Editing A Brief Guide to Retroarch (section)

== Saving Configurations in Retroarch ==

By default, Retroarch does not automatically save any changes to settings. If you make changes and then quit (or crash) Retroarch without saving your configuration, your changes will not carry over to the next time that you run Retroarch.

There are three levels of configuration files in Retroarch: global, core, and game.
You can refer to a tutorial video from here: https://youtu.be/4bYjDpNpCiw

=== Global Configuration ===

The global configuration includes all non-core-specific settings (e.g. standard video, audio, and input settings). You can save your global configuration by going to "Main Menu" (the leftmost menu in the Sony-style "XMB" user interface), selecting "Configuration File", and then "Save Current Configuration". Please note that "Save New Configuration" will create a new configuration file that Retroarch will NOT load automatically; this option is mostly for users who will then work with the file manually, outside of Retroarch.

It is possible to have Retroarch automatically save the global configuration file whenever you quit, by going to "Settings", and activating "Save Configuration on Exit". This is generally not recommended, as it is possible to change settings within Retroarch that will cause it to crash or cease responding  to inputs immediately. If the app automatically saves this new configuration, you will have to manually edit the configuration files to get Retroarch working again. It's usually easier just to remember to save manually whenever you want to keep a change to your configuration.

=== Core Overrides and Game Overrides ===

Retroarch can save additional configuration files which will override the global configuration file for particular emulation cores or games. This can be useful when some cores or games work better with different settings than you generally use.

First, make sure that you have a game loaded and running, even if you only want to save a core override. While Retroarch does allow you to load a core without loading a game, this is more of a historical leftover, as most options will not be available unless the core is actually emulating a game.

Once you have changed the settings that you want to modify, you can save an override configuration by going to "Main Menu", selecting "Quick Menu" (this is where you will usually start if you jump back into the menu from a running emulation), then selecting "Overrides". Then select "Save Core Overrides" or "Save Game Overrides" as you wish. There is also a "Save Content Directory Overrides" option, which will save a configuration file to be loaded for every game in the same directory as the currently loaded game. This may be useful if you use the same settings for a large number of games, and organize the directory structure to reflect this.