Palworld Save File Backup and Restore for Steam and Servers

Back up before touching mods or updates

Pocketpair's 1.0 mod notice makes the order explicit: back up important saves first, remove old mod files, verify the game, then prove the clean game starts. Version 1.0.1 also fixed a case where saves could be unintentionally discarded, so current patches are part of save safety.

Steam Cloud is synchronization, not a complete backup strategy. A bad local state can also synchronize. Keep a dated offline copy.

Steam save location

1. 01

   Press Win+R, enter %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames and open the folder.

2. 02

   Open the long Steam-account directory, then identify the world folder by modified time and the world shown in game.

3. 03

   Exit Palworld completely and copy the entire world folder to a dated backup directory outside AppData.

4. 04

   Keep the original copy unchanged until the updated or clean game loads and saves normally.

Dedicated-server save location

The server world lives under the server installation at Pal/Saved/SaveGames, commonly inside a numbered subdirectory. Use the official /Save command, stop the process, and copy the relevant world plus the current configuration.

When bIsUseBackupSaveData is enabled, the server maintains rolling backup intervals. Copying a known-good snapshot off the active machine still protects against storage or operator failure.

Microsoft Store and Game Pass

Microsoft Store saves are stored under the Palworld package in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages and its SystemAppData\wgs tree. The package suffix can vary, so locate the folder beginning with the Pocketpair Palworld package name instead of pasting an assumed full identifier.

WGS filenames are not human-readable world names. Copy the complete package save subtree and verify modified timestamps before attempting conversion or replacement.

Test a restore safely

1. 01

   Duplicate the backup; never test with the only backup copy.

2. 02

   Keep the current active save in a separate rollback folder.

3. 03

   Restore the complete matching world directory while the game or server is stopped.

4. 04

   Launch, confirm character, base and Pal state, then make a small change and save.

5. 05

   Restart once more to prove the restored world continues writing correctly.