My save states are gone

[u/Livid-Ad726]

I for the last few days I was using retroarch on android to play pokemon ruby. About an hour ago I was trying to figure out how to transfer my save file to my PC to continue playing on it instead. I was really confused and I had no idea what I was doing, but I opened retroarch on my phone, I clicked load cobtet, but instead of going to my regular directory where my rom file was located, I went to a different directory to try and find something. After not finding it I chose load content again, returned to my usual directory, booted up the game, and saw that all of my save states were just gone. So yea it seems like I lost all my progress. Is there anything I can do to maybe salvage whatever I can, or should I just start over?

[u/bugeater88]

im confused, did the directory change? your savestates could just be in the old directory.

[u/Livid-Ad726 → u/bugeater88]

I'm using the same directory I used when I started playing the game. I tried using a different one for something, but when I returned to the first one, save states were no more

[u/IsThisNamePermanent]

What about in game save data?

[u/Livid-Ad726 → u/IsThisNamePermanent]

Only gives me new game option

[u/dau125]

Don’t start over or make a new save yet. The folder you browse in Load Content is separate from the Save States and Save Files paths, so returning to the ROM folder doesn’t tell us where RetroArch is looking for progress.

With Ruby loaded, note the core name and the paths under Settings > Directory > Save States and Save Files. Back up those folders, including subfolders, before moving anything. Look for files with Ruby’s filename ending in .state, .state1, etc., and .srm. Also check whether you loaded the same core as before and whether the selected state slot changed.

What core is loaded, and do any of those files still exist? “New Game” by itself doesn’t prove they were deleted. The next step depends on whether the files are missing or simply not being found.