What's a GBA File and How Do You Open One? (2024)

This article explains what a GBA file is and how to open or convert one on your computer.

What Is a GBA File?

A file with the .GBA file extension is a Game Boy Advance ROM file. It’s an exact copy of a GBA video game.

If you have a GBA file on your computer, it means that the game has been copied from the read-only memory (ROM) chip located on the console. You can use it on your computer or mobile device with an emulator, just as if it were being played on the Game Boy Advance.

Some Game Boy Advance ROM files might use other file extensions, like GB or AGB, but they should still work the same as GBA files.

How to Open a GBA File

Emulators like KiGB can be used to open the GBA file. That program works on Windows, macOS, and Linux computers.

Some other options for playing GBA games on your PC include Visual Boy Advance, DreamGBA, RascalBoy Advance, Boycott Advance, mGBA, and BatGBA.

To open a GBA file on an Android, there are several options in the Google Play Store. The Game Boy Advance ROM can also be in the ZIP format—it will open the same way with many emulators.

For an iPhone GBA emulator, you might have luck using GBA4iOS. It’s not available from the official App Store, but if you can manage to get it installed on your device, you can use it for free to play GBA games on your iPhone without needing to jailbreak your phone.

One way to copy GBA4iOS to your iPhone for free is to download the GBA4iOS IPA file and copy it to your phone with Cydia Impactor or Diawi. However, those methods don't always work and are rarely compatible with the newest iOS release.

If your iPhone is jailbroken, give GBA.emu a try.

How to Convert a GBA File

The free Ultimate GBA VC Injector for 3DS tool can convert GBA to CIA. Having the file in the CTR Important Archive format lets you install the game to a Nintendo 3DS. The program is small and completely portable, so it doesn’t need to be installed to use it.

You can also convert the GBA file to NDS, which is another file extension used for Nintendo DS game ROM files. For that, you might have luck using the free, portable NDStation program.

Some Game Boy Advance ROM files use the .AGB or .GB file extension instead, but they should still be in the same format as GBA files. So, instead of needing a GBA to AGB converter, for example, you can try just renaming the GBA file to use the AGB file extension. It’s not technically a conversion, but it should work in this case, since the file extensions are usually used for the same format.

Still Can’t Open It?

A file that doesn't open with a Game Boy Advance emulator is probably not actually associated with a video game. It's easy to confuse other formats for Game Boy Advance files if you misread the file extension.

For example, GBR looks a lot like GBA, even though it might not be related to Game Boy Advance files at all.

Similar is the GPA file extension. With just one letter off of GBA, it'd be easy to think it can be used with a GBA emulator. However, GPA files are most likely batch settings files that only work with software related to GenePix Microarray Systems.

If you can’t open a Game Boy Advance ROM file that ends in the GB file extension, you might actually be dealing with a GenBank data file. It uses the same GB suffix, but has nothing to do with video games. Instead, GB files open with DNA Baser Sequence Assembler or Genome Compiler.

If you don’t really have a Game Boy Advance ROM file, research the file extension that your file ends with. As long as the format is relatively still in use, it should be fairly easy to find out how to open the file or convert it to a usable format.