Where apps hide your files

Paradox Interactive folders: Stellaris, CK3, EU4, HOI4

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Stellaris, Crusader Kings III, Europa Universalis IV and Hearts of Iron IV all keep saves and mods in one visible place: a folder per game inside Documents. Here is the layout, where cloud saves and Workshop mods go instead, and what to back up.

The location

Paradox's Mac games keep saves, mods and settings in Documents, one folder per game:

~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris
~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III
~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV
~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Hearts of Iron IV

Paradox's own support page for Europa Universalis IV gives /Users/USER/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV/ for the user files (settings, error logs, saved games, graphics cache and mods). The Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings III modding wikis give the same pattern for their games, and PCGamingWiki does for Stellaris. Forum posts often shorten the names to "CK3" or "HOI4"; the real folders use the full names above.

Documents is visible in Finder. To open the shared folder from Terminal:

open ~/Documents/Paradox\ Interactive

The games themselves are installed elsewhere, under ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/ for Steam copies. Do not look for saves there.

What is inside

The layout is much the same across these games:

Item	What it holds
save games	Your local saves (.sav for Stellaris, .ck3, .eu4, .hoi4 for the others)
mod	A .mod descriptor for every mod the game knows about, plus hand-installed mods
settings.txt	Game settings (Crusader Kings III uses pdx_settings.txt)
logs	Log files such as error.log, handy for crash reports
launcher-v2.sqlite, mods_registry.json, dlc_load.json	The Paradox launcher's records of your mods, playsets and enabled DLC
screenshots	In-game screenshots (Hearts of Iron IV documents this folder)

Versions add more, so list your own:

ls ~/Documents/Paradox\ Interactive/Stellaris

Cloud saves are somewhere else

Saves made with the game's cloud option on Steam are not in save games. Paradox support gives the Steam location as Steam/userdata/<Steam ID>/<app ID>/remote/save games; on a Mac that is:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<account number>/<app ID>/remote/save games

The app IDs are 281990 for Stellaris, 1158310 for Crusader Kings III, 236850 for Europa Universalis IV and 394360 for Hearts of Iron IV. Paradox support's way to rescue a cloud save is to copy it from there into the local save games folder, where the game loads it as a local save.

Mods: Workshop, launcher and by hand

How a mod arrives decides where its files live, but every mod gets a .mod descriptor in the game's mod folder, and that is what the launcher and game read.

• Steam Workshop. Steam downloads the files into its own folder, ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/workshop/content/<app ID>, with a numbered folder per mod, and the descriptor in mod is named like ugc_1234567890.mod. Manage these from Steam, not by hand.
• The Paradox launcher. The launcher app itself lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Paradox Interactive/, while its per-game records (launcher-v2.sqlite and mods_registry.json) sit in the game's Documents folder.
• Hand-installed mods. Put the mod's .mod file and its folder in mod. The Crusader Kings III wiki notes the folder can live anywhere, as long as the path line in the .mod file points at it.

The Hearts of Iron IV wiki says the game reads every .mod file in mod, so a stray old descriptor can bring back a mod you thought was gone.

When mods will not load

Paradox support's steps for Hearts of Iron IV (the Crusader Kings III wiki gives the same advice for its launcher files): quit the game and the launcher, unsubscribe from all mods, then remove the mod folder, mods_registry.json and launcher-v2.sqlite from the game's Documents folder, and subscribe to a few mods again. The launcher rebuilds its records on the next start. Move those items to a folder on your Desktop rather than deleting them, so you can put back any hand-installed mods.

Back up before any cleanup

Paradox support's clean-reinstall advice includes deleting the game's Documents folder as well as the install, and it says to move valued saves elsewhere first. That folder holds your saves and hand-installed mods, so:

1. Quit the game and the launcher.
2. Copy the game's folder from ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive to somewhere else, such as an external drive.
3. Make the change you were planning.
4. If the game still fails, put the copy back, or move only save games into the fresh folder.

To move to a new Mac, install the game, start it once so the folder is created, quit, then copy save games into it. Add mods afterwards: a mod not yet updated for a new game version is a common cause of a failed load.

Documents, iCloud and Time Machine

If iCloud Drive syncs your Desktop & Documents Folders with Optimize Mac Storage on, macOS can remove local copies when space runs low. Paradox support has a Mac note about exactly this for Crusader Kings II's files in Documents: open the folder in Finder and download the files again with the cloud button. Keep enough free space, or download the folder before you play. Time Machine includes Documents unless you excluded it.

Why searching can still miss them

Spotlight does search Documents, so a local save may turn up. Workshop downloads, though, are numbered folders under ~/Library, which Spotlight and Finder searches leave out, and cloud saves sit under Steam's userdata folder in the same hidden area.

Finding a save or mod folder again

Type a save's name, or .ck3 or .eu4, into Everywhere to list saves from every game at once, local and cloud copies side by side. Documents is protected by macOS, so those results appear once Everywhere has Full Disk Access; Steam's Workshop and userdata folders under ~/Library/Application Support are covered without it. It matches file names only, not what is inside a save.

Common questions

Where is the Stellaris mods folder on a Mac?

Descriptors and hand-installed mods are in ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/mod. Workshop mods are downloaded by Steam into ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/workshop/content/281990.

Where are Stellaris and Crusader Kings III saves on Mac?

Local saves are in the save games folder inside ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris or ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III. Steam cloud saves are under Steam's userdata/<account number>/<app ID>/remote/save games instead.

Why can I not find Paradox saves in Steam's game folder?

Paradox games keep user data in Documents, not in the install folder. Steam's folders hold the game, Workshop downloads and any cloud saves.

Is it safe to delete the Paradox Interactive folder?

Only after copying it. Paradox support suggests deleting a game's Documents folder for a clean reinstall, but it holds your local saves and hand-installed mods, so move those somewhere safe first.