Angry Birds Ultimate Backup Tutorial for all Platforms

As with any computer program, updating any of the Angry Birds apps has some inherent risks. No matter what platform your own — iOS, Android, Intellivision — when you update an app a lot goes on behind the scenes. 99% of the time, everything works as desired, but sometimes things don’t. The goal of this guide is to help you in the event something goes horribly wrong. In some cases, these backup methods can ALSO be used to transfer your progress to another device. This way you don’t have to start from scratch. That said, as of now transferring progress only really works when the devices are the same (e.g. iOS to iOS, for example).

Universal Precaution: Do not remove (cut) any files! Here and throughout, we always say “copy”, which is what you should be doing: Select the files desired and copy/paste them to your desired backup location.

We don’t know the process for absolutely every device, but we will gladly add information if you have it! Leave a comment below.

Table of Contents

  1. General Information
  2. iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch
  3. Windows PC
  4. Mac
  5. Android
  6. Windows 8 Store
  7. Chrome and other Web Apps

General Information

Before delving into the specifics for each platform, we should begin by announcing the stars of the show: the .lua files! These nifty little encrypted files contain all of your progress, including stars, scores, feathers, and unlocked levels. The availability and exact location of these files vary by both app and platform, which is why we have so many sections below.

When manually backing up your progress, the following files are what you’ll be copying:

  • highscores.lua
  • settings.lua
  • {purchases}.lua (if applicable, such as Space and Star Wars)
  • highscores_<hash>.lua and settings_<hash>.lua (if applicable via Rovio Accounts; learn more!)

In general, we do not encourage transfers across different operating systems. Between like systems (iOS to iOS, Android to Android, PC to PC) poses absolutely no risk, but between platforms can be risky since not all information is compatible. Many users report no problem, but we are aware of several problems in doing this, so proceed at your own risk. The only 100% verified transfer between distinct platforms is iOS <–> Mac.

Update for Rovio Accounts: A “Cloud Sync” system has recently been unveiled in the Angry Birds universe. This system is called Rovio Accounts and does exactly what most users want: Automatic online storage of your progress! Unfortunately, no system is perfect, so we still recommend manually backing up your data. We outline how to do that in the release post for Rovio Accounts.

iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch

Update (12 August 2014): Our iOS backup & transfer guide has been updated to reflect changes made over the past few years. It’s an awesome resource for any Apple aficionado addicted to Angry Birds. There’s a brand new video which walks you through the basics of backing up and transferring your progress manually.

As always with iOS devices, we encourage you to backup via iTunes before messing around with data files on your own. If you are looking to recover data, we have a tutorial for how to restore your device using iTunes.

Note: Transferring between the “Standard Definition” and “High Definition” versions of iOS apps works perfectly fine, though you must purchase the apps separately.

Windows PC

The following are directions on how to backup the Angry Birds apps from download.angrybirds.com. Again, you’ll want to copy the following files: highscores.lua, settings.lua, and {purchases}.lua if applicable. The more important question is “where” the heck are these files? The filepath may differ a little based on your version of Windows, but the typical paths are:

Windows XP = C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\Rovio (or Rovio Entertainment Ltd)\
Windows Vista or 7 = C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Rovio (or Rovio Entertainment Ltd)\
Windows 8 = see below

Some of these folders may be hidden, so typing manually into the address bar should help when necessary. Alternatively, you can change your folders settings so that hidden files and folders become visible.

Once you’ve accessed the correct directory copy the contents to another folder. This will act as your backup. If you want to be extra safe you can also copy the files to an external drive or use a service like Dropbox.

Disclaimer: The data files for iOS and PC are indeed different than Windows. If you try to transfer files from iOS to PC or vice-versa, things may not work correctly. The most obvious reason is that iOS keeps track of things like achievements and in-app purchases, while PC keeps track of whether you have activated the full version or not. These concepts are not inter-compatible.

Mac

The data files for Mac have moved around in recent updates, so we apologize if things have moved again. As with the previous versions, the files of interest are highscores.lua, settings.lua, and {purchases}.lua if applicable. Depending on your version of OS X, the files should be located in the following paths:

On Mac OS 10.6.6, Snow Leopard:
ABo, Rio, Seasons, Space, Star Wars: ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/com.rovio.mac.{app}/

On Mac OS 10.7, Lion:
ABo and Rio: ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/com.rovio.mac.{app}/
Seasons and Space: ~/Library/Containers/com.rovio.mac.{app}/Data/Library/ApplicationSupport/ com.rovio.mac.{app}/

Mac and iOS: You should be able to transfer data between Apple systems without much difficulty. The Mac data files and iOS data files are compatible with each other. If this interests you, the iOS transfer guide has a video at the end regarding Mac, though again the filepath may be a bit different and you should include settings.lua in your process. There may be some side-effects with some iOS-exclusive things, such as achievements and the Mighty Eagle.

Android

Update (28 May 2013): We have just published a brand new, extremely detailed and comprehensive guide for backing up progress on both rooted and non-rooted Android devices, valid through the Jelly Bean operating system and possibly beyond! The article is a bit lengthy and the process may be a bit challenging depending on your device, but it’s certainly worthwhile if you need to backup or transfer from your Droid. Click here for the guide!

Windows 8 Store

Unfortunately, no admins here have a Windows 8 computer. In fact, Slim may be the only one who has PC versions of Angry Birds, though we of course support all users. Some users have reported issues when running Rovio’s standalone games (from download.angrybirds.com) on Windows 8 devices. Instead, most games are available via the Windows 8 Store. Backing up your progress here is as easy as locating the data files:

Space: C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Local\Packages\1ED5AEA5.AngryBirdsSpace_p2gbknwb5d8r2\RoamingState
Star Wars: C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Local\Packages\1ED5AEA5.AngryBirdsBlack_p2gbknwb5d8r2\LocalState

Chrome, Google+ and other HTML5 Mini-Games

There are a lot of variants for these directions, so we initially point you toward our Chrome backup and sync guide. That post is extraordinarily specific and comprehensive for backing up Chrome, broken down both by web browser and by operating system. Fortunately, most of the other web apps — such as “Angry Birds Volcano” and “Pistachios” — store their data in precisely the same way. Follow the applicable filepath as found in the Chrome backup guide. Instead of looking for a file resembling “chrome.angrybirds.com”, look for files resembling the web app you are interested in. For a few examples, here are a few filenames for web apps using the Chrome browser (where # means the numbers may vary a bit):

Volcano = http_fazer##-dot-latest-dot-angrybirds-fazer.appspot.com_#.localstorage
Pistachio = http_angrybirds-pistachios.appspot.com_#.localstorage

Important!

Many of the newest web based versions of Angry Birds actually use Flash, instead of HTML5. These versions don’t store your progress locally — or at least not in a way that is accessible. Rather, your progress is stored in the cloud, so no backup should be necessary.

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Comments (303)

Rank: DaBomb with 440 points
By Drwal Drągal (@djdrwal)

Hot to backup saves from WindowsPhone?

Rank: Sling God with 39340 points
By meanguy (@meanguy)

@admins I am addressing this to the admins, but at this point I will take anyone’s help. I recently received a new Dell XPS 8700 desktop computer, with Windows 8.1. This replaces an 11 year old Dimension 2400 ( with XP ) that has outlived all available updates. Following the directions in The Ultimate Backup Tutorial, I copied all the necessary .lua files from ABO, ABS, ABR, Space,& Star Wars onto a flash drive, I had no trouble installing ABO onto the new computer,as I still have my original Activation Key ( I am starting with the first game before installing the others). After the install,I played the first level to see if it worked, and it did. However,there were no old scores in any section. I then tried to find the .lua files. I tried using variations of the two paths provided in the Tutorial for Space & Star wars,but was rejected every time.
I finally found a download folder under C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Roaming\Rovio Entertainment Ltd.\AngryBirds. There were files for settings.lua or highscores.lua , but there seemed to be several other files,similar to the ones on my old PC. I tried to add my .lua files from the flashdrive,but they would not show up.
I then found anothr path under C:\Program Files (x86)\Rovio\AngryBirds\AngryBirds\ that did have the settings & highscores.lua files, but no other files were shown.
Sorry to be writing a book here,but I’ve spent 3 days trying to figure this out. It’s cutting into my Challenge playing time. Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get my old progress to show up on my new PC???
THANK YOU !!!

Rank: Sling God with 39340 points
By meanguy (@meanguy)

Correction… There were NO settings or highscore.lua files in the first path I found. Only in the second. I seem to need to somehow merge the two.
Again, THANKS

Rank: DaBomb with 250 points
By Hamstrman (@hamstrman)

I notice no one even mentions Angry Birds Epic here. I know it says:

“At time of writing, there are five games: Angry Birds (herein called AB:O), Seasons (AB:S), Rio (AB:R), Space (AB:Sp), and Star Wars (AB:SW).”

I have ABE primarily on my tablet when I play, but I also have it on my phone (both Android 4.4.2) where I used to play occasionally. Since the addition of the Angry Birds Epic Arena Battles, when I logged into my phone, it ERASED my arena progress (up to the platinum league, reset to day 1 of wood league) that was on my tablet and everywhere else!

How can I backup my ABE data before I open the program in my phone and it undoes all of my progress again? Do any of these steps work for ABE? If I have a rooted phone can I just use a file explorer to copy the ENTIRE ABE files folder, settings, high scores and all and just drop that on my phone and replace all files? I wonder why this is so intensive and not as simple as that.

Rank: Flinger with 0 points
By abc (@)

How to backup saves from WindowsPhone?

Rank: Explosive with 2495 points
By redirocks (@acuraice)

WINDOWS PHONE???????????????????????????????? love the way you comp-letely ignore our platform and devices!!! thanx a lot,youre just like rovio to us

Rank: Sling God with 32120 points
By AMslimfordy (@amslimfordy)

@acuraice As we say:

We don’t know the process for absolutely every device, but we will gladly add information if you have it! Leave a comment below.

We don’t have one of those devices, so we can’t figure it out on our own.

By Big bad Mark

I have just lost all history. Help.
At least 6 months of progress. I was on level 489. Fed up reporting how much this app has started crashing.😖😖

Rank: Fling King with 4230 points
By juanitogan (@juanitogan)

I have, at long last, written the Angry Birds high score transfer guide for Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile.

https://namethattech.wordpress.com/2017/08/02/transferring-high-scores-on-windows-phone/

By Hector Lannibal

I was wondering if anyone can help. I recently purchased a new iphone. I backed up my old and when I restored the new one, I have a problem with Angrt Birds Transformers. All of my progress has been saved, all transformers are upgraded and content unlocked, however my LEVEL has been reset to level 1. This isnt an issue right now, as there is not level-dependent unlockable content, however there likely will be. I was at level 180something. Getting back to that when all birds are almost 200K to upgrade is not possible. Any thoughts?

Rank: Deputized with 140 points
By jen (@jenmcmur)

Can this still be done post iOS8.3? When I go into iMazing, it says I cannot access any of the rovio folders to get at the .lua files. Is there any way to do this now?

Rank: Pig Leader with 10025 points
By smonard88 (@smonard88)

I’ve been trying to get an answer to this myself. I’m having the same issue with iExplorer. According to them, it’s a very simple fix on Rovio’s end. Someone mentioned backing-up through iTunes, but I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.

@amslimfordy – Slim, not sure if this falls under your domain.

Rank: Sling God with 24355 points
By justpast40 (@justpast40)

@jenmcmur & @smonard88 I was using DiskAid & despite the fact I’ve not upgraded my iPad to 8.3, I can’t even get DiskAid to recognize my iPad is connected via USB. It’s not just that I can’t access folders, I can’t get app to recognize the iPad, yet I can see PC recognizes it as connected.

Jen since you’re mentioning iMazing which I imagine is closest or closer to Diskaid, is your device at least recognized as being connected or are you also seeing something referencing your device isn’t connected?

smonard88, I actually posted on another ABN page in Feb that my DiskAid wasn’t working (same problem in that iPad not seen as connected) & I think it was @e-star that replied hers still worked & she suggested iExplorer. I opted not to pay $20 or whatever the fee is/was, as the only thing I’d need to save is some game scores & I thought I’d get DiskAid to work again as I’d never has a problem.

I’m Apple illiterate as Dec 2012 iPad was 1st experience & I’m sure you are more experienced, but it’s my understanding that with iTunes I’m saving all my iPad progress but can’t use that to just transfer between iPad & iPhone as there’s no .lua file access. I understand all I can do is restore iPad thru iTunes to a specific date (could be last date but I don’t think so, someone with decades of iTunes will need to chime in,) but this means restoring all games on the iPad to that restore date.

Rank: Well Traveled with 1835 points
By FreckledPig147 (@freckledpig147)

It’s been 3 years + 4 days since this was created, but is it possible that someone makes a new, compiled version that covers each of the newer games? Also, if there was a how-to video, that would be even better! Just my 2 cents.

Rank: Well Traveled with 1835 points
By FreckledPig147 (@freckledpig147)

Also, once you’ve backed up your progress, how do you RELOAD your data onto the game?

By ChiefBumpa

@justpast40 — ditto on the issue with ios 8.3 — DiskAid, and the other/similar data transfer products have been rendered useless with the advent of ios 8.3. Looks like Rovio might be able to fix this issue by providing application specific backup capability and allowing file sharing for the application specific data files.

Does anyone know what Rovio is going to do (if anything) about this change (enforcement) of the ios security policy?

Thanks!

CC: @jenmcmur & @smonard88 & @amslimfordy

Rank: Sling God with 24355 points
By justpast40 (@justpast40)

@chiefbumpa, my iPad is still on 8.1.3, not 8.3 & I haven’t had DiskAid recognize my iPad as connected to PC since Feb (although PC sees it). I understand why iPhone (accidentally upgraded to 8.3) has the issue, but I’m so …. confused as to why it’s not working for iPad.

I’m really iOS illiterate as iPad in 2012 was 1st Apple product & iPhone 4 months ago was only 2nd product.

Rank: Pig Leader with 10025 points
By smonard88 (@smonard88)

My iPhone 4 is acting up and it’s getting close to the time where I should break down and upgrade. It’s been over a month since the last post on this thread – does anyone know if Rovio is going to change ios security and permit us to copy and transfer files?

Sorry to copy you all, but I figured if this was addressed on another thread, one of you might have seen it.

@jenmcmur @amslimfordy @justpast40 @chiefbumpa,

Rank: Sling God with 26055 points
By sal9 (@sal9)

We have no information about this addition … yet. We did ask Rovio to look into the issue @smonard88 (specially for seasons, space and rio who have no back up system)

By Marc

I tried with rovio account login, but its diffrent to my lical account (iphone)! How to make it the same?

By Bao Tran

I am unable to access my Angry Birds EPIC document files from my IPhone 6 so I can download the files I copied from my IPhone 5. The “.lua” files cannot be found on both. No Settings.lua or Highscores.lua files can be seen using DiskAid like your tutorial shows. There are Hash files but they are labeled: Skynest_game_scores, Skynest_messaging, and Skynest_storage_hashes. What else could the files be under and why can’t I access the EPIC folders on IPhone 6 using DiskAid?

Rank: Deputized with 100 points
By Morac (@morac)

iMazing can now copy game saves, but the process isn’t for the faint of heart. What iMazing effectively does is edit your iTunes backup to replace the old save files with the new one and then does a restore from backup on the device.

I tested this with an old iPad that I had set up as new and it failed spectacularly using the instructions they provided. To get it to work I had to do the following:

1. Installed the games on my iPad 2 and ran them once to generate save files.
2. Baced kup the iPad 2 to iTunes.
3. Extracted the save files from a encrypted backup files of my iPhone 5s and iPad Air 2.
4. Ran iMazing and opened the iPad 2 back up and deleted the original .lua files and then copied the new ones in.
5. Closed iMazing and ran iTunes and restored from backup.

That worked, but like I mentioned it was an unencrypted backup and the only things I had installed were a few Angry Birds games. I don’t know what would have happened if the backup was encrypted or there were other apps and settings on it.

If you have a lot of time on your hand, the backup, alter and restore method works, but it’s not as straightforward as it used to be.

Rank: Deputized with 100 points
By Morac (@morac)

There’s a simpler and much faster way if you want to copy the save data between the same App. You can use iMazing’s app extract and install procedure, but this will only work for the exact same app. If there are separate iPad and iPhone apps, you’ll need to use the “modify backup” method I mentioned above (which only works if backup is not encrypted).

If copying from iPad to iPad or iPhone to iPhone, do the following:
1. Connect old device and do an iTunes Backup.
2. Close iTunes and run iMazing and click Apps, then select the app data you want copy and click “Manage Apps” and then “Extract Apps”. Choose where the file(s) should be saved.
3. Disconnect old device and connect new one.
4. Make sure the apps are freshly installed on that device and have never been run yet. Basically delete the apps (if they exist), install them from App Store, but don’t run them.
5. Turn off “Find My iphone/iPad” (won’t work with it on).
6. Click Apps in iMazing, then “Manage Apps”, the “Install App”.
7. Chose the file(s) you made in step 2.
8. The device will do a quick restore (it only restores the data from the files you pick) and reboot.
9. Everything is done, you can turn “Find my iPhone/iPad” back on.

Rank: Fling King with 4415 points
By RizDub (@rizdub)

Like several others here, once I upgraded to iOS 9 (I skipped iOS 8), I could no longer access the locally-stored data files for any Angry Birds games.

I was wondering, does anyone know if it’s possible to access local data files (i.e. highscores, settings, etc.) if one uses Bluestacks?

Rank: Sling God with 26055 points
By sal9 (@sal9)

@rizdub As far as I know, access can only be implemented by the app developer. There is no other way. Rovio needs to make those files accessible via an update.

Rank: Fling King with 4415 points
By RizDub (@rizdub)

@sal9 Does Android use a similar file sharing process that only works for some apps? I think Bluestacks is an Android emulator, and I didn’t see any comments regarding similar problems on the Android backup guide.

Rank: Slinger with 1090 points
By Circlerev (@circlerev)

@rizdub
If user wants to access local data files in Android, the device needs to be rooted first. Data files can be located in /data/data folder. There are sub-folders like com.rovio.angrybirds, which contains data files for the original Angry Birds.

By Santosh Nair

I used to play the Rovio till it was available on PC. For sometime I have not played because of no mobile, can I now play the game on Bluestack at the same level as I have all the data backup

If so what I have to do.

By Matthew Millam

I have tried the walkthrough video to transfer my progress between my iPad 2 and iPad Mini 3, but the Windows PC computer wouldn’t accept my devices. I tried transferring AB Seasons, Rio, Transformers, Space and Bad Piggies. I asked Apple and they helped me get Transformers across through Game Center, but I couldn’t get the others across. And my devices acted funny when I plugged them into the computer. The battery status was constantly blinking between charging and not. And they kept dinging, too. What should I do?

By Dorothy Miyamoto

How do I get Angry Birds Seasons back on my phone. The app is there and says loading but it just disappears.

By BBunsen

This tutorial is hopelessly outdated for the past few versions of iOS. Any chance of getting it updated to at least mention how AB files aren’t available to iMazing, and how there are no longer any versions of DiskAid available?

And could timestamps be added to these comments? Thanks.

By Geraldine Michaud

We’re a gaggle of volunteers and opening a brand new scheme
in our community. Your website provided us with valuable info to work on.
You have performed a formidable job and our whole community can be thankful to you.

By SL

Fully agree

By SL

Fully agree BBunsen, need timestamps and updates for current apple OS etc.

Also a clear rundown of the AB account and score options as I think (???!!!??) that some games are supported on Rovio accounts, some not, some on facebook and what about Game center… so confusing !!!!! The Rovio website and support articles are so light weight it is a bit sad. At least this site & community try to help. THANKS !!!

Pingback: The complete guide to transferring Angry Birds high scores on Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile (plus, other games) | Name That Tech

By Ian Walker

Angry birds friends icon on my home page just disappeared and I can’t retrieve it without going into angry birds network,very annoying.when I do go-to network it says it’s installed,still no icon.my fone no is 754-779-3124 please call and tell me how to fix please.

By Techno Shuvam

I have deleted my angry birds game by mistake and cannot recover it. I don’t have any Facebook or Twitter account. Please help me.

By John

New Angry Birds youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjUeTwezrfWB98954GZcNQ
Help creator to grow up a channel !

By Tina

My 6 year old son is devastated that we seem to have lost his level on angry bird epic game he plays on his amazon fire…. any bright ideas as to how this can be restored please?

By Devon

I paid for the Jedi at all my tablet broke and I got a new one and it going to explode my other tablet the path of the Jedi again :(

By Anonymous

How do I get my coins back I accidentally signed out and it took all my characters and coins

By Brenda Anderson

New update for angry birds friends July 2021 supposed to give multiple spins through out day. NOT. Don’t even get the orginal 2 spins. NOT HAPPY

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