1. Disabling, or adding an exception to, Windows Defender: I have users start with disabling windows defender to see if that's what causing the issue, if it is, I have them re-enable it and then add an exception to Terraria.exe located in the install directory and Terraria's default save location which is located in \Documents\My Games\Terraria.
How to disable Windows Defender
- Open the Settings Page for Windows, this can be done by clicking the start button and then clicking the gear icon towards the bottom left hand side of the screen. Alternatively you can also type in settings and click the gear icon that pops up if you're having trouble locating it.
- Click on "Update and Security".
- Make sure the shield icon is selected on the left hand side.
- Click on "Virus and Threat Protection".
- Click on "Virus and Threat Protection Settings".
- Click the toggle switch on under "Real Time Protection" so that it says off.
- You should now be prompted by the UAC, select yes.
- Windows Defender should now be disabled, if you had problems following this short tutorial, click here to visit a section of the Ten Forums that covers this topic complete with pictures.
If this did not solve your problem or this does not apply to you move to step 2
2. Add an Exception to your Anti-Virus Program: You can also just temporarily turn off your Anti-Virus program to see if this is causing the issue. Once it's determined if it is causing the problem you'll want to turn it back on and just add an exception to the program, as keeping it off is not recommended as it can expose your system to malware and viruses. Make sure that both Terraria's install directory, it's application file (.exe), and the default save location \Documents\My Games\Terraria are added. The steps on how to add an exception, and what you can add as an exception are going to differ from program to program. If you're not sure you can always google it or ask the
Tech Support Section for help. Programs known to cause issues with Terraria include: BitDefender, MalwareBytes, and McAfee.
If this did not solve your problem or this does not apply to you move to step 3
3. Adjust Windows File Permissions and Ownership: We need to make sure all users have Full Control over Terraria's default save directory to see if this will solve the error. There's two different ways to do this. If one doesn't work out for you, maybe the other one will.
The Ownership part of this tutorial was written up by the Quality Assurance Director for Relogic, Thanks Arkhayla!
Method 1: Changing Permissions
- Go to your Documents and find you "My Games" Folder, right click it and select properties.
- In the new window that will pop up there should be bunch of tabs, click on the security tab.
- You'll need to select each of the users on there and give them full control. So click on a user/group from the list then select edit.
- A new window will pop up, in this new window click on a user/group and make sure the full control checkbox is checked.
- Do this for all users and groups, afterwards see if that fixed it and you can launch the game.
- Below you will find an example image that may clarify some of the previous steps
Method 2: Changing Ownership
- Open My Documents\My Games\ and right click the Terraria folder Or wherever your directory is
- Click Properties.
- Click the Security tab
- Click the "Advanced" button.
- Click "Change" next to Owner.
- Type your username, click the "Check Names" button, then click OK.
- Check "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects" under the owner's name.
- Click OK again. If you get a message saying "Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you full control?", click "Yes" and you're done.
- Click the "Edit" button.
- Click on your username from the list.
- Check "Full control" underneath it.
- Click OK.
- Click OK again.
If this did not solve your problem or this does not apply to you move to step 4
4. Run Terraria as an Administrator: Browse to you installation directory, by default for steam it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Terraria then right click the application and select run administrator.
If this did not solve your problem or this does not apply to you move to step 5
5. Erase All Previous Terraria Data and Installations on your Computer: This method was found by a user on our forums in a thread that I helped troubleshoot with them. Thanks TheWolfLike101! First uninstall Terraria, then back up any save data you might want to keep located in either \Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds and \Documents\My Games\Terraria\Players. Now delete the Terraria folder in \Documents\My Games. Finally do a file search for anything that might be Terraria related. Afterwards reinstall Terraria and launch it, if no error is thrown you can copy back over your world and player files that I mentioned you should back up.
If this did not solve your problem or this does not apply to you move to step 6
6. Changing the Default Save Directory: It's possible to manipulate and change the default save directory in the event all previous steps have failed to help you.
This method was found by a user on our forum, Thanks TorZar! It was originally used by TorVar to change the directory for mod purposes, but I believe the same method can be used to help solve this problem.
Method 1: Using a Shortcut - The Install Directory
- Navigate to your install directory of Terraria, by default for steam it should be: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Terraria
- Right click Terraria.exe and select "Create Shortcut".
- Right click the newly created shortcut and select properties.
- In the target field add -savedirectory saves at the end, it should now look something like below, and save it's files to the install directory in a folder called saves
Method 2: Using a Shortcut - Any Directory
- Navigate to your install directory of Terraria, by default for steam it should be: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Terraria
- Right click Terraria.exe and select "Create Shortcut".
- Right click the newly created shortcut and select properties.
- In the target field add -savedirectory and then add the file path so that it looks something like this -savedirectory C:\Terraria Save Data. Any file path can be used so long as you have the proper permissions on that user to modify files there. You can use a file path for a folder on your desktop, your local app data, or even an external drive. (so long as that drive is mounted)
peace