If you’ve ever tried to back up your 100-hour Pokemon save file or install a custom HD texture pack for your favorite 3DS game on Citra, you’ve probably asked where does user folder go in Citra emulator at least once. Most new users struggle to locate this folder because it’s hidden by default on nearly every operating system, and the exact path changes depending on if you’re running a desktop or mobile build of the emulator. I’ve been using Citra for over four years to test modded 3DS titles and stream playthroughs, so I’ve messed up my user folder enough times to know all the common locations, plus quick fixes for when it seems to disappear entirely.
Where Does User Folder Go in Citra Emulator by Operating System
The default location of your Citra user folder changes based on what device you’re running the emulator on, and all default paths use hidden system folders that won’t show up in regular file searches unless you adjust your settings. It’s worth noting that these paths only apply to official, non-portable builds of Citra downloaded directly from the official site.
On Windows, the default non-portable user folder is located at C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Citra. You can also pull this up quickly by pressing Win + R, typing %appdata%\Citra into the run box, and hitting enter. You don’t need to enable hidden files to access it via the run command, which is a handy shortcut if you don’t want to change your file explorer settings.
For Mac users, the default path is ~/Library/Application Support/Citra. The Library folder is hidden by default on Mac, so you can access it by opening Finder, clicking the Go menu at the top of the screen, holding down the Option key to make the Library option appear, then selecting it and navigating to the Application Support folder.
Linux users will find the default Citra user folder at ~/.local/share/citra-emu/. The leading dot in the .local folder makes it hidden, so you’ll need to enable hidden file viewing in your file manager to access it manually, or type the full path directly into your file manager’s address bar.
On Android, the user folder is stored at Internal Storage > Android > data > org.citra.emu > files. If you’re running Android 13 or newer, you won’t be able to access the Android/data folder through your default file explorer due to system privacy restrictions. You can still export and import saves directly through the Citra app’s built-in file manager, or use a third-party file explorer that supports the Storage Access Framework to access the path.
How to Tell if You're Using a Portable Citra Build
Portable Citra builds are designed for users who don’t want to install the emulator to their main system drive, or who want to carry their entire Citra setup on a USB drive to use across multiple devices. These builds are downloaded as zip files instead of executable installers, and they don’t add any entries to your system’s program list.
You can tell you’re using a portable build if you see a folder named “user” in the same folder as the main Citra executable file (usually called citra-qt.exe on Windows). Portable Citra builds always store their user folder directly in the same folder as the main Citra executable, no matter what operating system you use.
Portable builds have a few key benefits over installed builds: they don’t require admin rights to run, you can move them to any folder or drive without breaking your setup, and you can keep multiple versions of Citra on the same device with separate user folders for each. The only downside is that portable builds won’t auto-update like installed versions, so you’ll have to manually download new releases and transfer your user folder over to the new build folder to keep your saves and settings.
Common Reasons Your Citra User Folder is Missing
If you’ve checked all the default paths and still can’t find your user folder, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common issues new Citra users run into, and it almost always has a simple fix. Most of the time, the folder isn’t actually gone, you just can’t see it, or it’s stored in a non-default path.
- You have hidden files and folders disabled on your operating system, so you can't see the AppData, Library, or .local folders that store default Citra user data
- You installed Citra via a third-party store or custom launcher that uses its own dedicated file path for app data instead of the default system path
- You moved the Citra executable or portable build folder to a new location on your drive without bringing the associated user folder along with it
- You recently reset your Citra settings to default, which can sometimes create a new blank user folder if the old path was corrupted or misspelled
The first step you should always take when you can't find your Citra user folder is to enable hidden items in your file explorer settings. On Windows, you can toggle this on from the “View” tab at the top of File Explorer. On Mac, hold down the Option key while opening the “Go” menu in Finder to access the hidden Library folder. If you used a third-party launcher to install Citra, check the launcher’s settings menu for a “storage location” or “app data” option that will show you exactly where the user folder is stored. If you accidentally moved your portable build without the user folder, check your recycle bin or the original folder you extracted the build to, as the user folder may still be there.
Useful Things You Can Do With Your Citra User Folder
Now that you know where to find your Citra user folder, you can do a lot more than just track down your save files. This folder holds all your custom settings, texture packs, cheat codes, and game data, so learning to manage it properly will make your Citra experience way smoother.
First, you can back up all your saves and settings by copying the entire user folder to a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox. I do this once a month, and it saved me from losing 120 hours of progress on a modded Animal Crossing playthrough when my old laptop crashed last year. You can also set up automatic backups to run on a schedule if you don’t want to remember to do it manually.
You can also install custom texture packs by unzipping the pack files into the “load/textures” folder inside your Citra user folder, then enabling custom textures in Citra’s graphics settings. This works for HD texture packs, custom character skins, and even translation packs for Japanese-only 3DS games. If you want to transfer your saves between your desktop and Android Citra app, you just need to copy the “sdmc” folder from your desktop user folder to the “files” folder in the Android Citra data path.
Never edit or delete random files in your Citra user folder unless you know exactly what they do, as this can corrupt your saves or make Citra crash immediately on launch. If you want to test changes to your settings or install experimental mods, make a copy of your user folder first so you can revert back to the working version if something breaks. You can also create separate user folders for different types of games, and swap them out by renaming the folders if you want to keep your modded and unmodded save files separate.
If you’ve been stressing about tracking down your game saves or mod files, knowing where does user folder go in Citra emulator takes all the guesswork out of managing your emulator setup. Even if you only use Citra to play a couple of casual games, it’s worth taking two minutes to note down your specific user folder path and make a backup of your save files. You never know when you’ll need to transfer your data to a new device or recover from a random settings crash, and having quick access to your user folder will save you hours of frustration down the line.
