Where crash reports are stored on your computer

Hearts of Iron IV writes crash reports to a specific folder on your hard drive whenever the game stops unexpectedly. On Windows, this folder is located at Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron IV\logs. On Mac, the path is ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Hearts of Iron IV/logs. On Linux, look in ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Hearts of Iron IV/logs.

The easiest way to reach this folder is to open your file browser (File Explorer on Windows, Finder on Mac) and navigate there directly. You do not need to launch the game first — the logs folder exists whether or not the game is currently running. If you cannot find the folder, make sure you have created at least one save file in Hearts of Iron IV, because the game does not create the logs directory until you have played at least once.

Inside the logs folder you will see several files. The one you want after a crash is named error.log or sometimes crash.log. If you see multiple files with dates in their names, the most recent one is the report from your last crash. Open it with any text editor — Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac, or gedit on Linux all work fine.

Key Takeaways

  • Crash reports are saved in Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron IV\logs on Windows, with similar paths on Mac and Linux.
  • The file you need is called error.log or crash.log, and you can open it with any text editor like Notepad.
  • The most useful information in a crash report is usually near the bottom, where the actual error message appears.
  • If you are reporting the crash to the Paradox forums or a mod creator, copy the entire error.log file and paste it into a code block so others can read it clearly.

What the error message actually tells you

When you open error.log, you will see a lot of text. Most of it is the game loading information and is not useful for understanding why it crashed. Scroll to the very bottom of the file — that is where the actual error message appears. You will see a line that says something like "Fatal error:" or "Exception:" followed by a description of what went wrong.

Common crash messages include "Out of memory" (your computer ran out of RAM while running the game), "Null pointer exception" (the game tried to use something that does not exist), or "Stack overflow" (the game got stuck in a repeating loop). If the error mentions a specific mod by name, that mod is almost certainly the cause. If it mentions a save file, try loading a different save to see if the problem follows that particular game or happens in all games.

Write down the exact error message or take a screenshot of it. This information is what you will need if you decide to ask for help on the Paradox Interactive forums or on a modding community Discord. Do not try to fix the error yourself based on the message alone — error messages are written for programmers, not players, and they often point to a symptom rather than the root cause.

Checking if a mod is causing the crash

If your error.log mentions a mod by name, disable that mod and try loading your save again. If the crash stops, you have found the problem. If the error message does not mention a mod but you have recently installed one, disable all mods and test whether the crash still happens. If it does not crash without mods, add mods back one at a time until the crash returns — that tells you which mod is responsible.

Mods sometimes crash because they are outdated. Hearts of Iron IV receives updates regularly, and mods written for an older version of the game may stop working. Check the mod's page on the Steam Workshop or on ModDB to see when it was last updated. If it has not been updated in several months and you recently updated Hearts of Iron IV, that is likely the cause. Unsubscribe from the mod and look for a newer version that is actively maintained.

When to clear the logs folder

After you have saved your error.log file or shared it with someone who is helping you, you can delete the old logs. This makes it easier to find new crash reports later, because you will not have to scroll through old ones. Right-click the logs folder and select "Empty" or "Delete Contents" — do not delete the folder itself, just the files inside it. Hearts of Iron IV will create new log files the next time it runs.

If you are trying to figure out whether a fix actually worked, clearing the logs folder first is helpful. Then play the game for a while. If no new error.log appears, the crash is fixed. If a new error.log does appear, you know the problem is still there and you have a fresh report to work with.

Sharing crash reports on forums or Discord

When you post a crash report on the Paradox forums or in a modding community, copy the entire contents of error.log and paste it into a code block so it stays readable. On most forums and Discord, you create a code block by typing three backticks, pasting the log, then typing three backticks again. This prevents the text from wrapping awkwardly and makes it much easier for someone to read through and spot the problem.

Include a short description of what you were doing when the crash happened — were you loading a save, playing for a few hours, or did it crash when ready? Were you using any mods? What version of Hearts of Iron IV are you running? This context helps someone understand whether the crash is random or happens under specific conditions. A crash that happens every time you load a particular save is much easier to diagnose than a crash that happens randomly after several hours of play.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if there is no error.log file in the logs folder?

If the logs folder exists but is empty, the game may have crashed before it could write an error report. Try reproducing the crash — do whatever you were doing when it happened the first time. If it crashes again, check the logs folder when ready after. If the folder still appears empty, the crash may be a graphics driver issue rather than a game issue, and you should update your graphics drivers.

Can I fix the crash myself by editing error.log?

No. The error.log file is read-only information — editing it does nothing to fix the game. The log is a record of what went wrong, not a configuration file. If you want to fix the crash, you need to either disable the mod that is causing it, update Hearts of Iron IV, or update your graphics drivers.

Why does the error message not make sense to me?

Error messages are written for programmers, not players. You do not need to understand the technical details — you just need to look for the mod name or the word "memory" or "out of" in the message. If you cannot figure it out, copy the entire error.log and post it on the Paradox forums or a modding Discord, and someone there can tell you what it means.

Do I need to do anything special to make crash reports appear?

No. Hearts of Iron IV automatically writes a crash report every time it crashes unexpectedly. You do not need to enable anything or change any settings. The report appears in the logs folder whether you want it or not.