Valheim backups, world transfer and save recovery

Back up your world and your character separately. For Valheim 1.0, copy the complete world folder. Newer worlds save across multiple chunk files, so the old advice to copy just a .db and .fwl pair can leave files behind.

Save-file behavior checked against Valheim 1.0.12; official platform guidance checked September 12, 2026.

Make a backup before changing anything

1. Finish the session and stop the game or server cleanly. For a server running in a command window, the official guide specifies Ctrl+C. Wait for it to finish before copying files.
2. Identify whether the save is Cloud or Local in Manage Saves. The menu provides Move to Local and Move to Cloud for supported save sources. Moving a save changes where the game reads it. Make a separate copy for your backup.
3. For local saves, copy the complete world folder and the character save files into a dated folder outside the active save directory. Keep the originals until the copy has been checked.
4. If a dedicated server uses -savedir, back up that configured location. Keep its startup configuration with the backup so you can restore the same world selection.

Avoid copying a world while the server is saving. You could end up with files from different save moments that do not work together.

Find the local save folders

The server guide gives these default save roots:

Local world and character saves use the worlds_local and characters_local subfolders. A custom save directory overrides the default root. If you play from a Cloud save, an old local copy may be out of date.

Older worlds can have a matching .db and .fwl pair. Newer chunked worlds use a world-named directory containing files such as .db2, .fwl2, .chunks, .chunk and .ok. Preserve the directory structure and every file, rather than selecting extensions individually.

Restore an earlier save in the game

Open Manage Saves, select the affected world or character, and expand its backup list. Select the backup you want, choose Restore Backup, and confirm. Check its date and whether you selected the world or the character before accepting.

Copy your saves somewhere safe before restoring. Valheim normally keeps the current save as another backup during restoration. An external copy also protects you if that operation or the storage fails.

After restoration, load the save and check the specific area or character state you were trying to recover. Restoring a world does not automatically roll its players' character saves back to the same moment. If you need to restore both, check the dates on both backups.

If the selected backup cannot be restored, preserve it and any other available copies. Do not repeatedly overwrite them while experimenting. A missing or corrupt backup cannot be reconstructed by verifying the game's installation files.

Transfer a world to another PC or server

Stop both hosts and keep a backup of the destination's existing saves. Copy the complete local world folder, or the complete matching pair for a legacy world, into the destination's local world directory. Preserve its name and internal structure.

For a dedicated server, set -world to the intended world's name and confirm the server loads that world. A spelling difference or a different -savedir can make the server create a new world, which can look like lost progress. Stop and check those settings before replacing more files.

Character transfer is separate from world transfer. The developer's 1.0 FAQ documents cross-platform save synchronization between Xbox and the Microsoft Store PC version; other platforms may let you play together without sharing or importing saves in the same way.

Keep an old world after an update

Existing saves remain usable in 1.0, though the developer says new biome content generates in unexplored areas. Back up before opening a world you want to keep on another release branch. Older releases may not be able to read saves written by newer ones.

The September 11 hotfix also advises backups around the item-stand durability and quality issue. Keep a copy from before a problem was observed, since a later autosave may already contain the affected state.

For a world moved to a dedicated server, continue with the server setup and connection checks. The server must load the intended world and matching client version after the transfer.