Backing up your game files before you start

Make a backup of GTA V before you mod it, so you can undo a bad install without downloading the game again.

Applies to
  • V
  • Multiplayer
  • Legacy
Last checked

A backup turns a broken game into a few minutes of copying. Without one, the fix is to verify or download the game again, which can mean tens of gigabytes.

The least you should do

Use a mods folder, and only ever change files inside it. The game's original archives then stay untouched, and they are your backup. Getting started with mods shows how to set one up.

That covers archives. It doesn't cover files you add to the game folder, or a mods folder that you later break. For those, make copies.

What to copy

Copy these to a folder outside the game, on a drive with room:

What Why
update\update.rpf The archive mods change most often
x64\audio\sfx\ files a mod asks you to change Siren and sound mods edit these
Any archive a readme tells you to edit A clean copy to restore from
Your whole mods folder, once it works A known good state to go back to
Your settings and .ini files Hours of key binding and setup
Your save games See below

Name the backup folder with the date and the game version, such as GTAV backup 2026-10-06 build 3586. An archive from an older game version can't be restored into a newer game.

Back up a working setup

When your modded game runs the way you want, copy it before you add the next mod:

  1. Close the game.
  2. Copy the mods folder.
  3. Copy the scripts and plugins folders, and the ELS folder if you have one.
  4. Copy the loose files you added to the game folder: .asi, .dll and .ini files.
  5. Save a text file listing the lines you added to dlclist.xml.

If the next mod breaks something, delete the changed folders and put these back.

Copy the whole game

If you have the disk space, copy the entire game folder before your first mod. It is the only backup that restores everything in one step. The game is well over 100 GB, so check the drive first.

A full copy goes stale when the game updates. Make a fresh one after each update, once you've confirmed the unmodded game runs.

Save games

Story mode saves are kept outside the game folder, under your Documents folder:

Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\Profiles\

Copy the Profiles folder. Mods that add vehicles can leave a save that fails to load once the mod is gone, for instance when an add-on car is parked in your garage. A copy made before modding avoids that.

Older GTA games

The same rule holds for GTA IV, San Andreas and the rest: copy any file before you replace it, and copy the whole game folder if you can. These games are small enough that a full copy is the simplest backup.

FiveM servers

On a server, back up the resources folder, server.cfg and the database before you add or update a resource. Keep the backup off the server machine.

Restoring

Close the game, delete the broken file or folder, and copy the backup into its place. If the game has updated since the backup was made, don't restore archives from it. Verify the game files and rebuild the mods folder, as described in My mods folder stopped working.