After all, with such a convenient place to store all your emulators and ROM data, no wonder it has become one of the most popularly used emulation services for older video games.
However, you may eventually find that either your Raspberry Pi has run out of storage space, or that your menus are becoming more and more difficult to navigate, as you add and download more and more games to your library.
Getting Rid Of Game Data
For whatever reason, you’re probably going to want to, or even find yourself needing, to clear out your hard drive or RetroPie files from time to time.
However, while downloading games in RetroPie has plenty of tutorials out there, earning how to delete them can get a little trickier.
So, that’s what we’re going to show you in this guide!
We’ll also cover some other interesting tips that you may find helpful for managing your RetroPie system, such as how you can edit your data for yourself.
How To Delete Games In RetroPie
So, let’s cover the main issue that we’re here to help you with: How to delete game data from your RetroPie.
This method we are covering can be done through simply the user interface that RetroPie has as standard when you download it to your PC or Raspberry Pi.
To start with, from your metadata page, you’re going to want to navigate to the ROM files that you use to play your classic games with. You can usually find these files in the folders that they are downloaded and transferred to RetroPie in.
Once you have found the folder in question and the game data that you want to get rid of, you need to open your ‘options’ menu, by pressing the ‘Select’ key.
It should be noted that the ‘Select’ key on your keyboard is the standard key that is used to access RetroPie’s options as default. If you have changed the key that accesses the ‘options’ menu, you will need to find that key for yourself.
Once you have pressed the correct key, you can then scroll down through the options that are presented to you, until you come to the option ‘edit this game’s data’.
Then you can press the ‘Enter’ key or whichever button on your configuration that you have set up for this function.
From here, you will be shown a wide range of options under ‘Edit Metadata’. This will show you many pieces of information related to the ROM files in question, such as the name the file is under, how to access the thumbnail, as well as information on the developers and publishers for the game, and if those details are covered in the menu they may appear as ‘unknown’.
From this menu, you will need to scroll down, until you come to the option ‘delete’.
Once you press enter on this option, a small window will appear, asking you if you are sure that you want to delete the file and folder in question.
If you are, then you simply press ‘Enter’ on the ‘yes’ option.
Once you have backed out of the menu, you will find that the game in question has disappeared from your menu.
Congratulations, you have successfully deleted a game from your RetroPie program!
If you think that a visual or video tutorial or aid might work better for you on this topic, you can follow the link to a video tutorial on how to do this for yourself here.
How To Edit Your Game Data In RetroPie
You may have noticed, in the Metadata menu, that there were several other features that you could alter in-game through.
This is also a menu that will allow you to add details to your game’s metadata, such as the thumbnail icon or the game in question, or even the media folder itself.
All the information that you could want to edit is usually stored as an XML file that can be found in the ROM folder, either within the menu that we discussed previously, or in the correct file on your PC.
From the menu within your Pi system, you can add details, such as the name of the developer of the emulated game in question, or even the genre of the emulated game in question!
One thing to note about making these edits to a game’s data, however.
If you are looking to alter the data of an emulated game, make sure that you have exited the Emulationstation tab while you are editing.
Otherwise, the game will naturally overwrite any of the changes you have made, to keep running the game in the Emulationstation program.
If you are trying to alter game files on a PC, rather than through a Raspberry Pi system, you may be wondering if you could access the game’s data through an alternate way.
In these cases, look for ~/RetroPie/ROMs/folder on your PC. This is where downloaded games need to be located for a ROM to work properly.
Do I Need To Unzip My ROM files To Play Them In RetroPie?
Once you have downloaded a classic game for RetroPie, you may notice that the file in question is currently in a zipped format for easy download.
In these cases, you will need to open the zip folder into RetroPie. Otherwise, the program and emulator will be unable to access the ROM files needed to play the game.
Do I Need The Internet To Use RetroPie?
Yes, to access RetroPie, especially when trying to download it to a Raspberry Pi.
Final Thoughts
So, while it can be a little challenging for newcomers, it is possible to delete games from RetroPie, and even alter other game data too.
You can now go ahead and fill your RetroPi with your favourite PS1, PS2, 64 & Gamecube titles without worrying about space – because now you know exactly how to delete them!
As a tech enthusiast from a young age, it was inevitable that I'd find my way to the humble, yet brilliant Raspberry Pi. With this site - I aim to build out a knowledge base that will give you everything you need for your own Raspberry Pi journey!
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