PICO-8 stores its configuration and cartridges on macOS by default in the user Library directory:
/Users/Username/Library/Application Support/pico-8/carts/While this location might work for some enthusiasts and game developers, I prefer to keep all of my hobby project’s source code and saved files in a single directory. This approach makes it easier to manage backups without searching in multiple locations on my macOS.
This default directory path is also defined in the PICO-8 configuration file (pico-8/config.txt) under the -root-path parameter:
// Location of pico-8's root folder
root_path /Users/Username/Library/Application Support/pico-8/carts/To change this location, you can edit the PICO-8 configuration file to point to your desired directory for storing cartridges. For example, I change it to:
root_path /Users/Username/Documents/Code/pico-8-carts/Before making this change, close the PICO-8 app before editing the configuration file. Additionally, you must have opened the PICO-8 app at least once. Otherwise, there will be no config.txt file created if you have only copied the PICO-8.app to your Applications directory without launching it.
Finally, backing up your cartridges before changing the storage locations is important.