Windrose Save File Location, How Saving Works, and How to Share a World

Windrose is a survival adventure set in an alternative Age of Piracy, in Early Access since 14 April 2026. It is playable solo or in co-op with up to 8 players, through a self-hosted world or a dedicated server, though the developer recommends parties of up to 4.

In a self-hosted world the island belongs to whoever created it. When they are offline, the crew is stuck at port. This guide covers where the save actually lives now, how saving works, and how to hand a world to a friend so they can host it.

Where Is the Windrose Save File Located?

Paste this into the File Explorer address bar or the Win+R Run box:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\

Open the folder named with your Steam ID (the long number). Since update 0.10.0.5.120 on 4 May 2026, it contains three folders, and only one of them is your current save:

A folder beside your Steam ID folder ending in _Backups holds the older, pre-May backups.

Each world folder is named with a long ID rather than its name. To find the right one, open WorldDescription.json inside it and read WorldName.

The save is a RocksDB database, not a single file. Treat each world folder as one unit and never hand-edit what is inside it.

Why Does an Old Guide’s Path Load an Older World?

Most Windrose save guides, including ones written in April, point at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\<SteamID>\RocksDB\0.10.0\Worlds\

That was the live world until May. On any profile that has run 0.10.0.5.120 or later, RocksDB is the history the migration started from. Copy a world from there and your friend gets the island as it was in early May, not as you left it last night.

The other trap is RocksDB_v2. The game restores it from RocksDB_v2_Backups every time the world loads, so a world pasted straight into it is overwritten on the next launch.

How Do You Save in Windrose?

Windrose has no manual save button. Your progress - items, quests, level and location - is saved when you exit the game, and a backup is made when you launch it. Quit through the menu rather than closing the window or killing the process, or the exit save is skipped.

To keep your place in the world, build a tent and press E to activate it as a revive point.

Windrose also uses Steam Cloud, which syncs the RocksDB_v2_Backups folder between your own PCs. It does nothing for a friend: Steam Cloud works per Steam account, so your world never reaches theirs. More on that in does Steam Cloud sync co-op saves between players.

Is Progression Shared in Windrose Co-op?

Windrose splits progress in two:

• The world - islands, everything you have built, and the state of the world - lives in the host’s world save. Every player on that world shares it.
• Your character - inventory, level and progression - lives in your own profile on your own PC. It comes with you into any world you join, and it stays with you when you leave.

That split is what makes a world handover work. When a friend takes over hosting, everyone keeps their own character. Only the world has to move.

How Do You Share a Windrose World With a Friend Manually?

1. Both of you close Windrose, and both make a copy of your whole SaveProfiles folder somewhere safe.
2. The friend updates Windrose and launches it once to the main menu, then closes it, so their profile has the post-May folder layout.
3. Find the world in your RocksDB_v2_Backups folder, using WorldDescription.json to match the WorldName. Take its _Latest backup.
4. Zip it and send it to the friend who will host.
5. The friend places it in their own profile and launches the game. Windrose’s developer documents dropping an imported world folder into RocksDB\0.10.0\Worlds\ and letting the game migrate it into the new format on start.

Do not copy your whole Steam ID folder over theirs. It carries your profile and characters, not just the world.

Then do the whole thing in reverse every time the host changes. Miss one swap and someone hosts from a stale copy, and the evening’s progress is gone.

How Do You Share a Windrose World With SaveSync?

SaveSync moves the world for you and keeps everyone on the latest copy. Every player who might host needs it installed.

1. Click Windrose in the list on the left. You’ll see Windrose’s save management page.
2. Click “+ New Save” in the top right.
3. Select your world from the dialog of available worlds.
4. Click “Create Save”. The save starts syncing.
5. Wait for the green checkmark.
6. Click the share icon on your save.
7. Search for your friend’s Steam username and click Share.
8. Your friend clicks “Activate” on the shared save, which shows as shared by you. The world is ready, they can host it, and it syncs automatically after that.

SaveSync also keeps a full save history: who uploaded which save and when, with the option to revert to any earlier one.

Do You Need a Dedicated Server for Windrose?

Windrose has official dedicated servers, so it is a real option. A rented server keeps the world online all the time and is the right call for a large, always-on crew.

For a group of friends who play a few evenings a week, it is mostly a monthly bill for a world that sits empty. It also only stores the world: each player’s character still lives on their own PC. Passing the world between whoever is free to host gets the same result for a small group. See which co-op games have dedicated servers for how Windrose compares.

Keep the Crew Sailing

Windrose already keeps your character with you. The only thing tying your crew to one player is the world, and that is a folder you can move. Copy the right one - RocksDB_v2_Backups, not the old RocksDB - or let SaveSync do it.

Playing something else where the world lives on one person’s PC? The Dimraeth save sharing guide covers a world that is a single file - with two automatic backups that can quietly undo a handover. New to the tool? Start with Getting Started with SaveSync.