How to Recover Lost Save Data in Palworld

Cutting your losses.

Losing your saved data is perhaps the most frustrating issue you can encounter while gaming, and unfortunately, it can happen in Palworld. The issue is affecting both PC and Xbox users, posing the risk of losing hours of gameplay progression. There is a way to sort the problem, though, but it requires a bit of patience and some technical know-how. Here’s our guide on how to recover lost save data in Palworld.

Recovering Lsot Save Data in Palworld

Since its release and rapid rise in popularity, Palworld has experienced increasing issues with save errors. These errors often result in the deletion of player progress, causing significant setbacks. Additionally, as Palworld does not offer manual saving, this situation can be particularly perplexing for those unfamiliar with the game’s saving mechanics. Here’s how to recover lost data on both PC and Xbox:

For PC Players

Disable Steam Cloud Save

Pathway: Open Steam → Right-click on Palworld → Select ‘Properties’ → Go to ‘Updates’ tab.
Action: Uncheck the ‘Enable Steam Cloud synchronization’ option.

Locate Save Game Folder

Default Path: C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Pal\Saved\SaveGames.

Identify Your Save

Within the SaveGames folder, look for a subfolder with many digits (usually your SteamID)
Inside this subfolder, locate your specific savegame folder, identifiable by another hash and modification date. This can be identified by setting the windows explorer in detail view and taking a look at the modified times.

We advise duplicating the folder and storing it in an alternate location as a precaution. In the event of an error, this ensures that you have a backup of your original files for added security.

Access Backup Folder

You should now be able to view several folders, such as “backup” and “Players”, as well as various files including level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, LocalData.sav, and WorldOption.sav.

Within your savegame folder, find a “Backup” folder containing subfolders named “Local” and “World.”
Enter both folders.

Choose Backup Date

Inside “Local” and “World”, select backup folders with date and time stamps, preferably just before the loss occurred. Don’t select the very last save but the one before it.
Copy the contents of these folders.

Replace Save Files

Return to the main savegame folder.
Paste the copied contents into the corresponding “Local” and “World” folders, replacing existing files (“Replace the file in the destination”). You don’t need to worry about worldOptions.sav.

Launch Palworld and Confirm

Start Palworld and load your recovered backup. You may get an error warning, but just ignore it.
Verify that your game progress is restored.
Reactivate Steam Cloud synchronization via Palworld’s properties in Steam, keeping local files when prompted.

Be aware that if you encounter a prompt to create a new character upon starting the game, it indicates that the files were not correctly overridden. This mismatch suggests that you may need to go through the process again to resolve the issue.

For Xbox Players

The issue is trickier to resolve on Xbox as you can’t drill into save folders and manually overwrite as you do on PC. This is unfortunately your only option: