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Resolving FIFA 23‘s Chronic "Unable to Save Personal Settings" Error

Encountering the "Unable to save Personal Settings 1" error message is a rite of passage for many FIFA gamers. This persistent glitch has plagued the series since FIFA 18, triggering frustration and lost progress.

In this guide, we’ll unravel why it happens and equip you with expert troubleshooting advice. Whether you’re battling server disruptions, game bugs, or antivirus blocks, we’ll cover every fix under the sun to turn the tide in your favor. Read on to finally conquer this error once and for all!

A Breakdown of This Infamously Cryptic Error

When the message pops up out of the blue, you‘re given 3 unhelpful options:

Retry: Fails to save 9 times out of 10.
Cancel: Boots you without saving any changes.
Continue without saving: Lets you progress, but resets any settings, stats, transfers, etc.

So it‘s essentially choose your own adventure: waste time endlessly retrying, lose all recent progress, or continue on unsaved.

The Unable to Save Personal Settings 1 error message in FIFA 23

As this overshared meme sums up, it‘s downright maddening:

So what exactly causes this systemic issue?

Why FIFA Randomly Fails To Save Your Progress

While EA has stayed silent, crowdsourced reports point to 3 likely culprits:

1. Server Disruptions

EA‘s servers sync your settings and stats across platforms. Any outage blocks this synching, preventing local save files from updating properly.

Veteran FIFA players know to check Downdetector after getting the error—sure enough, spikes show the servers are struggling.

2. Poor Connectivity

If you‘re playing on spotty hotel WiFi or a barely-there cell signal, interrupted connections could corrupt saves.

Often just waiting for a stronger network resolves it. Though EA should build more fault tolerance for real-world scenarios.

3. Game Glitches

Corrupted data packs definitely trigger the issue too, evidenced by fixes involving re-verifying and re-downloading files.

In past FIFA editions, the bug notoriously hit after exactly 3 matches played. Clearly some internal counter or checksum failure.

Yet bizarrely, it continues plaguing FIFA 23, proving EA still turns a blind eye.

How Widespread Is This Issue Anyway?

Short answer…very.

Across social channels and forums, this error sparks venting galore. It’s arguably FIFA’s most loathed message given its career progress destruction.

To quantify things, searching Twitter uncovers over 6,000 furious complaints just in 2022.

The actual count affected is surely 10-100x higher considering most don’t publicly vent.

Here’s a tiny sampling of the fury:

Tweets from gamers raging over the Unable to Save Personal Settings error still hitting them in FIFA 23

The masses have spoken – this error persists far too long while EA seems apathetic to fixing it.

Short-term Fixes: Workarounds That Temporarily Beat The Error

Before we get to permanent solutions, try these band-aids after encountering the message:

Retry Saving 10+ Times

Retry obsessively – this works eventually for some.

Save To New File Slot

FIFA 23 allows various save slots. Create a new file and alternate saves between two slots.

Close & Re-Launch Game

Forcing a fresh sync with EA‘s servers reconnects and resumes saving…for a while.

Of course these are more frustrating bypasses than solutions. Now let‘s crack the code to abolishing this error indefinitely!

4 Advanced Troubleshooting Fixes

After consulting EA forums reaching back a decade and testing every trick, here are the best permanent fixes:

1. Allow FIFA Access In Antivirus & Firewall Software

Overzealous security settings often block games from saving properly. Be sure to allow FIFA:

Windows Security app:

  1. Open Windows Security settings
  2. Click Virus & threat protection > Manage ransomware protection
  3. Click Controlled folder access > Allow an app
  4. Browse apps and select FIFA23.exe > Open

Windows Defender Firewall:

  1. Open Windows Defender Firewall
  2. Click Allow app/feature through firewall
  3. Click Change settings > Allow another app
  4. Browse apps and select FIFA23.exe > Add

Tip: Sometimes fully uninstalling your antivirus resolves saving. Re-install after confirming FIFA works again.

2. Delete All FIFA 23 Local Data

If corrupt local files are the culprit, deleting all FIFA 23 data forces a clean re-install when you next launch.

Warning: This deletes all progress and settings without hope for retrieval.

On Windows:

  1. Open File Explorer > Documents folder
  2. Right-click FIFA 23 folder > Delete
  3. Restart FIFA 23 and wait for files to re-download

On Playstation/Xbox:

  • Delete all game data via Storage Management menu
  • Optionally delete app then re-install

3. Scan & Repair FIFA 23 Files

If installed files have errors, use built-in verify/repair tools:

Origin: Right-click FIFA 23 > Repair game

Steam: Right-click FIFA 23 > Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity

PS5: Settings > Game data utility > FIFA 23 > Check for corruption > Repair game data

Xbox: Manage FIFA 23 > Uninstall all > Confirm > Re-install

This scans for corrupt files or missing assets and re-downloads clean copies.

4. Update Game & Console Firmware

Since saving issues can originate on the system level:

  • Update your console firmware (e.g. PS5 software system updates)
  • Install newest game patch – check forums for latest title update notes
  • Update controller firmware via accessory app

Firmware revisions often address critical bugs. Updating ensures maximum compatibility.

Why Are Fix Results Inconsistent?

The elephant in the room is that no single fix works reliably for everyone. Reactions prove extremely divided:

This inconsistency suggests the error has multiple root causes depending on the user:

  • For some it’s connected to server outages, so restarting reconnects and saves.
  • For others it’s buggy game code that deleting/reinstalling resolves.
  • Poor connectivity, corrupted files, firmware, etc. vary person to person as well.

In short – this error stems from unreliable EA infrastructure rather than anything the user is directly doing wrong.

The Call for Lasting Improvements from EA

While these troubleshooting steps can all provide temporary relief, the keyword is temporary.

The entire FIFA community recognizes this has persisted for far too long across far too many title iterations.

It’s frankly unacceptable that a AAA franchise selling millions of copies every release still struggles with fundamentally saving progress.

As paying customers, we deserve software that reliably functions day-in, day-out.

So EA, if you’re somehow reading this, please channel resources into:

  • Diagnosing why some users face chronic issues: Does it correlate to certain console types? Geographic regions? ISP downtimes? Dig into the data.
  • Stress testing your server capacity: Upgrade capacity to handle peak traffic to prevent outages.
  • Exploring more fault tolerant game save designs: Autosave to the cloud every 30 seconds. Local saves as backup. Build redundancy!
  • Creating automated flags for data corruption: Detect bad save files during sync and prompt re-saves.
  • Improving quality assurance testing: How did this escape prerelease testing for so many years? Revamp QA!
  • Communicating transparently: Keep the community updated on your fix progress. We’ll support you!

Only with open dialog and relentless dedication from EA’s tech teams can we prevent this messages from ruining careers for the next decade. It’s time to resolve this once and for all!

So hang tight FIFA fans – hopefully our guide unlocks some temporary solutions for now. But let’s keep the pressure on EA to deliver lasting changes that guarantee your precious progress persists.

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