How to Fix Error Code 516 ‘Failed to Save’ in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

Some players may encounter a very specific error while trying to enjoy a simple Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough, in which they repeatedly get the “Failed to Save” error (516) as they advance through the game. This can be very frustrating, but there are some turnarounds for that.

How to Solve the Failed to Save Error Code 516 in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Error Code 516 “Failed to Save” appears when a player starts a conversation with a Trader who defaults to Trader mode instead of Barter mode. This can occasionally make you unable to save the game, and the general solutions for error fixing (such as restarting your computer, checking file integrity, etc) won’t do you any good.

But as related in a thread by user Lanceo90 on Reddit, there are some easy ways to fix these issues, with the first one being simply searching for a different Trader that defaults to Barter mode instead. After speaking with them, close the trade window and the game should be able to save as usual again. Manually changing the trader to Barter mode won’t do you any good.

Alternatively, you can also speak with the trader who made you unable to save in the first place and, during dialogue, choose the “Trade” option in the bottom left corner (or just pressing Y/Triangle on the controller) instead of picking the dialogue option that would allow you to trade. This should open the trader directly in Barter mode, which should fix your saving issues.

As a final note, it’s also related that freeing some space on your hard disc may help fix the issue, so look for files and programs you don’t need anymore and start deleting them. There seems to be less confirmation for this method, but it doesn’t hurt to try. In the worst case, you now have some extra free space on your PC.

This problem seems to be less frequent as of now, but Error Code 516 “Failed to Save” might still be haunting some players from time to time. Fortunately, you won’t have to start from a fresh file once again. Although there are always a lot of reasons to do so in this game.