Built-in File Manager

Batocera features a built-in file manager that can be accessed by pressing [F1] on the keyboard on the main system list (as of right now, PC-only).

Quit the file manager with [Ctrl] + [Q], [Alt] + [F4] or click File → Close Window.

Often overlooked but a crucial piece of software in some cases. Batocera uses the lightweight PCMan file manager.

It's pretty utilitarian, but it gets the job done.

• Sidebar Taking up the left side of the screen, this shows some quick access shortcuts and all the currently mounted drives.
• Address bar Your current location path. Feel free to click here and type the direct path you need to go to.

  Symlinks use the parent path of the symlink file, not the destination's path; that's the point of symlinks!

• Current folder contents The contents of the current folder you're in.

The default path of the file manager is /userdata/, which is called “Share” in the sidebar. This is due to the fact that this is the default location shown on the network share. Throughout the rest of this wiki, the “Share” folder is usually referred to by its direct path of /userdata/ to avoid confusion between people using the file manager and those using SSH.

If a standalone emulator features a GUI to alter its configuration, it will be featured here.

This is where files are banished to when you delete them using this file manager by default.

By holding [Shift] while pressing [Del] on a file, you can instead immediately delete it. You will still be prompted to confirm, but note that it says “Do you want to delete” instead.

If you're having trouble removing files from your drive, refer to the specific section about it on the troubleshooting page.

Any external storage connected to the Batocera machine is automatically mounted and shown on the sidebar (this may take a few moments to mount). This can be used to say transfer ROMs from a USB drive storage onto your userdata partition for use with Batocera!

Click the “eject” icon next to the drive to safely remove the device from the machine.

Symlinks can be used to effectively create shortcuts, but better yet, make the system believe a single folder/file exists in two different places despite it only taking up the space of the single file on the physical drive!

You can create symlinks like so:

1. Navigate to the folder you wish to link to.
2. Highlight the folder by clicking on it once.
3. In the menu at the top, go to Edit → Create Link…
4. Navigate to where you would like to create the symlink file. Essentially, this will be where your “shortcut” is.

   It will have the same name as the original folder at this point, so be careful of duplicate names.

5. If desired, rename the symlink to whatever you want.

   To check the location of the symlink, right-click it and go to its Properties. The destination folder will be listed as the “Target file”.

   

Deleting a symlink will not delete the original folder/file, even if the prompt might make it seem so.