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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.