Where Does the Epic Games Launcher Install Games?
Epic's default game folder on Windows and Mac, the setting that changes it, and the manifest files that record where every install went.
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The Epic Games Launcher picks a folder for every game, and it is not always the one you remember. Games land under C:\Program Files\Epic Games on Windows or /Users/Shared/Epic Games on a Mac by default, but any folder you chose in the install dialog wins over that.
The launcher also keeps manifest files that record the real install path of every game on the machine. Those manifests are the place to look when a game has moved drives and the launcher insists it is not installed, and reading them is faster than hunting through every drive you own.
Where Epic Games Launcher stores this, by platform
C:\Program Files\Epic Games\<Game Name>
This is the default Epic gives in its own support pages, but every install dialog lets you pick another folder and the launcher remembers the last one. Change the default in Download Manager > Download Settings > Default Install Directory. The launcher itself sits at C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games.
/Users/Shared/Epic Games/<Game Name>
Epic's default on a Mac is this shared folder, which any account on the machine can write to. You can choose a different folder in the install dialog. In the launcher, Library > three dots > Manage > Open File Location jumps straight to the real path.
Frequently asked questions
where does the epic games launcher store install manifests
C:\ProgramData\Epic\EpicGamesLauncher\Data\Manifests holds one .item file per game with its InstallLocation, and C:\ProgramData\Epic\UnrealEngineLauncher\LauncherInstalled.dat summarises them. Both are plain text you can open in Notepad.
how do i change the default epic games install location
Open the Download Manager in the bottom left of the launcher, choose Download Settings, then change the Default Install Directory under General. Installs you already have stay where they are, so move those one at a time.
why can't the launcher find my game after i moved it
The launcher reads the manifest files rather than scanning your drives, so a moved folder looks like an uninstall to it. Point the ManifestLocation, InstallLocation and StagingLocation values at the new folder, or reinstall and paste the files back once the download starts.
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