The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (+ DX)

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (+ DX)
Save Editor

Drop a save file here, or

Always back up your original save file before editing. This is an unofficial fan tool and is not affiliated with the game's developer.

Works with either version

The original 1993 Game Boy release and the 1998 Game Boy Color "DX" re-release share the same save layout. Upload a save from either. DX's extra save data (Color Dungeon flags, tunic color, Game Boy Camera photos) isn't touched by this editor.

Save file location

This is a raw cartridge save (.sav/.srm, 8KB for the original or 32KB for DX), not a PC game. Where it lives depends on how you're playing:

Emulator (VBA, mGBA, RetroArch, BGB, ...): the save sits next to the ROM file, same name with a .sav extension (RetroArch keeps its own saves/ folder instead. Check Settings → Directory → Savefile).
Flash cartridge (EverDrive, etc.): the cartridge's save-manager software exports the raw save to a file on its SD card.

Only save file 1

Link's Awakening keeps up to 3 separate save files on one cartridge. This editor only reads and writes the first slot. If you have progress in slots 2 or 3, this won't see it.

My game isn't reflecting my edited save changes

Applying your edit

Fully quit the game first. Check Task Manager for a lingering process too.
Back up the original file before overwriting it.
Copy the downloaded file over the original, keeping the exact same filename (the editor preserves this for you automatically).
Relaunch and load that save.

If your edit doesn't show up

This is the single most common snag. Try these in order:

Disable cloud sync for this game first. Steam: Library → right-click the game → Properties → General → uncheck "Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud." Epic Games, GOG Galaxy, EA app, Ubisoft Connect, and Xbox/PC Game Pass titles all have an equivalent per-game toggle. Turn it off, since a cloud sync can silently overwrite your edited file with the old cloud copy right after you relaunch.
Move the file out, then back in, instead of overwriting it in place. Some games only re-read a save file that's genuinely new to them, not one merely overwritten in place. I confirmed this with Prison Escape Simulator. Move (don't just overwrite) the edited file out of the save folder, relaunch the game once, quit, then copy it back in and relaunch again.
Check you edited the save the game is actually loading. Some games have multiple save slots or an autosave that can overwrite your edit. Make sure you're loading the exact slot you edited, and that nothing re-saved over it in between.
Check the file isn't marked read-only. Right-click it → Properties → make sure "Read-only" is unchecked. Files downloaded through a browser occasionally pick this up, and some games fail to overwrite it (sometimes silently).

A few games verify their save file's integrity and will refuse a modified one outright, or silently ignore just the values that changed. If none of the above helps, that may be what's happening, and there's currently no way around it from this editor.

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Missing a field? Check the Key/Value and Raw tabs first. If it's not there either, let me know.