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To delete a Valheim character, open the game, reach the character-selection screen, highlight the correct character, choose the delete control, and confirm. If the character is stored in Steam Cloud, delete it from Manage Saves > Characters rather than removing only a local file; otherwise the cloud copy can return when the game synchronizes. Back up the character first if its skills, equipment, or inventory might be needed later.
What deleting a Valheim character actually removes
A Valheim character save contains that character’s progression, skills, equipment, and inventory. Deleting it removes those character-specific records. The operation does not delete your worlds, structures, map progress, or other characters because worlds and characters are separate save categories.
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This distinction matters if you are trying to start over. You can remove one character without touching a shared server world, and you can keep the world while creating a new character. Conversely, deleting a character is not a way to reset a world; world data must be managed separately.
The current save-system information also separates the two types of data. Notes for Valheim’s 2026 public-test save format say the new chunked format affects world saves while “character saves remain the same” (Valheim.tools, 2026). That means the character procedure below remains focused on the character entry, not on world-file maintenance.
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- Explore a bright Norse realm: discover dungeons, slay legendary beasts, and build anywhere as you explore formidable, procedurally-generated lands on your quest to take on Ragnarok.
- Face colossal game-changers: protect the speed of Yggdrasil from a nightly invasion of helthings, and work together with your tribe to withstand the ever-looming threat of the jotnar.
- Forge your Viking Legend: choose your class and take the battle into the wilds as you seek resources to craft epic armor and mighty weaponry. Then, unleash powerful abilities and prepare clever village defenses to give your enemies some nasty surprises.
- Rally the tribe: when the giants arrive, it takes a village to bring them down! Adventure through midgard solo, or form a tribe of up to 10 players in online pve co-op.
- Keep up the fight: throughout the year, limited time seasonal events bring bigger challenges and even mightier treasures to the endgame of midgard, including new ways to progress and unlockable rewards for use across every game.
Before you confirm: make a recoverable backup
Deletion is easy to trigger and difficult to undo if every copy is removed. Make a backup first when the character has valuable gear, high skills, or an inventory you may want to retrieve.
Back up a Windows PC save
- Exit the world and quit Valheim, or at minimum return to the main menu before copying files. Closing the game prevents it from rewriting the save while you are backing it up.
- Open File Explorer and enter
%USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalLowIronGateValheimin the address bar. Iron Gate documents this as the Valheim save root on Windows (Iron Gate Studio, 2024). - Copy the
charactersand, if present,characters_localfolders to a separate location such as an external drive or a clearly named backup folder. The Windows locations are documented by Steam Community guidance (2024). - Keep the copy unchanged while you test deletion or restoration. Do not use the backup folder as the live save location unless you intentionally restore it.
The folders can contain both local and legacy character data. Preserve the complete folder contents rather than copying only a file you think belongs to one character; this gives you a usable fallback if you later discover that the save manager lists the entry differently than expected.
When a backup is especially important
- You are unsure whether the highlighted name is the character you intend to remove.
- The character has unique equipment, skills, or an inventory that cannot easily be replaced.
- Steam Cloud is enabled and you are moving a save between cloud and local storage.
- You are troubleshooting a duplicate, stale, or apparently corrupted character entry.
Delete a local Valheim character in the game
The safest normal method is the built-in character-selection control. It records the deletion in the same save system Valheim uses to load the character, instead of leaving an out-of-date cloud copy behind.
- Launch Valheim and choose Start Game to open the character-selection screen.
- Highlight the character you want to remove. Read the displayed name carefully; do not rely on its position in the list because entries can be reordered or restored.
- Choose the on-screen delete control. The exact key, button, or prompt can differ between keyboard, controller, and platform.
- Read the confirmation warning and confirm only after checking the character name again. Cancel if the highlighted entry is not the intended one.
- Wait for the character list to refresh before launching another world. The removed character should no longer be available as a selectable character.
A Steam Community support answer describes the location as the save manager reached immediately after selecting Start Game: “Delete it from within the game under manage saves its right after you click start game” (Steam Community, 2023). The wording of the prompt may change with an update, but the path—start the game, reach character selection, then use the save-management or delete control—remains the important part.
Delete a character stored in Steam Cloud
Steam Cloud adds a second copy that must be handled deliberately. Deleting a local file while the cloud entry still exists can allow the cloud version to download again on the next launch.
Use Manage Saves and the Characters tab
- Open Valheim and go to the character-selection area reached through Start Game.
- Open Manage Saves.
- Select the Characters tab so you are working with character entries rather than worlds.
- Identify the intended save. Steam guidance indicates that cloud entries display a cloud icon, while local entries display a disk icon.
- Select the cloud character entry and choose its delete command, then confirm the warning.
- Close and restart Valheim after the deletion so Steam Cloud can synchronize the new state. Check the character list again before playing.
Using the manager is preferable to deleting an arbitrary file while Steam Cloud is active. Iron Gate’s 0.210.6 patch notes specifically state: “Local and legacy characters will now be deleted properly if Steam Cloud is enabled” (Valheim Community mirror of Iron Gate patch notes, 2022). That change is why a cloud character should be removed through the game’s save manager whenever possible.
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Use Manage Saves to move the character to Local first, then perform the deletion and restart the game so the cloud state can synchronize. This sequence prevents you from editing one copy while Steam Cloud continues to treat another copy as authoritative:
- In Manage Saves > Characters, select the cloud entry and use the available command to move or restore it to Local.
- Confirm that a local entry is shown with the disk icon.
- Make or verify your external backup before changing files.
- Delete the local character through Valheim’s character screen or save manager.
- Restart Valheim and allow synchronization to finish. If the cloud copy is still present, stop and use the save manager rather than repeatedly deleting files.
Menu labels and the exact move command can vary by game build. The essential rule is to establish whether the entry is Cloud or Local before deleting anything.
Local files: locations and a cautious manual workflow
On Windows, Valheim’s save root is %USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalLowIronGateValheim. Character data is documented in these subfolders:
| Folder | Use | What to do before deletion |
|---|---|---|
characters |
Character saves in the standard character location | Copy the complete folder to a separate backup location. |
characters_local |
Local character saves and related local data | Copy it as well when it exists, especially if the character list shows a disk icon. |
Valheim root |
The parent save directory documented by Iron Gate | Use it to verify that you are editing the correct Windows user profile. |
Manual deletion should be a fallback, not the first choice. If Steam Cloud is enabled, removing a file from one folder does not prove that the cloud entry is gone. The in-game manager can also expose backups that are not obvious when you browse the folders yourself.
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- Quit Valheim and Steam completely enough that neither application is writing the save.
- Copy both documented character folders to a separate backup location.
- Reopen Valheim and check Manage Saves before changing anything. If the character appears there, use the manager instead.
- If you must work with files, change only the intended character data and leave world folders untouched.
- Start Valheim and verify the result. If the character returns, the cloud copy or a backup entry is still active; stop deleting files and resolve the storage mode in Manage Saves.
Because file names and formats can change between versions, do not infer that a file is safe to remove solely from its date or position. Keep the untouched backup until the character list and cloud status are correct.
Which deletion method should you use?
The choices differ in reversibility, storage location, scope, and platform support. Use this comparison before taking action.
| Method | Reversibility | Storage mode | Scope | Platform and prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delete from character selection | Recoverable only if Manage Saves still offers a backup or you made a copy first | Best for a Local entry | One selected character | Any platform that exposes the in-game character controls |
| Manage Saves > Characters | Can expose older backups for restoration | Local or Steam Cloud, with icons identifying the mode | One character entry | Recommended for cloud characters; requires access to Valheim’s save manager |
| Manual file removal | Only as recoverable as your separate backup | Local files; cloud may restore another copy | Whatever files you alter, with a risk of affecting more than intended | Windows file access; not a console procedure |
| Restore from a copied folder | Reversible while the backup remains untouched | Local backup that can be returned to the save location | The backed-up character data | Most practical on Windows; close the game first |
For most players, the decision is simple: make a backup, use Manage Saves for a cloud entry, and use the character-selection delete control for a local entry.
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- Explore a bright Norse realm: discover dungeons, slay legendary beasts, and build anywhere as you explore formidable, procedurally-generated lands on your quest to take on Ragnarok.
- Face colossal game-changers: protect the speed of Yggdrasil from a nightly invasion of helthings, and work together with your tribe to withstand the ever-looming threat of the jotnar.
- Forge your Viking Legend: choose your class and take the battle into the wilds as you seek resources to craft epic armor and mighty weaponry. Then, unleash powerful abilities and prepare clever village defenses to give your enemies some nasty surprises.
- Rally the tribe: when the giants arrive, it takes a village to bring them down! Adventure through midgard solo, or form a tribe of up to 10 players in online pve co-op.
- Keep up the fight: throughout the year, limited time seasonal events bring bigger challenges and even mightier treasures to the endgame of midgard, including new ways to progress and unlockable rewards for use across every game.
Restore a character deleted by accident
Act as soon as you notice the mistake. Every additional launch or synchronization can create a newer state that makes recovery harder.
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Try Valheim’s built-in backup first
- Open Valheim and enter Manage Saves.
- Open the Characters tab.
- Expand the relevant character entry to reveal available backups.
- Choose the most recent backup from before the deletion and use the restore command.
- Return to the character list and verify the character’s name before entering a world.
Manage Saves can expose older character backups for restoration. If the desired backup is not available, do not repeatedly overwrite the entry while experimenting; each change can make it harder to identify the last good copy.
Restore from a Windows copy
- Quit Valheim before replacing any files.
- Move the current
charactersorcharacters_localfolder out of the live save location as a temporary precaution rather than deleting it. - Copy the backed-up folder into the documented Valheim save root:
%USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalLowIronGateValheim. - Start Valheim and inspect Manage Saves > Characters.
- If Steam Cloud is enabled, resolve whether the restored entry should remain Local or be synchronized to Cloud before opening a world.
Do not overwrite your only backup during this process. If the restored character appears with an unexpected storage icon or an older state, close the game and return to the untouched copy rather than making successive blind changes.
Troubleshooting common deletion problems
The character reappears after deletion
The usual explanation is that Steam Cloud retained a copy. Open Manage Saves > Characters, identify the cloud-icon entry, and delete that entry through the manager. Restart Valheim to let the cloud state update. Deleting only a local file is not sufficient when the cloud copy remains.
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Stop playing and do not create more saves over the same state. Check Manage Saves for an expandable backup, then use the most recent pre-deletion version. If no suitable backup exists, use the separate Windows copy you made before deletion. A character cannot be reconstructed from the world alone because its skills, equipment, and inventory belong to the character save.
The delete button or prompt is different
Controls vary with keyboard, controller, and platform. Use the command displayed beside the highlighted entry, and verify the name in the confirmation dialog. The location may be described as character selection or save management depending on the game build; both refer to the flow reached after Start Game.
The world disappeared from the list
Character deletion does not delete a world. Check that you are viewing the Worlds tab or the correct storage location in Manage Saves. Do not remove world folders while trying to fix a character problem.
A backup is not visible
Confirm that you opened the Characters tab, expanded the correct entry, and are looking at the same Local or Cloud storage mode used before deletion. On Windows, verify both characters and characters_local under the correct user profile. If the game is still running, quit it before checking files again.
PC, console, and edition considerations
The documented file paths apply to Valheim on Windows. Consoles do not provide those Windows folders, so use the character-selection and Manage Saves controls exposed by the console version. Controller prompts can use different buttons from keyboard prompts, but the confirmation principle is the same: highlight the intended name, invoke delete, and confirm deliberately.
The Steam Cloud instructions apply when the PC installation is using Steam Cloud. If your installation is local-only, the cloud-icon steps will not appear; you still benefit from a manual backup before deletion. If a different platform or launcher presents different labels, rely on the storage indicator and the save manager rather than attempting to apply Windows file instructions.
Why the built-in manager is the safest default
The save manager keeps the deletion tied to the character record Valheim actually loads and gives you access to older backups. It also addresses the local-versus-cloud distinction that causes most “deleted character came back” reports. The 0.210.6 patch note about local and legacy characters being deleted properly when Steam Cloud is enabled is additional evidence that cloud-aware in-game deletion is preferable to ad hoc file removal.
Manual file work still has a legitimate role when the game cannot display an entry or when you need an independent backup, but it should be done only after closing the game, copying both documented character folders, and leaving world data alone.
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Final checklist
- Confirm the character name and understand that its skills, equipment, and inventory will be removed.
- Back up
charactersandcharacters_localon Windows if recovery matters. - Use the character-selection delete control for a Local entry.
- Use Manage Saves > Characters for a Steam Cloud entry.
- Restart Valheim and verify that the cloud copy does not return.
- Keep the backup until you have confirmed that the intended character is gone and the world still appears.
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