How to Install a .mcworld on iPhone, iPad and Android

How to Install a .mcworld on iPhone, iPad and Android

You downloaded a .mcworld file on your phone or tablet, and now it is sitting in a downloads list doing nothing. Tapping it shows a blank preview, or asks which app to use, or Minecraft opens and nothing appears in your worlds. This guide covers how to install a .mcworld on iPhone, iPad and Android with Minecraft Bedrock Edition, the folder method to fall back on when the normal route fails, and the problems people run into most often.

Everything here applies to any .mcworld file, whether a friend sent it or you made it yourself by turning a real place into a Minecraft world. If you are on a computer instead, our full import guide for Java and Bedrock covers Windows, Mac and Linux.

Before You Start: Check the File and the Edition

Phones and tablets run Minecraft Bedrock Edition (the one simply called "Minecraft" in the App Store and Google Play). Bedrock worlds come as a single .mcworld file. A Java Edition world comes as a .zip containing a folder with a level.dat file, and it will not open on a phone at all — there is no Java Edition for iOS or Android.

So before anything else, look at the file name. If it ends in .mcworld, you are in the right place. If it is a Java .zip, you need a Bedrock version of the world. On Map2Minecraft you choose Java or Bedrock before the world is generated, so if you plan to play on a phone, pick Bedrock. Our Java vs Bedrock comparison explains the differences if you are unsure.

Two more quick checks:

• Update Minecraft. An out-of-date app is the most common reason an import fails. Update it from the App Store or Google Play first.
• Make sure the download finished. A half-downloaded file looks normal by name but fails to import. If the file size seems tiny, download it again on a stable connection.

Installing a .mcworld on iPhone and iPad

Method 1: Open it from the Files app

1. Download the .mcworld in Safari. When Safari asks, confirm the download. It is saved to the Downloads folder in the Files app (On My iPhone or iCloud Drive, depending on your settings).
2. Open the Files app and find the file in Downloads.
3. Tap the file. iOS usually shows a plain preview page because it cannot display a world.
4. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up) and choose Minecraft from the row of apps. If Minecraft is not visible, scroll the row to the end and tap More.
5. Minecraft opens and starts importing. Wait for the message that the import succeeded. Large worlds can take a minute — do not switch apps while it runs.
6. Go to Play and open the Worlds tab. The new world is in the list.

The steps are the same on iPad. If you downloaded the file inside another app (a chat app or an email attachment), use that app's share or "open in" option and pick Minecraft in the same way.

Method 2: The folder fallback on iOS

Minecraft exposes its own storage folder to the Files app, so if the share route keeps failing you can place the world by hand. A .mcworld file is just a zip archive with a different extension.

1. In Files, press and hold the .mcworld file, choose Rename, and change the ending from .mcworld to .zip. Confirm the change when iOS asks.
2. Tap the .zip. Files extracts it into a folder next to it.
3. Open that folder and check that it contains level.dat and a db folder directly inside it. If those are one folder deeper, use the inner folder in the next step.
4. Press and hold the folder, choose Move, and go to On My iPhone (or On My iPad) > Minecraft > games > com.mojang > minecraftWorlds.
5. Close Minecraft fully (swipe it away in the app switcher) and open it again. The world appears under Worlds.

If you do not see a Minecraft folder under On My iPhone, open Minecraft once, create any world, then close it. That creates the folders.

Installing a .mcworld on Android

Method 1: Tap and open with Minecraft

1. Download the .mcworld file in your browser.
2. Open it from the download notification, or open your file manager (often called Files or My Files) and look in Downloads.
3. Tap the file. If Android asks which app to use, choose Minecraft. If it does not offer Minecraft, use the file manager's Open with option from the three-dot menu.
4. Minecraft opens and imports the world. When it finishes, the world is listed under Play > Worlds.

Some browsers and file managers rename unfamiliar files during download. If your file ends up named something like world.mcworld.zip, rename it back to end in .mcworld and tap it again.

Method 2: The folder fallback on Android

This is harder on Android than on iOS, because recent Android versions restrict file managers from browsing other apps' data folders. Current versions of Minecraft keep worlds in:

Android/data/com.mojang.minecraftpe/files/games/com.mojang/minecraftWorlds

Older versions used games/com.mojang/minecraftWorlds at the top of internal storage, and many guides still give that path. If your file manager can open the Android/data folder, the steps are the same as on iOS: rename the file to .zip, extract it, make sure level.dat sits directly inside the folder, and move that folder into minecraftWorlds. If your phone will not let you into Android/data, stick with Method 1 — it is the route Minecraft supports.

Troubleshooting a Failed Import

"Import failed" or nothing happens

• Update Minecraft and try again. Worlds made with a newer version of the game will not import into an older one.
• Re-download the file. A partial download is the second most common cause.
• Check free space. Minecraft needs room to unpack the world, which takes more space than the download. City-sized worlds can be several hundred megabytes once unpacked.
• On iOS, if the Files app route keeps failing, some players have had luck sharing the file from a different app, such as saving it to Notes and opening it from there. Otherwise use the folder fallback.

The world imports but does not show up

Fully close Minecraft and reopen it. If you used the folder method, the most likely cause is an extra folder layer: the folder inside minecraftWorlds must contain level.dat directly, not another folder that contains it.

Minecraft is not in the Open with list

On Android, check that you tapped the original .mcworld and not a renamed copy. On iOS, scroll to the end of the app row in the share sheet and tap More — Minecraft may be hidden there. Reinstalling Minecraft re-registers it as the app for .mcworld files, but back up your existing worlds first.

The world is slow or stutters

Real-world maps have far more detail than a normal survival world. Lower the render distance in Settings > Video, and turn off fancy graphics if your device runs hot. Phones handle a neighborhood easily; a whole downtown is heavier. If you are generating a world for a phone, a smaller area is a better first try — Monaco or Annapolis are good compact choices.

Playing on Console Instead

Xbox, PlayStation and Switch do not let you open files directly. The usual route is to import the world on a phone, tablet or Windows PC first, upload it to a Realm from the world's settings, then open the Realm on the console. The import guide covers that in more detail.

Make a World Worth Importing

Once you know the import works, the fun part is choosing the place. Search for your street, your school or a city you have always wanted to see, frame the area, choose Bedrock, and generate your world. You can look around it in the 3D preview in your browser before you download, so you know the area is right before you go through the import. For ideas, try Savannah, Venice or Reykjavik.