RetroArch Settings Not Saving — Config Resets on Every Launch Fix

enable-save-configuration-on-exit (sortOrder=1, isMostHelpful)

The most common cause is that Save Configuration On Exit is disabled. This setting tells RetroArch to write your changes to the config file when you close the program. Without it, any changes you make in the current session are discarded when you quit.

To enable it:

1. In RetroArch, go to Settings → Configuration.
2. Set Save Configuration On Exit to ON.
3. While still in that session, go to Main Menu → Configuration File → Save Current Configuration — this manually writes the current settings including the "save on exit" switch itself. Without this step, the setting won't persist because it wasn't saved yet.

After this, RetroArch will automatically save any settings changes when you exit normally. Do not force-close RetroArch (via Task Manager / Alt+F4 mid-game) — it can only save the config when you exit through the menu.

Alternative — save manually any time: You can also go to Main Menu → Configuration File → Save Current Configuration at any point to immediately write your current settings without waiting for exit. Useful if you want to lock in specific settings without relying on the exit path.

save-core-overrides-for-per-core-settings (sortOrder=2)

Settings like controller port assignments, video filters, or core-specific options are often stored as Core Overrides, not in the main config file. Even if "Save Configuration On Exit" is on, these may not persist unless saved separately.

To save core-specific settings permanently:

1. Load a game using the core you want to configure.
2. Make your settings changes (controls, core options, video, audio, etc.).
3. Open the Quick Menu (F1 by default on PC, or press the hotkey you've assigned).
4. Go to Quick Menu → Overrides → Save Core Overrides.

This saves a file specific to this core (e.g. Snes9x.cfg) in your RetroArch config\ folder. Any future game loaded with that core will use these settings.

For core options specifically (options like "video mode", "rumble", etc. under Quick Menu → Core Options):

1. Change the option in Quick Menu → Core Options (or Options).
2. At the bottom of the Core Options menu: Save Core Options File to apply to all games with this core, OR Save Game Options File to apply only to this specific game.

save-game-overrides-for-per-game-settings (sortOrder=3)

If you want different settings for a specific game (e.g. a different controller layout just for one game, or a specific aspect ratio), use Game Overrides instead of Core Overrides.

1. Load the specific game you want to configure.
2. Make your desired changes.
3. Quick Menu → Overrides → Save Game Overrides.

RetroArch will load this override automatically every time you open that specific game, and fall back to Core Overrides (then global config) for games without their own override file.

Override priority order (highest to lowest):

• Game Override (config\CORENAME\GAME.cfg) — applies to this game only
• Content Directory Override — applies to all games in a specific folder
• Core Override (config\CORENAME.cfg) — applies to all games with this core
• Global Config (retroarch.cfg) — applies to everything

To remove a broken override that is causing unexpected settings: Quick Menu → Overrides → Remove Core Override or Remove Game Override.

config-file-location-and-read-only-fix (sortOrder=4)

If settings still do not save despite the above steps, the config file may be in a read-only location or RetroArch may not have write permission.

Find your config file location:

• Windows (installed): C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\retroarch.cfg
• Windows (portable / extracted zip): retroarch.cfg in the same folder as retroarch.exe
• Linux Flatpak: ~/.var/app/org.libretro.RetroArch/config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg
• Linux AppImage / native: ~/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg
• Android: Internal Storage → Android/data/com.retroarch/files/retroarch.cfg (requires a file manager with root or system access)

Read-only or permission fix:

1. On Windows: right-click retroarch.cfg → Properties → uncheck Read-only → OK.
2. If RetroArch is installed in C:\Program Files\, Windows may block writes there. Move the RetroArch folder to C:\RetroArch\ or your Documents folder and use the portable version instead.
3. On Linux: check the file permissions — ls -la retroarch.cfg should show -rw-r--r-- or -rw-rw-r--. If it is -r--r--r-- (read-only), run chmod u+w retroarch.cfg to restore write access.

If config is always reset to default on launch: RetroArch may be launching with a --config argument pointing to a different file, or a shortcut/script is overwriting retroarch.cfg on startup. Check any desktop shortcut or batch file for extra arguments.