Where Are FTL Save Files Located?
FTL keeps its profile and current run as small .sav files in a FasterThanLight folder, identical across all systems.
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Subset Games made saves boring in the best way. One folder, three small files, byte identical on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Copy them anywhere and the game carries on.
The profile file is the precious one: every unlocked ship and high score lives in ae_prof.sav. The run file is deliberately fragile, existing only between Save and Quit and the next launch. Treat the folder as the whole game state and backups take seconds.
Where FTL: Faster Than Light stores this, by platform
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\FasterThanLight
ae_prof.sav is the profile, continue.sav the paused run. Folders appear only after the first launch, or create them by hand.
~/Library/Application Support/FasterThanLight
Same files as Windows, fully interchangeable. Use Finder Go to Folder since Library stays hidden.
~/.local/share/FasterThanLight
Same files as Windows. Honors XDG_DATA_HOME when set, falling back to this path otherwise.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move a run to another computer?
Copy ae_prof.sav for unlocks and stats, plus continue.sav for the run in progress. Cloud sync covers the profile only, so the run file always travels by hand. All three systems read the same files.
What do the three save files do?
ae_prof.sav holds ships, achievements, and stats since Advanced Edition. The older prof.sav is its predecessor. Continue.sav appears only after Save and Quit and deletes itself when the run resumes or ends.
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