I hate to admit it, but one of my biggest frustrations when it comes to technology is when I have to swap devices. You would think my problem was with being an old man who simply cannot get used to newer devices, but my issue is recovering the data I had and being able to install the programs I had with all my desired settings.
To the fault of my ADHD, sometimes I can’t remember just how difficult it can be to install certain software. As I’m no stranger to purchasing software for the blog or the Twitch Stream there have been countless times when I’ve had to go scouring through e-mails to search for download links or installation keys and I have to say… I didn’t realize that FFXIV is more complicated to download than you would expect.
Admittedly, we’re all a bit spoiled with how easy it is to get games on our devices, whether it be on your phone, on console or PC, but depending on how you initially purchased FFXIV it can take a bit more time than usual.
I, for example, have always used the Square Enix Launcher. At the time of purchasing the game, I wasn’t even aware that it was available on Steam, but after hearing about the issues many players have had with the game on the Steam Client I’m glad I went the route that I did.
The following post will take you through how to install the game for the first time as well as the way you can guarantee a fresh installation of the game in case files have become corrupted.
Note: If you have any questions about FFXIV that you want me to cover feel free to leave them in a comment below, you can also ask me while I am streaming on Twitch, YouTube or in our community discord.
HOW TO RE-INSTALL FFXIV USING THE SQUARE ENIX LAUNCHER
To begin, players must first locate their Final Fantasy XIV folder which is located in “My Documents” and then within the “My Games” folder. If files have been corrupted, leading the game to misbehave, it is essential that players either delete this folder or simply rename it so it is not accessed when they reinstall the game.
I would personally either move the folder or rename the folder as some settings may be salvageable such as your HUD/Hotbar settings. As I’m terribly finicky about my HUD and Hotbars, being that I’ve spent hours creating macros for various displays, I like having these backed up as does my husband. He wrote a great guide on how to transfer your Hotbars from your main character to your Alt which may come in handy here.
Players must then head to the following link to install the FFXIV launcher. Upon installing, players will be able to select their region as the launcher should support all accounts.
HOW TO RE-INSTALL FFXIV USING STEAM
If you are playing using the Steam Client you will have a much easier time with the reinstallation of FFXIV, though I would first try to check the integrity of the game.
To initiate this, first right-click on Final Fantasy XIV Online and head to the Installed Files menu. Here you will locate a button labelled “Verify Integrity of Game Files.”
This method will generally save a player a good amount of time as it will simply scan through all of the already installed files to see if any are broken and need to be repaired. As FFXIV is a relatively large game, this tends to cut download times immensely and tends to be the only thing a player needs to do when in a corrupt file situation.
If for whatever reason this doesn’t work, simply uninstall the game using the steam client and re-install it. Players should not have to delete any save files as they do with the Square Enix Launcher, though players can use the method above to also locate the files if they are still having issues.
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