Game Boy Save Converter
Open a Game Boy or Game Boy Color save and download it as a .sav for mGBA, VBA-M or BGB, or as a RetroArch .srm. Games with a clock, such as Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal, keep it: the 48-byte clock block is read, and RetroArch gets a matching .rtc file.
Or drop them here. They are read on this device and never uploaded.
Which Game Boy save formats does it convert?
The battery RAM of a Game Boy cartridge is the same in every emulator. The difference is the clock, which only MBC3 cartridges have.
| Format | Files | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Save with clock | .sav + 48-byte clock block | mGBA, VBA-M, BGB |
| RetroArch save | .srm, plus .rtc for the clock | RetroArch Gambatte core |
| Battery RAM only | .sav | flash carts, cartridge readers and writers |
How to convert a Game Boy save
Open your save
Drop the .sav or .srm. If it came from RetroArch's Gambatte core, drop its .rtc file too to keep the clock.
Check what was found
The converter names the format it found and lists the saves inside, with any problem it spotted in the file.
Pick the format you need
Press the button for the emulator or device you are moving the save to. The new file downloads straight away.
Copy it into place
Put the downloaded file where your emulator or device keeps its saves, using the name the game expects.
What happens to the clock in Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal?
mGBA, VBA-M and BGB store the clock after the save as 48 bytes: the clock registers, the latched registers and the time it was saved. RetroArch's Gambatte core keeps only the RAM in the .srm and writes the clock to a separate 8-byte .rtc file holding the time the clock counts from.
The converter turns one into the other. From a .rtc file the clock is read as of the moment you convert. Berries and day-based events follow the clock, so expect the in-game time to match what the emulator last saw.
Other save converters
- PS1 Save Converter: Memory cards (.mcr, .mcd, .srm), PSP and Vita .VMP, DexDrive .gme, PS3 .PSV and single saves.
- PS2 Save Converter: PCSX2 .ps2 cards, EMS .psu, Action Replay .max, CodeBreaker .cbs and PS3 .PSV.
- N64 Save Converter: EEPROM, SRAM, FlashRAM and Controller Pak saves, RetroArch .srm, EverDrive 64 and DexDrive .n64.
- GBA Save Converter: Raw .sav, RetroArch .srm, GameShark .sps and .gsv, Action Replay .xps, with resizing.
- DS Save Converter: Raw .sav, DeSmuME .dsv and Action Replay .duc / .dss, with trimming and padding.
- GameCube Save Converter: Single .gci, GameShark .gcs and MaxDrive .sav saves, and whole Dolphin .raw cards.
- SNES Save Converter: .srm and .sav for emulators and flash carts, Retron 5 saves, resizing.
- Genesis Save Converter: Gens and Kega Fusion, RetroArch Genesis Plus GX, Retrode, MiSTer and MegaSD saves.
- Saturn Save Converter: Mednafen .bkr and .bcr, Beetle Saturn, Yabause and plain memory images, plus single .BUP saves.
- Dreamcast Save Converter: VMU images, Nexus .DCI saves and .VMS with .VMI pairs.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Game Boy .srm the same as a .sav?
Yes, for games without a clock. The battery RAM is identical and only the name differs.
Does a flash cart need the clock block?
No. Pick Battery RAM only for a flash cart or cartridge writer; they keep the clock on the cartridge itself.
Does a save with a 44-byte clock block open?
Yes. Older VBA builds wrote a 32-bit time, and the converter reads both lengths and writes the 48-byte one.