Backup All Platforms Beginner

How to Backup Your Game Saves

Protect your worlds and progress from corruption, accidental deletion, and update issues. This guide covers Minecraft Bedrock, Minecraft Java, and Hytale, with step-by-step instructions for backing up and restoring your game saves.

10 min read
Updated March 2026
Beginner friendly

Why Backups Matter

Losing hundreds of hours of game progress is devastating. Corrupted saves, accidental deletion, game updates that break worlds, or a failing device can wipe your worlds in an instant. Regular backups give you peace of mind and a safety net when things go wrong.

  • Corrupted saves — Worlds can become unreadable due to crashes, power loss, or bugs
  • Accidental deletion — One wrong click can remove a world permanently
  • Updates breaking things — Major game updates sometimes corrupt or alter world data
  • Device failure — Hard drives fail; phones get lost or damaged
Quick Tip Backup before any major game update or before making risky changes (e.g., installing experimental addons). A few minutes of effort can save months of work.

What to Backup

Depending on the game, you need to backup different folders. Below are the key locations and what each contains.

Minecraft Bedrock

Minecraft Bedrock stores worlds and addons in the com.mojang folder. Here are the main locations:

1

World Saves Location

Your worlds are stored in the minecraftWorlds folder. Each world has its own subfolder with a unique ID.

Windows 
%AppData%\Minecraft Bedrock\Users\Shared\games\com.mojang\minecraftWorlds
Android 
/games/com.mojang/minecraftWorlds/

On Android, the full path is typically under /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.mojang.minecraftpe/files/games/com.mojang/ or in /games/com.mojang/ depending on the device.

2

Also Backup

Consider backing up these folders in the same com.mojang directory:

  • resource_packs — Your installed resource packs
  • behavior_packs — Your installed behavior packs
  • skin_packs — Custom skins (optional)
3

How to Backup

Copy the entire minecraftWorlds folder (and optionally resource_packs, behavior_packs) to a safe location such as an external drive or cloud storage folder (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox).

Built-in Export World Minecraft Bedrock has a built-in Export World feature that creates a single .mcworld file. Go to Play > select your world > Edit > Export World. This is the easiest way to backup a single world.

Minecraft Java

Minecraft Java Edition stores everything in the .minecraft folder:

Windows 
%AppData%\.minecraft\saves\

The saves folder contains one subfolder per world. Also consider backing up:

  • mods — Installed mods
  • resourcepacks — Resource packs
  • config — Mod and game configuration files

Hytale

Early Access Note Hytale is in Early Access. Save locations and folder structure may change with updates. Check the official Hytale documentation or community guides for the current game data folder path. Generally, backup the entire Hytale game data folder where saves and settings are stored.

General Backup Tips

1

Use Cloud Backup Services

Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox let you sync backup folders automatically. Create a dedicated folder (e.g., GameBackups) and copy your saves there. Be aware of storage limits and sync times for large worlds.

2

Version Your Backups

Add dates to backup folder names, e.g. MinecraftBackup_2026-03-16. This lets you restore from a specific point in time if a recent backup is corrupted.

3

Automate with Scheduled Copies

Use Windows Task Scheduler or a backup tool to copy your save folders on a schedule (e.g., weekly). This reduces the chance of forgetting to backup.

4

How Often to Backup

Backup after major milestones (e.g., finishing a build, defeating a boss) or at least weekly for active worlds. Before major game updates or risky changes, always create a fresh backup.

5

How to Restore from Backup

Close the game first. Copy the backup folder back to the original location (e.g., minecraftWorlds or saves), replacing the corrupted or missing world folder. For .mcworld files, double-click the file to import the world into Minecraft Bedrock.

Frequently Asked Questions

Backups protect against corrupted saves, accidental deletion, updates that break worlds, device failure, and switching devices. Losing hundreds of hours of progress is preventable with regular backups.
On Windows, Minecraft Bedrock worlds are stored in: %AppData%\Minecraft Bedrock\Users\Shared\games\com.mojang\minecraftWorlds. Each world has its own folder with a unique ID.
Backup after major milestones or at least weekly for active worlds. Before major game updates or before making risky changes, always create a fresh backup.
Yes. Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox work well. Copy your backup folders into a synced folder. Be aware of storage limits and sync times for large worlds.
Export World creates a single .mcworld file containing your entire world. Go to Play > select world > Edit > Export World. This is the easiest way to backup a Bedrock world.
Close Minecraft, copy the backup world folder back into minecraftWorlds (Bedrock) or saves (Java), replacing the corrupted or missing folder. For .mcworld files, double-click to import.

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