How to download Minecraft Snapshot 20w49a: Step-by-step beginner's guide

Modified Dec 03, 2020 07:55 GMT

Minecraft recently released snapshot 20w49a, adding in changes that players cannot wait to see (Image via Minecraft)

Minecraft's newest snapshot released a ton of features that players are eager to get their hands on, so here's a step-by-step beginner's guide on how to download it.

First, players will have to make sure that they are playing on the Java edition of Minecraft. Bedrock will eventually see the 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update released as a whole but sadly, Bedrock players cannot download snapshots and will have to wait.

In the meantime, Bedrock players can opt-in to the beta. (More information on that here)

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How to download and play Minecraft snapshot 20w49a

1) First, players will have to open their Java edition Minecraft launcher.

2) Next, click on the drop-down icon located in the bottom-left of the launcher.

3) Click "Latest snapshot 20w49a"

4) Click play.

Once these four easy steps have been completed, the launcher will begin an installation process as the snapshot is downloaded.

When the installation is finished, players will be loaded into the newest version of Minecraft. To make sure this is the case, look to the bottom-left corner of the Minecraft game app to see the current update.

How to back up Minecraft worlds on Windows 10

1) First, open the Windows 10 search bar and type in %appdata%

Opening this file will lead you to a directory where you will find a file named .minecraft at the top. Open this file.

2) Find the saves folder, open it up, and create a copy of the world file that is going to be loaded into the snapshot.

Backing up worlds is a very important step when playing on new snapshots or versions of Minecraft as the code can be unstable, leading to crashes and corruptions where entire worlds can no longer be loaded.

Exercise caution when loading any world without a backup because if a world does corrupt, there is no saving it.

For more information on Minecraft snapshot 20w49a click here.