How to back up your Minecraft worlds on Windows

A world can be lost to a bad mod, a crash or a mistake. A two-minute backup protects hours of building. This guide covers Minecraft Java Edition on Windows.

1. Close the game#

Quit Minecraft completely so no files are being written. Copying a world while the game is open can produce a damaged backup.

2. Find your saves folder#

In the standard Minecraft setup, worlds are in %appdata%\.minecraft\saves. Paste that into the File Explorer address bar and press Enter. Each folder inside is one world. A launcher that uses a different game folder will show its own saves folder, so check your launcher's settings. The worlds library in FireClient lists your worlds with an icon, save date and size, which helps you pick the right one.

3. Copy the world#

Right-click the world folder, choose copy, and paste it somewhere else, such as Documents. For a smaller file, right-click the copy and choose Send to, Compressed (zipped) folder.

4. Name it with the date#

Rename the backup with the world name and date, for example Survival-2026-10-17. Keep a few older copies, not only the latest one.

5. Keep one copy off your PC#

Put a copy on an external drive or in cloud storage, so a dead drive does not take both copies.

When to back up#

• Before installing or removing mods
• Before updating Minecraft or changing the Fabric version
• Before testing a large build or redstone project

How to restore#

Close the game, delete or rename the broken world folder in saves, then paste your backup folder in its place. Open the game and the world appears in the list.

For settings rather than worlds, see how to back up your FireClient HUD layout.