PICOTOOL-SAVE(1)

📦 version 2.2.0-a4, in ubuntu stonking

🌸 PICOTOOL-SAVE 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to the picotool-save manual page — it lives in the User Commands section of the picotool docs, and it's about rescuing the goods off your lil microcontroller board 💖

✨ NAME ✨

picotool-save — Save the program / memory stored in flash on the device to a file.

Like, literally grab what's on the chip and yeet it into a file on your computer. That's the whole vibe. 🦋

📜 SYNOPSIS 📜

picotool save [-p] [-v] [--family <family_id>] <filename> [-t <type>]
[device-selection]

picotool save -a [-v] [--family <family_id>] <filename> [-t <type>]
[device-selection]

picotool save -r <from> <to> [-v] [--family <family_id>] <filename> [-t <type>] [device-selection]

Three flavours, pick your fighter: default program-only, all-of-flash, or a lil specific range. 🎀

👑 OPTIONS 👑

🍓 Selection of data to save

This is where you tell picotool what you actually want, bestie. Choose wisely.

  • -p, --program — Save the installed program only. This is the default, so if you don't say anything, this is what you get. Lowkey the chill option. ✨
  • -a, --all — Save all of flash memory. Everything. The whole entire chip. No crumbs left behind. 💅
  • -r, --range — Save a range of memory. Heads up though: UF2s always store complete 256byte-aligned blocks of 256 bytes, and the range is expanded accordingly. So like, it's giving "approximately that range", not "exactly that range", iykyk. 🫶
  • <from> — The lower address bound in hex.
  • <to> — The upper address bound in hex.

🌈 Other

The extra lil seasoning options, not required but sometimes you want them fr fr.

  • -v, --verify — Verify the data was saved correctly. Double-checking your work?? We stan. ✅
  • --family — Specify the family ID to save the file as.
  • <family_id> — family ID to save file as.

🎀 File to save to

  • <filename> — The file name. Yes, this is the one. Your output goes here. 🫶
  • -t <type> — Specify file type (uf2 | elf | bin) explicitly, ignoring file extension. So if your file's name is lying, this is how you correct it. 🙈

🧚 Source device selection

If you've got multiple lil boards plugged in, this is the "which one tho" section. Filter it down, bestie.

  • --bus <bus> — Filter devices by USB bus number.
  • --address <addr> — Filter devices by USB device address.
  • --vid <vid> — Filter by vendor id.
  • --pid <pid> — Filter by product id.
  • --ser <ser> — Filter by serial number.
  • -f, --force — Force a device not in BOOTSEL mode but running compatible code to reset so the command can be executed. After executing the command (unless the command itself is a reboot) the device will be rebooted back to application mode. So like, it goes away and comes back on its own. Iconic behaviour honestly. 🔥
  • -F, --force-no-reboot — Force a device not in BOOTSEL mode but running compatible code to reset so the command can be executed. After executing the command (unless the command itself is a reboot) the device will be left connected and accessible to picotool, but without the USB drive mounted. Same rescue mission as -f, just refuses to leave the group chat afterwards. 💀
ngl the -f / -F pair is the drama of this whole manpage. -f reboots your board back into application mode. -F keeps it hanging around, connected and reachable by picotool, just with no USB drive mounted. Pick based on whether you're done with it or not. 🙈

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

Everything above is all of it, bestie — that's the whole page. No extra cross-references hiding in here. 🌸

and that's the tea ☕ — this fine piece of documentation is from picotool 2.2.0-a4+dfsg, dated December 2025. Go save some flash, you absolute legend 👑✨💅

📦 where this page comes from