Palworld Crashing on PC: Fixes After 1.0 (Mods, Saves)
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Most Palworld crashes since 1.0 come from old mod files still sitting in the game folder: Pocketpair warned that leftover mods can crash the game at launch or during play and corrupt saves, and that switching them off is not enough. So back up your saves, delete the Pal\Binaries\Win64 and Pal\Content\Paks folders, and let Steam verify the files. If you never modded Palworld, or it still crashes after a clean verify, match what you see in the table below and work only that fix.
Palworld left early access with version 1.0 on 10 July 2026. Pocketpair said 1.0 made significant changes to the game’s systems, which is why mods that worked for months started crashing it. Patches since then (v1.0.1 to v1.0.5) fixed several crashes and save bugs by name, so it also pays to check whether your problem is already on the fixed list.
Match the Palworld crash to the fix
| What you see | Most likely cause | Go to |
|---|---|---|
| Crashes at launch or soon after, and you have ever used mods | Old mod files or a mod loader still loading | Remove mods the way Pocketpair says |
| Crashes at launch, never modded | Damaged or partly updated game files | Verify, then reinstall clean |
| Save won’t load, or a world crashes on load | Save depends on mod content, or an old save bug | Protect and check your saves |
| Crash or disconnect fighting Panthalus on a server | Bug fixed in v1.0.2 | Patches that fixed crashes |
| Crash when typing Japanese in fullscreen | Bug fixed in v1.0.2 | Patches that fixed crashes |
| Endless loading screen after the World Tree boss | Bug fixed in v1.0.2.101103 | Patches that fixed crashes |
| Crash or freeze at a huge base, or after hours of play | RAM or VRAM running out | Big bases and long sessions |
| Graphics driver error or “device removed” crash | GPU driver, overclock or VRAM | Driver and GPU crashes |
Protect your save before you change anything
Every fix below is safe for your save, but Pocketpair’s own advice is to back up first, and it costs a minute.
- Press
Windows + R, paste%LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGamesand press Enter. (This is the Steam version’s folder; Xbox / Game Pass saves live elsewhere.) - Copy the whole
SaveGamesfolder to another drive or your desktop.
Pocketpair warns that a world containing modded items or Pals may not work, or may not load at all, once those mods are removed. If your world depends on a mod, keep the backup and wait until that mod’s author has updated it for 1.0.
Save loss in early 1.0 was also a real bug: v1.0.1 (15 July 2026) fixed save data being discarded after certain operations. If you lost progress in the first week of 1.0, that was the likely cause, and staying on the current version prevents it.
Remove old mods completely
This is the fix Pocketpair marked “Most Important” before 1.0, and it is the one most crash reports turn out to need. In Pocketpair’s words, simply turning mods “off” or “disabling” them is not enough: mod files and mod loaders left in the game folder can still load when the game starts.
Pocketpair’s steps, from its official mod guideline:
- Back up your save (see above).
- In Steam, right-click Palworld → Manage → Browse local files, then open the
Palfolder. - Delete these two folders:
Pal\Binaries\Win64andPal\Content\Paks. That is where mod loaders and mod.pakfiles sit. - Right-click Palworld → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files. Steam downloads clean copies of the files you deleted.
- Launch the game unmodded and confirm it runs.
If you used Steam Workshop mods, unsubscribe from all of them as well. Pocketpair notes that unsubscribing alone leaves files behind, so the manual delete is still needed. Mods you installed by hand can’t be turned off from the in-game mod screen at all; delete them in File Explorer.
To mod again, reinstall only mods whose authors have updated them for 1.0, one at a time, and launch between each so you know which one breaks the game. Two more rules from Pocketpair: mods on official servers are prohibited and can get you banned, and mods from untrusted sites can carry malware.
Verify the files, then reinstall clean
If you never modded the game, a crash at launch usually means a damaged or half-applied update.
- Steam → right-click Palworld → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files.
- If it still crashes, Pocketpair’s next step is a clean reinstall: Manage → Uninstall, then open the Palworld folder in your Steam library (Manage → Browse local files) and delete everything left in it, then install again.
Leftover files are the reason to do the delete step. A normal uninstall can leave mod folders and other non-Steam files behind, and they come straight back into the new install.
Crashes Pocketpair has already fixed
Pocketpair’s Steam patch notes list these crash and save bugs as fixed. If one matches, the fix is simply making sure Steam has installed the latest version (and, for a dedicated server, that the server is updated too).
| Version (date) | What it fixed |
|---|---|
| v1.0.1 (15 Jul 2026) | Save data could be discarded after certain operations |
| v1.0.2 (29 Jul 2026) | Crash and full disconnect during the Panthalus battle on dedicated servers; crash when entering Japanese text in fullscreen; lower load in Sunreach |
| v1.0.2.100993 (30 Jul 2026) | Stability improvements when playing with mods |
| v1.0.2.101103 (30 Jul 2026) | Infinite loading screen after defeating the World Tree boss |
| v1.0.3 (12 Aug 2026) | A Sunreach main mission that could become impossible to progress; Fast Travel triggering during Tower Boss fights on dedicated servers |
| v1.0.5 (15 Sep 2026) | Terrain, building and other textures loading at much lower resolution for some players |
Pocketpair has announced the next big update, “Palworld: Side by Side”, for Winter 2026. Big updates are when old mods break, so repeat the mod clean-out above when it lands.
Big bases, long sessions and memory
Palworld’s Steam page says performance “may vary depending on the amount of active Pals”, and lists 16 GB of RAM and an SSD as the minimum (32 GB recommended). A huge base with many working Pals uses more memory the longer you play, so a crash or freeze that only happens at your main base, or after several hours, points at memory rather than a broken install.
- Close browsers and other heavy apps while you play on a 16 GB system.
- Keep Windows’ page file on automatic (System → About → Advanced system settings → Performance → Advanced → Virtual memory). Turning it off makes out-of-memory crashes far more likely.
- Restart the game every few hours if the crash only comes late in a session. Why this happens is explained in why FPS drops after hours of gameplay.
- Thin out a base that hitches badly before it crashes. See why base building tanks FPS in survival games for what actually costs frame time.
- On a dedicated server, restart it on a schedule and keep it on the latest version. Server-side tuning is in survival game dedicated server performance.
Graphics driver and GPU crashes
If Palworld closes with a graphics driver error, or the screen goes black and the driver resets, the cause is usually on the PC side, not the game:
- Update or clean-install your GPU driver. A clean install with DDU removes leftovers from old drivers: how to clean install GPU drivers with DDU.
- Remove GPU and memory overclocks for a test, including factory “OC mode” profiles and an unstable XMP/EXPO profile. Unstable memory crashes games at random, and a game that loads a lot of data at once often shows it first.
- Lower texture quality on cards with 6 GB of VRAM or less (the GTX 1660 minimum has 6 GB). See out of video memory error fix.
- For specific errors, see DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED fix, DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG fix and 0xc0000005 access violation crash fix.
If Palworld runs but stutters rather than crashing, that’s a different problem: see the Palworld stuttering fix and best Palworld settings for FPS.
Still crashing?
Pocketpair does not give technical support for mod problems. For a crash on an unmodded game after a clean reinstall, report it through Pocketpair’s official channels with your Palworld version, GPU, driver version and what you were doing when it crashed. Check the Palworld news page on Steam first, since a fix may already be listed.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Why does Palworld keep crashing after the 1.0 update?
The most common cause is old mod files left in the game folder. Pocketpair warned before 1.0 that mods installed in the past, especially ones left since 2024, can cause crashes when launching or playing, corrupted saves and stuck quests. Disabling mods is not enough, because mod files and loaders still load at startup. Back up your saves, delete the Pal\Binaries\Win64 and Pal\Content\Paks folders, then verify the game files in Steam.
How do I remove Palworld mods completely?
Pocketpair's steps are: back up your save data, open the game folder in Steam (right-click Palworld, Manage, Browse local files, then Pal), delete the Binaries\Win64 and Content\Paks folders, then run Verify integrity of game files so Steam restores clean copies. If you used Steam Workshop mods, unsubscribe from them too, because unsubscribing alone leaves files behind. If it still crashes, uninstall, delete the leftover Palworld folder and reinstall.
Will removing mods delete my Palworld save?
Removing mod files does not delete your save, but a world that contains modded items or Pals may not work correctly or may fail to load once those mods are gone. Pocketpair says to back up your save data before removing anything. On PC the save files are in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames, so copy that folder somewhere safe first.
Is Palworld's crash during the Panthalus fight fixed?
Yes. Palworld v1.0.2, released on 29 July 2026, fixed players crashing and everyone being disconnected during the Panthalus battle on dedicated servers. The same patch fixed a crash when typing Japanese text in fullscreen mode. If you still see either, make sure both your game and the server are on the latest version.
What PC do you need to run Palworld without crashing?
Pocketpair's Steam page lists Windows 10 64-bit, an Intel Core i5-9400F, 16 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 1660 as the minimum, with an SSD required. The recommended spec is an i5-12400 or Ryzen 5 5600X, 32 GB of RAM and an RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT. Pocketpair notes that performance depends on the number of active Pals, so very large bases need more than the minimum.