TEARS OF THE KINGDOM / SAVES & MODS

Tears of the Kingdom on Mac: saves and mods

Saves, shader cache and mods live outside the app, in your user Library. Rebuilding or replacing the app does not touch them. Back up the profile folder before you change versions or add mods.

What is inside the folder

TOTK/
├─ profile/
│  └─ save/<user id>/
├─ profile-before-1.4.3/
├─ shader-cache/
├─ shader-list-contribution.txt
├─ game-slot/
├─ controls.txt
└─ mods/
   └─ v143/
      ├─ manifest.tsv
      └─ <RomFS paths of the mod files>

The exact save folder is printed in the game log at every start, on a line beginning [totk] host save storage:. The <user id> is a 32-digit hexadecimal folder name.

Back up your saves

The app makes one backup by itself: before the first start of an updated build (1.1.2, 1.2.1 or 1.4.3) it copies the whole profile to profile-before-<version>. If that copy fails, the game does not start (“Cannot back up saves before upgrading”). It does not copy again once that folder exists, so make your own backups too.

Quit the game completely

Use ⌘Q or close the window. Copying while the game writes a save could leave a slot half written.

No game window is open. The app waits for a save in progress before it closes.

Copy the profile folder with a date

Use a backup name that is not already present. This example includes seconds in the date.

Back up the profile

cp -Rp ~/Library/Application\ Support/MacNativeGames/TOTK/profile ~/Library/Application\ Support/MacNativeGames/TOTK/profile-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)

A folder named profile-backup-… exists next to profile and is the same size.

Go back to an older save or version

An updated save may not open in an older version. If you go back from 1.4.3 to 1.2.1, use the backup made before the update, not your current profile.

Quit the game and choose the version to restore

Build the older app with the corresponding --update (or none for 1.0.0). Keep it closed until the profile is ready.

You have the older app and a profile backup made before the update.

Keep the current profile, then copy the backup

In Finder, open ~/Library/Application Support/MacNativeGames/TOTK.
Rename profile to a name you have not used, such as profile-kept-20261020-1730.
Duplicate the backup made before the update, for example profile-before-1.4.3 when going back from 1.4.3. Rename the duplicate profile.

Keep the original backup and the newer profile until you have checked your restored save.

There is a restored profile folder, a separate dated copy of your newer profile, and the untouched update backup.

Start the game and load your save

If the restored save is wrong, quit. Rename the restored profile to another unused name and put the kept profile back as profile. Reopen the app version that matches those newer saves.

The window title names the intended version and your expected slots appear in the load menu.

Install a RomFS mod

Only the data side of a mod loads: files that replace or add game files (RomFS). Extra code modules (ExeFS, subsdk9), IPS patches and a changed main.npdm are not supported, because the code is rewritten for Apple silicon at build time. A mod made for another game version stops the game at start instead of loading.

Put the mod files in the version folder

Use the folder for the version you built: v0 (1.0.0), v112, v121 or v143. Copy the contents of the mod’s romfs folder, not the folder itself.

Files sit under their RomFS paths, for example mods/v143/Sound/Resource/Stream/….

Write the manifest

Run from the MacNativeGames source folder, pointing at your built app:

make_mod_manifest.py

python3.14 games/totk/scripts/make_mod_manifest.py ~/Library/Application\ Support/MacNativeGames/TOTK/mods/v143 --app "/Applications/Tears of the Kingdom.app"

Files identical to the game’s are left out. A path that differs from a game file only in upper/lower case stops the script (“not a file of this RomFS … paths are case-sensitive”): fix the spelling and run it again.

It prints “…/manifest.tsv: N files (x replaced, y added)”.

Start the game

If a mod file changes while the game runs, it stops. If it will not start after adding a mod, check totk.log, then remove the mod as below. Adding brand-new files (mods such as The Second Quest) needs a build from 19 Oct 2026 or later.

The game starts; it checks every listed file first.

Remove a mod

Temporarily rename the version folder to start without its mods.

Quit the game.
In Finder, rename ~/Library/Application Support/MacNativeGames/TOTK/mods/v143 to an unused name such as v143-off-20261020.
Reopen the game and try the same place again. To enable the mod later, quit and restore the folder name v143.

Saves from a Switch or an emulator

The project has no import tool and no written steps for moving a save in. The game’s save data is the plain contents of profile/save/<user id>/.

One player reported in issue #57 that they played on a save imported from Ryujinx (1.4.3 format). Before trying a transfer, make a separate backup, quit the game, and use a save from the same game version as your build.

On iPhone and iPad the saves are inside the app’s Documents folder instead, visible in the Files app save folder. If the game will not start after a change here, see troubleshooting.