RimWorld Save Won't Load — How to Fix & Recover Your Colony

If a RimWorld colony is corrupted or won't load, don't overwrite it. RimWorld keeps several rotating autosaves, and most 'won't load' cases are actually a missing mod — here's how to recover.

Quick answer

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Ludeon Studios\RimWorld by Ludeon Studios\Saves

RimWorld keeps several rotating autosaves (Autosave-1.rws, Autosave-2.rws…) in the same Saves folder. If your colony's .rws is corrupted or won't load, close the game, back up the Saves folder, then load the most recent Autosave-*.rws. Most 'save won't load' cases are actually a missing or changed mod, not a broken file.

Where the files live: see the full RimWorld save file location guide for every platform path (PS5, Xbox, Steam Cloud).

How to transfer your RimWorld save to a new PC

Fully close RimWorld.
Open the save folder: press Win+R, paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Ludeon Studios\RimWorld by Ludeon Studios\Saves and press Enter. AppData is hidden — pasting the full path into the address bar gets you there anyway.
Back up EVERYTHING first: copy the whole Saves folder to your Desktop or a USB drive.
Load a rotating autosave: sort the folder by Date modified to find the newest Autosave-*.rws, and load it in-game instead of the broken save.
Fix the most common real cause — a mod mismatch: RimWorld refuses to load a save whose active mods or load order differ. Match your mods to the save (restore Config\ModsConfig.xml, or re-subscribe to the mods the colony needs) and try again.
Roll back Steam Cloud if you use it: exit, disable cloud sync for RimWorld, restore your Saves backup, then re-enable sync so the good save uploads.
Still stuck? Right-click the .rws › Properties › Previous Versions for an older copy. A .rws is plain XML — opening it in a text editor can reveal a truncated end from an interrupted save.

Does cloud sync move it for you?

When Steam Cloud and your PC disagree, Steam shows a sync conflict and asks which save to keep. Check the timestamps and pick your real last session. If you already picked wrong, restore the Saves folder backup you made before letting it sync again, or the corrupt or older save overwrites the cloud copy too.

Common mistakes

Assuming it's the save when it's the mods. A mod mismatch is the #1 cause of 'won't load' in RimWorld — match your active mods and load order to the save before anything else.
Not keeping enough autosaves. Set a shorter autosave interval and more slots in Options so you always have a recent fallback.
Overwriting before backing up the Saves folder.
A truncated .rws from a crash or power loss during a save — use the newest Autosave-* instead of the broken file.

FAQ

Where are RimWorld save files on PC?

In %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Ludeon Studios\RimWorld by Ludeon Studios\Saves — each colony is a .rws file. See the full RimWorld save location guide.

Why won't my RimWorld save load?

Most often the active mods or load order differ from when the save was made. Match your mods (restore ModsConfig.xml or re-subscribe) and it should load. If the file itself is damaged, load a recent Autosave-*.rws.

Does RimWorld keep automatic backups?

Yes — it keeps rotating autosaves (Autosave-1.rws, Autosave-2.rws…) in the Saves folder. Sort by date and load the newest good one.

Can I open a RimWorld save to fix it?

A .rws is plain XML, so you can open it in a text editor to spot a truncated end from an interrupted save, but the safest fix is loading a recent autosave rather than hand-editing.

Other games

Need another game or a quick backup? Use the Save Location Finder — pick any game to get its exact save path plus a ready-to-run backup command.