A memory card file weighs a few hundred kilobytes and can hold a hundred hours of RPG. It is the most valuable file in your emulation folder, and the easiest to lose with a phone. ePSXe for Android v2.0.19 made protecting it a built-in feature — here is how to use it, plus the PC-side habit that pairs with it.
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Android: the built-in sync (v2.0.19)
The 2.0.19 update (July 2026) added Google Drive support and updated the Dropbox API for exactly this purpose: memory cards and save states sync to your own cloud account. Set it up from the app’s preferences after installing from Google Play, then verify it the paranoid way: make a save, confirm the file’s timestamp changes in your Drive/Dropbox, and only then trust it with a long game. Cloud sync complements — never replaces — the local .mcr files explained in our memory card guide.
The cross-device workflow
- Play on Android; let the built-in sync carry memcards and states to Drive/Dropbox.
- On PC, point your filing at the same cloud folder so the newest .mcr is the one ePSXe loads (or copy it into the memcards folder — the format is identical across PC and Android versions, as the Play listing states).
- Before handing a session to another emulator (DuckStation imports .mcr too), keep one dated backup copy untouched. Sync propagates mistakes as faithfully as saves.
Where pCloud fits
If you want a long-term archive layer independent of Google and Dropbox — lifetime storage for a whole emulation library’s masters and saves — pCloud is the service we link for that job (our CJ affiliate application is pending, so this currently points at pCloud itself). The sensible architecture: Drive/Dropbox for live sync between devices, pCloud (or any backup you control) for the dated archive copies described in the memory card guide.
Rules that keep saves safe
- One “live” card per game at a time; archive copies are read-only history.
- Never let two devices write the same card simultaneously — finish on one, sync, then play on the other.
- Save states are convenience, memory cards are the record: states are emulator-version-specific and are not a backup strategy.
- Once a month, copy the whole memcards folder somewhere offline. It takes seconds and defeats account-level accidents.
Set this up once — ideally right after the Android setup — and the most common emulation tragedy (“my phone died at hour 60”) becomes a minor inconvenience instead.