Balatro Save Editor — Change Money, Ante & Joker Slots in save.jkr

Last verified: 2026-09-28

Save file to edit

%AppData%\Balatro\ (profile folders 1, 2, 3 — the active run is save.jkr)

Balatro stores your run in save.jkr, and unlocks/stats in meta.jkr and profile.jkr, inside %AppData%\Balatro\ (a numbered profile folder: 1, 2 or 3). save.jkr is NOT a text file — it's a Lua table serialised and deflate-compressed, so Notepad shows binary garbage. The easy route is a browser .jkr editor (drag save.jkr in, change the value, download it back). The manual route is to zlib-inflate the file, edit the Lua table, and re-deflate it. Money is the dollars key; run progress is round_resets.ante. Balatro is single-player with no anti-cheat, so editing only touches your local run — but ALWAYS copy save.jkr first, because a save that fails to re-compress cleanly kicks you to the main menu and the run is gone.

Balatro's save.jkr isn't plain text — it's a deflate-compressed Lua table, so opening it in Notepad shows garbage. To change money, ante, hand size or joker slots you either drop the file into a browser .jkr editor or decompress it yourself. Below are the exact keys and how to edit without bricking your run.

What you can edit and which tag to change

What it changes	XML tag	Example value	Notes
Money (dollars)	`dollars`	`dollars = 999`	Top-level of the run table (GAME.dollars). Every .jkr editor labels this 'Money' or 'Dollars'. Set it between rounds; if you edit mid-shop the game may overwrite it when the round resolves.
Ante / run progress	`round_resets.ante`	`ante = 8`	Jumps the run to a later ante. Also check GAME.round for the round counter. Skipping antes keeps your current jokers but faces you with the harder blinds immediately.
Hands & discards this round	`current_round.hands_left / discards_left`	`hands_left = 4`	Refills the hands or discards you have left in the current round. These reset each round from your run's base values, so for a permanent change edit the starting params below.
Hand size	`GAME.starting_params.hand_size`	`hand_size = 10`	How many cards you draw. Default is 8. Raising it is one of the strongest edits; keep it sane (over ~20 the UI overlaps cards).
Joker / consumable slots	`jokers.config.card_limit / consumeables.config.card_limit`	`card_limit = 8`	How many jokers (or tarot/planet consumables) you can hold. Note the in-game spelling is 'consumeables' — match it exactly or the editor won't find the key.
Unlocks / discovered content	`(meta.jkr, NOT save.jkr)`	`unlock all decks/jokers`	Deck, joker and voucher unlocks live in meta.jkr, a SEPARATE file, not in your run's save.jkr. 'Unlock everything' tools rewrite meta.jkr. Doing this marks content as discovered and can affect your completion/achievement tracking, so it's the one edit to think twice about.

How to edit your Balatro save by hand

Fully quit Balatro (check it's not running in the tray) so it isn't writing to the save while you edit.
Press Win+R, paste %AppData%\Balatro and press Enter, then open your profile folder (1, 2 or 3).
COPY save.jkr to your Desktop as a backup — this is your only undo button.
Open a browser-based .jkr editor (or a Balatro save-editor GUI) and drag save.jkr into it — do NOT try Notepad, the file is compressed.
Change the value you want (Money, Ante, Hand size, slots), then export/download the edited save.jkr.
Replace the save.jkr in your profile folder with the edited one, keeping the exact name save.jkr.
Launch Balatro and Continue your run. If it drops you to the main menu, the run failed to load — restore your backup and make a smaller change.

Prefer a save editor instead of raw XML?

Balatro is single-player with no anti-cheat or server check, so editing save.jkr only affects your local run. Two catches: (1) editing meta.jkr to unlock content marks it as discovered and can skew your completion/achievement tracking; (2) if you use save.jkr edits, Steam Cloud may sync the edited file across your machines — fine, but it also means a bad edit propagates, so keep the local backup.

Mistakes that corrupt the save

save.jkr is compressed — Notepad/Word will show binary garbage and can corrupt it on save. Use a .jkr editor or an inflate/deflate script, never a plain text editor.
Three files, different jobs: save.jkr = current run, meta.jkr = unlocks/discoveries, profile.jkr = stats. Editing the wrong one does nothing to your run.
Match Balatro's spelling exactly — the slot key is 'consumeables' (extra e). A typo means the editor silently misses the field.
Edit between rounds, not mid-hand: values like dollars and hands_left get recalculated when a round resolves and can overwrite your change.
A save that fails to re-compress cleanly won't load — Balatro drops you to the main menu and the run is lost. Always keep the untouched backup copy.

Not sure where the file is? See the full Balatro save file location guide (every platform path), or the corrupted-save recovery guide if an edit broke your file.

FAQ

Where is the Balatro save file on PC?

%AppData%\Balatro\ in a numbered profile folder (1, 2 or 3). The active run is save.jkr; unlocks are in meta.jkr. On macOS it's ~/Library/Application Support/Balatro/ and on Steam Deck/Linux (Proton) it's under steamapps/compatdata/2379780/pfx/.../AppData/Roaming/Balatro/.

Can I edit the Balatro save in Notepad?

No. save.jkr is a deflate-compressed Lua table, so Notepad shows binary garbage and will corrupt it if you save. Use a browser-based .jkr editor (drag-and-drop) or a script that zlib-inflates the file, lets you edit the Lua table, then re-deflates it.

How do I add money in Balatro?

Open save.jkr in a .jkr editor and change the dollars value (GAME.dollars), or set it directly if you're hand-editing the inflated Lua table. Back up save.jkr first, change one value, then Continue your run to confirm it loaded.

My edited run won't load / I'm back at the main menu — why?

The edited save.jkr didn't re-compress into valid data, or you edited the wrong file. Restore your backup copy of save.jkr, then redo the edit changing a single value at a time. If you only wanted unlocks, edit meta.jkr, not save.jkr.

Other games

Need another game or a quick backup? Use the Save Location Finder — pick any game to get its exact save path plus a ready-to-run backup command.