Minecraft

Minecraft is an open-world sandbox game that launched in 2011. The world of Minecraft is filled with "blocks" which make up all of your surroundings - these can be broken, placed, and used to craft items. During the daytime, Minecraftia is your oyster: you can explore, mine, build, and craft until your heart is content.. but at night, you're likely to find yourself fending off fearsome creatures including zombies and the infamous creeper.

Since the game launched, two bosses have been added - the Ender Dragon and the Wither - these will take a lot of skill and resources to defeat. Whilst some players will set defeating these monsters as an objective, Minecraft is a sandbox game and has no "end" - you're free to forever explore and create in the (literally) infinite world.

Originally, the game was developed and owned by Mojang, which was founded by Notch (Markus Persson); now Minecraft is owned by Microsoft who bought the game and parent company in 2014. It can be played in both single player and multiplayer modes, and is available on many platforms, including: Windows, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Android, and iOS.

How to Find .minecraft Folder

The .minecraft folder is Minecraft's dedicated directory for a lot of data including mods, world files, game files, texture packs, and more. Given its contents, it's useful to be able to locate it: that's why you're here after all.

The location of the .minecraft directory varies based on the operating system you're playing Minecraft on. See the instructions to find it for your operating system below:

Windows

On Windows, .minecraft is found at:

%AppData%/.minecraft

If that doesn't mean much to you, fear not! Simply follow these steps:

1. Open File Explorer by going to your start menu and typing in "File Explorer" (and then clicking File Explorer)
2. Click the address bar at the top, type in %AppData% and hit enter
3. You'll now be in the Roaming AppData folder, all you need to do is click .minecraft and voila!

Mac OS X

On Macs, you can find your .minecraft folder at the following path:

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft

If you don't know how to get there, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click the magnifying glass on the right of your Menu Bar (top right hand corner)
2. Type ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft and press ENTER

Linux

On Linux based operating systems, .minecraft is found at the below path:

~/.minecraft

Minecraft World Saves Folder

All of your Minecraft saves go into the same folder that's located in the .minecraft directory. If you want to backup or transfer your Minecraft worlds, you need to know how to access that folder. Thankfully, Save Location has all the answers!

Because the folder your Minecraft world saves are placed into varies based on the operating system you're playing on, jump to the help specific to your operating system:

Windows

All of your Minecraft saves on Windows can be found in the saves folder in the .minecraft directory. To access this, open File Explorer and enter the following text into the address bar (and hit ENTER after):

%AppData%/.minecraft/saves

Mac OS X

Like Windows, Minecraft world saves are found within the saves folder that's inside the minecraft folder. To quickly access this folder, hit COMMAND + SPACE, or the magnifying glass on your Menu Bar and type in the following text (then press ENTER):

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves

Linux

On Linux you can find your Minecraft saves in this directory:

    ~/.minecraft/saves

Minecraft Screenshot Location

In Minecraft, you can take screenshots by pressing F2, or on Macs (and some laptops) Fn + F2. But the problem is finding those screenshots after you've taken them. Unfortunately, Minecraft didn't make it too easy to access screenshots, but it's not all that hard.

Windows

To find screenshots you've taken in Minecraft in windows, open up File Explorer and enter the following text into the address bar (and hit ENTER after):

%AppData%/.minecraft/screenshots

Mac OS X

On Mac OS X, all you need to do is press COMMAND + SPACE, or click the magnifying glass in the Menu Bar (top right), then type in the following path (and hit ENTER):

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/screenshots

Linux

Linux-based operating systems store screenshots taken by Minecraft in the following directory:

~/.minecraft/screenshots

Minecraft Mods Folder

Mods don't go into the void when you install them.. they have their own dedicated folder! To find it, just follow the steps for your operating system below:

Windows

To open up your Minecraft mods folder on Windows, open File Explorer and enter the following text into the address bar (and hit ENTER after):

%AppData%/.minecraft/mods

Mac OS X

Locating the Minecraft mods folder on a Mac is a piece of cake! Just press COMMAND + SPACE, or click the magnifying glass in the Menu Bar (top right), then type in the following path (and hit ENTER):

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/mods

Linux

The mods folder for Minecraft on Linux operating systems can be found at this path:

~/.minecraft/mods

Minecraft Texture Packs Folder (Resource Packs)

Resource packs (previously named Texture Packs) change the look of the Minecraft completely. To install a texture pack, you need to drop its file into the texture packs folder. Where is that texture packs folder, you ask? Well, we have the answer for you, but it depends on your operating system:

Windows

On Windows, the texture pack folder can be accessed by opening up File Explorer and typing the following text into the address bar (then pressing ENTER):

%AppData%/.minecraft/resourcepacks

Mac OS X

On Macs, you can open up your resource pack folder by hitting COMMAND + SPACE on your keyboard (or the magnifying glass in the top right, on the Menu Bar), and typing the following text in (then hitting ENTER):

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/resourcepacks

Linux

On Linux, Minecraft texture packs can be found in the following directory:

~/.minecraft/resourcepacks/