
That’s it!
Paste the file into the desired folder, and there you have your savefile!