The default savegame location is

Just copy the whole remote folder somewhere safe - I do a backup daily and just started naming the copies by date.




Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library and select Properties



Switch to the Updates tab and select "Wait until I launch the game"









Open Steam Settings from the main menu of Steam



Click on Clear Cache





Open Steam Settings from the main menu of Steam



Disable the shader pre-caching





Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library and select Properties



Go to the Local Files tab and select Verify integrity of game files





Open Steam Settings from the main menu of Steam



Go to the Storage tab, select the drive on which your game is installed, then pick the Repair Folder option from the menu (the three dots "...")





Delete shader.cache2 which you can find in


Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library -> Manage -> Browse local files







Same as above, the config.ini you can find in the Monster Hunter Wilds game folder.

The installed version of REFramework can become incompatible when a game updates, resulting in crash at launch. Update REFramework accordingly, or delete the responsible dinput8.dll file in your game's folder until an update is available to continue playing without REFramework.

Same like with the DirectStorage upgrade

ReShade will not work properly without REFramework. So that too will eventually lead to crashes after a game update and/or if REFramework is not working correctly anymore. If you installed ReShade, make sure to remove it in case you experience crashes at launch.

The standard are three types of mod files

• REFramework scripts
  
• files which are delivered loose in a natives folder
  
• files which are delivered as additional PAK files

All those files will not delete themselves if you uninstall the game.

If your game refuses to run after an update, and you have used mods before, but you cannot be sure that you have removed them completely, you should reset the game.

Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library -> Manage -> Browse local files



Delete everything EXCEPT for

MonsterHunterWilds.exe
re_chunk_000.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_001.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_002.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_003.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_004.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_005.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_006.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.patch_007.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_001.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_002.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_003.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_004.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_005.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_006.pak
re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_007.pak

and the dlc folder



Each update has added a new PAK file. I will try to keep this guide up to date as I play, but make sure you check the last date the guide was updated. You can also compare the PAK files natively with the game by checking the entry for Monster Hunter Wilds on SteamDB[steamdb.info].

Once you are done, restart your PC and after that verify the game's files integrity

Right-click on Monster Hunter Wilds in your Steam Library and select Properties



Go to the Local Files tab and select Verify integrity of game files



That will revert your game to vanilla state without the need to redownload the entire game.

The default savegame location is




Instead of using Saving while Quitting





Disabling Steam Cloud and quitting without saving (Save Before Quitting) effectively reduces the risk of savegame corruption by taking into account typical Windows Home task management issues.




The Synchronized Photo Save feature is unfortunately another piece which can break savegames. Especially with modded games where now and then a game reset might be necessary.

I recommend taking screenshots using the Steam-Overlay feature by checking the album images individually.

This guide is all about the famous "there is no glory in prevention" actions you can do to make sure to avoid typical issues which can occur during the game's update, especially if you are using Windows Home.

Seriously, format your PC and use Windows 11 Pro instead. It is affordable - but more importantly it is worth it if you use your PC as a gaming device.



By following the steps in this guide, you can significantly reduce the risk of problems to occur before they occur.