Backup, restore & update behaviour

Bedrock recovery guides — for after something breaks

Symptom-to-fix tree, pre-update backup checklist, world recovery flow, post-update verification, and the Windows Store reset ladder. Every step links to the Mojang Help article that owns it — this site does not verify fixes first-hand. Reviewed 28 August 2026.

Symptom-to-fix tree

Match the symptom to the branch that owns it. Every branch links to the Mojang Help article for the exact step, not to a reinstall.

Branch: sign-in hangs or loops

Confirm the system clock is correct on the device. Bedrock rejects large clock skews on sign-in.
Open the Xbox status page. A live incident on the sign-in service means the fix is to wait.
Sign out completely from the game and from the platform store, restart, sign back in with the account that owns the entitlement.
If a family privacy setting was changed while the game was closed, the sign-out is required for the change to apply.

Branch: friends cannot join after a game drop

Compare Settings > About numbers on every device in the group. Version mismatch is the most common cause.
Force an update on the older device through its platform store.
Retry the invite after the update finishes and the older device relaunches the game.

Branch: multiplayer button greyed out

Confirm the account is a child account — the setting normally lives there.
A parent in the Microsoft Family group opens the Xbox family hub and allows multiplayer for that child account.
Have the child sign out and back in inside the game so the change applies.

Branch: world will not load

Where Play > Worlds > Edit exposes Export World, save a .mcworld off the device. Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch do not generally expose direct .mcworld export; use a Realm upload/download as the supported transfer route when available.
Disable the newest Behavior Pack or Resource Pack from the world's Edit screen. Try loading again.
If load still fails, disable all custom packs and try again. Re-enable one at a time.
Only if all of the above fail, follow the world recovery flow below.

Branch: Marketplace map or pack fails

Open the pack's Marketplace entry — check for an update the creator may have published for the current Bedrock version.
Free device storage; low storage often shows up as a stuck Marketplace download.
Sign out and back in with the Microsoft account that owns the pack.

All branches above summarise steps from the Minecraft Help Center. The linked official article is the current version of the truth.

Pre-update backup checklist

Run this checklist before every game drop, before turning on experimental features, and before applying any new Add-On. It takes minutes and pays for itself the first time a save survives that would otherwise have been lost.

Export where the control exists. On supported devices, use Play > Worlds > Edit > Export World and save the .mcworld outside the game folder.
Use Realms for console transfer. Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch do not generally expose direct .mcworld export. Upload the console world to a Realm, then download it on a supported destination. This requires a compatible world, working Realm access, and enough cloud/device storage.
Download every Realm slot you value. Realm settings > Download World. After a subscription expires, Mojang currently provides an 18-month window to download the worlds; it is not unlimited, so keep your own long-term copy.
Screenshot Settings > About. The Bedrock version number is the fastest evidence when a friend cannot join after the drop.
Note active packs. Write down which Behavior and Resource Packs are enabled on each world. If a pack breaks the world, you already know what changed.
Free device storage. Chunk-save failures often trace to running out of storage mid-session; a game drop makes it worse.

Reference: Minecraft Help Center.

World recovery flow

If a world will no longer load, follow this flow before deleting anything. The file-based steps apply where .mcworld import/export exists. For Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, use a Realm copy as the supported transfer path when the world can still be uploaded.

Do not delete the broken slot. Some corruptions only surface after a full explore of the restored copy.
Open the most recent recoverable copy. Where file import is supported, use Play > Import and pick the .mcworld. For console transfer, download the preserved Realm world to the destination device.
Load the imported copy and explore. If it loads cleanly through several chunks, the imported copy is safe.
Rename and archive. Rename the restored world so you can tell it apart from the broken slot. Export a fresh .mcworld where supported, or retain a separate Realm/local copy, so you have a known-good version going forward.
Only now delete the broken slot, if you no longer need it. If you may want to send it to a creator for repair, keep the raw slot untouched.

Reference: Minecraft Help Center.

Post-update verification

Run these smoke tests after every game drop, before inviting friends or opening a Realm.

Launch a vanilla single-player world. Confirm it loads cleanly.
Note the Bedrock version in Settings > About and share it with your group so mismatches surface immediately.
Open Realms and load each slot. Download a local copy of any slot you care about.
Open the Marketplace and load your library. Any map that previously worked but now fails needs a creator update — check that pack's Marketplace entry.
Test cross-play with one friend on a different platform. If the invite refuses to connect, walk the symptom tree — do not reinstall over this.

Reference: Minecraft Help Center and Xbox status page.

Realm slot recovery

Realms are hosted by Mojang, but server-side history is not a substitute for your own downloads. Recovery depends on the timing.

Realm hangs on load

Download a local copy of the current Realm slot through Realm settings.
Close and reopen the game. Wait 15 minutes in case a build fix is still rolling out.
Check help.minecraft.net for a known-issue post before uploading the local copy back to the slot.

Realm slot missing after subscription lapse

Mojang currently allows worlds to be downloaded for 18 months after a Realm subscription expires. Open the Realm entry and download every world you need during that window.
If the entry or download control is unavailable, contact Minecraft Support with the account, platform, and subscription details. Renewing may restore service, but this page does not guarantee that an expired Realm will reappear indefinitely.

Accidental Realm reset

Restore the most recent local .mcworld export. If no local backup exists, the reset is not reversible from Mojang's side.
Upload the local copy back to a Realm slot only after you have exported another local copy as insurance.

Reference: Mojang, Realms.

Marketplace pack recovery

Behavior and Resource packs load in order, so a recent update to one pack can leave a world unable to load. The safe pattern is one change at a time.

Export the affected world to .mcworld where supported before touching any pack. On Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, preserve a Realm copy when that route is available.
Open the world's Edit > Behavior Packs and Resource Packs lists.
Disable the most recently updated pack; try loading the world again.
If it loads, contact the pack's creator through its Marketplace entry with the platform, Bedrock version, and error text.
If it still fails, disable all custom packs and load; re-enable them one at a time to find the pair that conflicts.

Reference: Mojang, Marketplace. Sideloaded packs (files not from the Marketplace) use different rules and are not covered by this recovery.

Windows Store reset ladder

If Bedrock will not launch on Windows or the Store keeps failing to install an update, follow this order. It clears cache without touching saves.

Sign into the Microsoft account that owns the game in both the Store and the Xbox app.
From the Start menu run wsreset.exe. A Command Prompt window opens briefly and then the Store relaunches — this clears the Store cache.
Open Xbox app > Settings > General and pick “Sign out” then sign back in with the owning account.
Try the failing action again: launch the game, or resume the Store install.
Only if the ladder fails, proceed to a full reinstall — see Reinstall as last resort below.

Reference: Microsoft, help with Store purchases.

Reinstall as last resort

Reinstalling clears entitlement caches and rebuilds pack folders. It does not fix account mismatch, family privacy blocks, or version mismatch. Only reinstall after backups are safe and after the checks above have failed.

On Windows or another platform with file export, export every world to .mcworld and copy the files off the device. Before any console reinstall, use a Realm transfer for worlds you need to preserve and verify the downloaded copy on the destination.
Uninstall Minecraft from Windows Settings > Apps (or the platform's equivalent).
On Windows: run wsreset.exe to refresh the Microsoft Store cache.
Reinstall from the Xbox app or the Microsoft Store with the same Microsoft account that owns the game.
Launch and sign in. Re-import each .mcworld where file import exists, or confirm the Realm-transferred copy is available on the intended device.

Note: uninstall and save-data behavior varies by platform. Direct .mcworld export is not generally available on Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, so do not uninstall a console copy until a supported Realm transfer or the platform's own backup path has been verified.

Escalating to Minecraft Support

If the symptom persists after Settings > About shows the current version, sign-in refresh, privacy check, and Xbox status all pass, open a ticket at help.minecraft.net > Submit a request. Attach the evidence below — tickets without it take longer.

Platform: exact device (Windows edition, Xbox Series X, iPad model, etc.).
Game version from Settings > About, screenshot preferred.
Microsoft account email that owns the entitlement.
Exact wording of the error message on screen.
Steps you took before the error (game drop applied, pack installed, Realm renewed, etc.).
For a reproducible bug, add the world's approximate size and pack list.

For clearly reproducible bugs, the correct destination is bugs.mojang.com. Reports without reproduction steps are hard to prioritise.

Official update notes hub

This site does not republish patch numbers or leaked build data. For a change list on any Bedrock drop, follow the official updates hub — the article there dates the drop and lists what actually changed.

Mojang, Minecraft updates hub — landing page for every drop.
Mojang feedback, Beta / Preview changelogs — for preview/beta build notes.
Minecraft Help Center — for known-issue posts after a drop.

If a slug 404s after a drop, use the updates hub landing page — Mojang sometimes renames drop URLs after launch.

Official sources cited on this page

Reviewed 28 August 2026. Bedrock behaviour changes between game drops — always confirm the current wording on the linked official article before applying any step.