Did you know that with a little legwork and a free application you can easily transfer your Angry Birds progress across an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Mac? This is great if you happen to have more than one iOS device (i.e. an iPhone and an iPad) or recently upgraded. This is also a great way to backup your Angry Birds progress in the event something goes awry.
Update: We have created a more-comprehensive guide, including many more platforms and some specific file paths. The iOS directions circle back here, but if you are looking for a different device, check out our Ultimate Backup Tutorial for all Platforms.
Disclaimer: We are not responsible if something goes wrong while performing the steps below.
Step 1: Before We Begin Lets Take Some Precautions
- Be sure you have the same version of Angry Birds installed on both devices (exception, SD and HD versions of the same app are OK).
- Be sure you’re copying the files off your device and not removing them.
- Before you overwrite any .lua file on your device create a backup copy first.
- Sync ALL devices with iTunes first. This way if something happens you can always restore.
Step 2: Install DiskAid
- Direct Link Change! DiskAid has become a product called iMazing. Our personal preference is still for DiskAid in terms of user-interface and cost. The direct link in (1) below has been updated to reflect the change, which can be a little tough to find. Let us know if you have any questions.
- Install DiskAid, which is available for both PC & Mac. While a paid version is available and can do a whole lot of cool stuff, the free version will work perfectly fine for this guide.
- Configure DiskAid. In the Menu Bar, click DiskAid > Preferences > Storage. Enable all three options: “Show all Apps even if…”, “Show root path for Apps”, and “Show hidden files and folders”.
Step 3: Copying the Angry Birds .lua Files Off Your iOS Device
- Open DiskAid.
- Connect the device you want to transfer your progress FROM. Once your device is connected, DiskAid should recognize it.
- Click “Apps”. Look through the app icons to find the application directory that you’re looking to transfer / backup.
- Click to open the desired app folder, then open the “Documents” folder.
- In the “Documents” folder you’ll see a few .lua files. You will want to copy over any of the following .lua files that you see:
- highscores.lua
- settings.lua
- {purchases}.lua (if applicable, such as Space and Star Wars)
- highscores_<hash>.lua and settings_<hash>.lua (if applicable via Rovio Accounts; learn more!)
Select them all and drag them into a folder on your PC / Mac. Once all these .lua files are copied over you effectively have a backup copy.
Step 4: Copying the Saved .lua Files onto Another iOS Device
- Connect the iOS device you want to transfer your progress TO and sync it with iTunes (if you already did you can skip this step). This way if something goes wrong you can restore.
- After the sync with iTunes is complete disconnect the device, launch DiskAid, then reconnect the same device again.
- Now repeat steps 3 and 4 above in order to navigate to the version of Angry Birds you’re looking to copy your data too. Remember, if copying from an iPhone or iPod Touch to an iPad you can go from non-HD to HD versions (the directory on the iPad includes “HD” in the name).
- Once you have the “Documents” folder open in DiskAid copy or drag the respective .lua files you previously saved on your computer onto your device (in other words, drag them from you computer into DiskAid, which will in turn copy them to your device — overwriting what was previously there).
- Once this is done you’ve effectively transferred your progress from one device to another, but in order to see the progress on the new device you need to completely close and reopen Angry Birds.
Step 5: Completely Restarting Angry Birds
- If you’re running a next generation iOS device you don’t have to restart to completely close Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, etc. Rather, double-tap the home key. That will open the multitasking menu. Swipe the windows upward to close the programs.
- For those running older devices, such an older iPod Touch, just old down the power key and restart your device.
- Finally, reopen Angry Birds and you should see your progress correlates with what was on your other device.
- Rejoice!
So I’m concerned. I synced everything from my iPod touch to my Mac and then restored it (giving it as a gift as i got the 4s nowt) and I only now just clicked into AB. Is it possible that the progress info is on my Mac? Or am I completely screwed?
I don’t quite follow what happened.
Worked like a charm. Totally cool. Thanks
Does this method over-write all of the scores on the recipient device, or does it merge them to retain the highest score over both devices?
I’m assuming it’s the former, but just thought I’d ask.
Pure overwrite. Sorry
While I was able to pull the .lua files off of my 3GS using iExplorer, I could not copy them to my 4S – It simply wouldn’t allow the files to be transferred in. I was able to copy files over using DiskAid, but it only displayed one Angry Birds folder (Rio) in the folder list. I did a little experimenting and found that if you if you load the apps one at a time and copy the .lua files over before loading the next, it’ll work.
Here are the steps that worked for me, assuming you have successfully copied the .lua files from your old device:
1. Delete all Angry Birds apps from the new device and sync with iTunes.
2. Re-load Angry Birds on the device
3. Open the device in DiskAid and copy the .lua files to the new device.
4. Sync with iTunes (creates a new restore point)
5. Load Angry Birds Halloween (Seasons) and repeat steps 3-4.
6. Load Angry Birds Rio and repeat steps 3-4.
Once I figured it out, it only took a couple minutes to complete the full restore, including all stars/levels and achievements.
Hope that’s helpful! Cheers.
I don’t think all of that is necessary. Instead, you need to play these apps once to create the files you wish to overwrite.
I did try launching each app first, but it still only showed Angry Birds Rio folder in DiskAid. Rio was also the first AB folder of the three listed in iExplorer, followed by Halloween, then the original.
That’s very bizarre. I’ve never had to delete apps on my iPhone to transfer progress from my iPad.
It is as if DiskAid just shows the first top level AB folder it comes to and disregards the rest. Even after transferring my progress for all three games and launching each it still only shows the Rio folder.
I do see all three folders in iExplorer, but I can’t use that app to write to my 4S for some reason.
Again, this is very strange. Maybe it’s something with the iPhone 4S, because I see all 6 AB apps in DiskAid
I’ve done this numerous times with my 3GS when needing to restore my phone as new and had no issues. However, I seem to be running into problems with transferring the same files to my 4S. For starters, everything from Seasons transferred properly, scores, progress and stars. However, for both Rio and the original game everything transfers except for the scores and stars. I’ve deleted the apps and started over a few times and nothing seems to be making a difference. It’s thoroughly frustrating since I had 3-starred everything on both games. Is there anyone else having this problem?
Perhaps this is something new with iPhone 4S. Have you considered E’s directions above?
I’ve tried a number of suggestions, including the steps above and restarting the device after the transfer yet I continue to get the same results. I guess it’s not terrible, Seasons probably has the most challenging set of levels of the three versions so I’m thankful all my progress on that restored properly.
Worked like a charm. Thanks! The 4S didn’t have the files with dates in them for Halloween. I just copied 2 files for each, and all three apps had all my stars, scores, rankings, and achievements…
Thanks! I had to turn off Angry Birds before copying files because iPhoneExplorer wasn’t able to copy files. The program asked me if I wanted to overwrite files and i choose ‘yes’. Unfortunately iPhoneExplorer didn’t overwrite them without any message.
I don’t understand. Was there an issue?
Hi, Yes there was a small issue. iPhone Explorer didn’t report any problems with copying files but in fact it didn’t copy settings.lua. To correct this issue I had to turn off completely Angry Birds on my iPad _before_ copying files. I think you may consider adding the step to close Angry Birds before copying.
I was able to transfer all my data (high scores, etc) on my desktop computer from my iPhone 3. When I connect my iPhone 4 and drag the files from my desktop to the iPhone 4 folder documents, it won’t transfer them over at all. For some reason it doesn’t recongize the folder its going too. I’ve try everything and nothing works to transfer my files over to my phone.
Can anybody help?!
thanks!
Make sure you have played at least 1 level on the destination device. That way the files exist.
Everything I try to copy over to the folder on my iPhone 4, the files seem to stutter or hesistate to copy over. Does this make any sense? Please advise. This action is killing me. :-(
You can use DiskAid (be sure change the preferences, as shown in Step 2 above) or the new iExplorer. On your old device, copy the highscores.lua and settings.lua files to (say) the desktop of your computer. Restart your new device, then drop (overwrite) these files on your new device. A brief “hesitation” is OK, but it shouldn’t last more than a few seconds.
i syned my iphone 4s and all i got was the ranking but no stars? is there something i can do? i tried that disk aid and i did not see any of my apps and i tired iphone explorer and it did not work. so is there something else i can do?
There are additional configuration steps for DiskAid in Step 2. See if that helps.
step 2? was there something i missed? i downloaded disk aid and when i opened it i saw noting to do with any apps where is step #2?
This post has 5 steps. See above.
I was having a lot of problems with “Iphone Explorer” and I did a “Check for Updates” under File, and now it works.
The old version couldn’t explore the Apps portion of the Ipod/phone. Just do the update and it works.
Got the new iPhone 4s… I backed up my iPhone 3Gs (synched apps while doing so), then followed the instructions for moving everything from my 3Gs to my 4s through iTunes, and everything was saved, including all my Angry Birds scores and achievements.
Even though I backed up using iExplorer, I didn’t need to manually restore any files.
That’s good. Agreed, that’s the way it SHOULD happen, but iTunes doesn’t always work out so well.
I downloaded iExplorer last night and successfully put my iPhone 3GS AB scores into my ABHD on my iPad, but it didn’t copy the achievements. I was glad to not have to redo all those levels, but is there a way or a reason why the achievements didn’t come over? I didn’t download disk aid since the iEplorer seemed to work without it. The whole reason for this exercise was my fear of losing scores when I upgrade any of my toys.
You transferred both the highscores and settings files, right? If so, just play for a little bit and your achievements should start popping up.
Yes I transferred both files. I’ll play for a while and see what happens and let you know. Thanks so much!
Also, be aware of the following issue:
Four of the six Angry Birds apps for iOS are having issues registering achievements with Game Center if you are running iOS 5. This seems to be related to an API change that occurred in iOS 5. Rovio is well-aware of the issue, and in the two recent updates (Rio and Seasons) , the issue is fixed. As for the other four (ABo and the 3 “Frees”), you may need to wait until their next app update. Read a correspondence between myself and an AB dev in the fourm.
I’m running IOS5 and the one I’m having problems with is ABO. I’ve been playing today and still no achievements. Guess I’ll wait for an update. At least I got my 3 stars transferred, that was my biggest concern!
YAY!! Thank you so much.. this has worked perfectly using the free version of disk aid! Now to work out all my other games too!
I tried this, and it worked almost perfectly. High scores and progress were successfully transferred from Seasons on my 3GS into Seasons HD on my iPad. However, all of the levels are locked. The scores are still there, strangely. Am I missing something?
You need to transfer the settings file as well.
Though its an easier process, maybe u guys can do an article on transferring of Angry Birds progress between Android devices.
This totally worked for all 3 of my fav AB games. I must say the iExplorer is very touchy and required closing and opening multiple times after each device connected or disconnected. Tip: make sure your device isn’t syncing when starting iExplorer. Cancel sync and then restart iExplorer. Anyhow, that worked for me :-). Thanks again!
Hi there. I copied over my scores from my iPhone4 to my iPad2. Everything works, except the achievements… is there a way to get my achievements on my iPad?
You will have to wait for an update to ABo. This is related to an API issue post-iOS 5.
Okay, thanks. Then I’ll wait (what else should I do?)… since all Stars and Scores are there, I assume, that the achievements will be re-enabled when AB is updated (at least I hope so). Thanks for the reply, now I can stop to try stuff…
This worked perfectly. Thanks so much!
iphoneExplorer has been renamed iExplorer for legal reasons.
Is this available for windows too?
yes it is.
This works like a charm between iPod and iPhone! =) iExplorer is still works on iOS 5. I’m also surprised Apple doesn’t care about people doing this but as long as your not accessing the root of the iPhone there is no problem.
Ok I might be the only person here trying this apparently. I just got a Bionic and I have been playing AB on my Windows PC for some time now. I can’t get Itunes nor Iphone explorer to see my files in my phone any guesses?
Sorry, I don’t understand. You’re trying to transfer your progress from iOS to your PC using iExplorer?
No I am trying to put my PC AB saved games onto my new Bionic.
This article makes absolutely no mention of Android devices….
I understand that I was hoping someone had knowledge of how to do that.
Thank you for your quick response.
No, Android is not really user-friendly in that respect. We aren’t aware of any manual backups for Android.
ok thanks I will start playing again from the begging and keep looking for a way to do. If I find one I will post it here for other noobs like myself.
Awesome! Thank you thank you thank you for this. Successfully restored my scores, etc. from my iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S using iExplorer. I don’t know if this makes a difference, but I did remove all Angry Birds apps from my new phone then re-synched iTunes after reinstalling them again all at once using iExplorer. Then I transfered the .lua files to the respective Angry Birds versions via iExplorer, refreshed iExplorer, restarted iPhone4S and voila! Restored!!! Can’t thank you enough for this fix!
Thank you for the information in your guide. DiskAid worked effortlessly for iPhone transfers via a PC.
Finally found time to transfer from itouch to iphone4s. It wouldn’t connect with iphone Explorer. So I deleted iphone Explorer and downloaded the new version iExplorer. I was able to connect to this version but it limits you to only accessing 5 directories at a time. After moving the .lua files from AB, I had to disconnect and reconnect, then transfer the AB Rio .lua files and so on. Also when transferring to new device I was unable to just drop the files into the documents folder. I had to drag each file over to the exsisting file and then it asks “Are you sure you want to delete file “x”?, it didnt say overwrite which made me nervous, so I tried it on the lite version first and it worked! So it may have taken a little longer then the video but it still worked. Just wanted to share my experience incase it helps anyone else.
Great job on the site by the way!
I can successfully transfer scores between devices, however, when I try to transfer between AB on my iPhone 4 to AB mac version, I do not see a Rovio folder in the Applications support folder. I am running Lion 10.7.2 (latest). Am I missing something?
My iPod Touch restarts when I try to synch it (during the backup creation process), such as when updating it, changing photos, or changing apps via computer, so I’m planning on getting a new one. Its iOS is 4.0. Should I use the iExplorer to transfer the files to a new iPod, or is it not worth the risk?
Seems like a good idea. iExplorer works fine with all versions of iOS I believe.
Did not want to take a detour and deal with Microsoft.NET 4.0 so used DiskAid instead. Are you saying it will work with iOS 5.x? I did not bother to try since I was not in the mood to download .NET on battery.
DiskAid works very well. It’s what I use.
Thanks for the new information. I updated the post a little bit.
When you connect your iTouch your computer, don’t sync. Quit out of iTunes. Launch iExplorer, copy the appropriate files and save them for when you get your new one. Or save them, reset your iTouch and then copy them back over.
Using DiskAid, newest version. Apparently they have changed their pricing structure for the better. It appears that you can buy the entire bundle for $24.90 or use the free features for free. Read this:
http://www.digidna.net/products/diskaid/buy