Where Does Bottles Store Bottles and Runners?
Where Bottles keeps bottles, runners, and backups on native Linux installs versus the Flatpak sandbox.
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Bottles stores everything under one data root: your bottle prefixes, downloaded runners, and settings. A native install uses ~/.local/share/bottles, while the Flatpak build mirrors the same tree inside its sandbox at ~/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles.
That sandbox split is the main source of missing bottle reports. Switching from Flatpak to native (or the reverse) shows an empty library until the old tree is copied across or the custom path setting points back at it. The Preferences page relocates the whole tree when the home disk fills up.
Where Bottles stores this, by platform
~/.local/share/bottles
bottles/ holds one folder per prefix (each with drive_c), runners/ holds the Wine and Proton builds, and temp/ is safe to clear. Set a Custom Bottles Path in Preferences to move the whole tree to a bigger disk.
Frequently asked questions
where are bottles stored
Under the Bottles data root: ~/.local/share/bottles/bottles natively, or ~/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles for Flatpak. Each bottle is a folder with its own drive_c. Copy a bottle folder with Bottles closed to clone it by hand.
can bottles and runners live on different disks
They share the same root in most cases, which is why this post covers both. Use the Custom Bottles Path setting to split them across disks. After moving, point the setting at the new root and restart.
how do i back up a bottle
Export from the bottle menu (dotted icon > Backup) or copy the bottle folder manually. Manual copies need matching runner versions on the restore side, while the built in backup records what it needs.
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