Copy and move planets Save

Cut and paste planets to move them to another system. Copy and paste them to add new planets, in the same save or another one.

Move planets to another system

In a save, you can move planets and moons to another system. Click a planet in the system view, then Ctrl- or Shift-click more to add them. Right-click one of them and select Cut, or press Ctrl+X. The planets stay where they are for now. They are dimmed with a dashed outline, and a bar at the top of the map says what you're moving. Press Esc to cancel.

You can move a colony or a station into another empire's system. The game then gives it to that empire. A station changes owner when the save loads. A colony changes owner about a month later, through an event. The Paste item warns you when this will happen. A colony moved into space no one owns stays yours.

To paste, right-click another system on the galaxy map, or right-click empty space in that system's view, and select Paste. Ctrl+V pastes into the system you're viewing, or into the one system selected on the galaxy map. A single planet goes where you right-clicked, or where the pointer is. Several planets go into the next free orbits past the system's outermost planet. The whole move is one edit, so one undo puts it all back.

• A planet takes its moons with it. A moon you cut on its own becomes a planet in the new system.
• A planet takes its own mining or research station with it. Other fleets stay where they are, even if they're parked at the planet.
• Planets keep their names, so Meissa II can end up in Gilprim.
• Stars, planets with a megastructure, such as a habitat or an arc furnace, and occupied planets can't be moved.
• Ring world sections can't be cut or copied. Their menu has no Cut or Copy. A ring world can only be deleted whole: see Delete a ring world.

To move a single planet, you can also use the System field on its page. Type a system's name and pick it from the list. The nearest systems come first.

Copy planets

In a save, you can copy planets and paste them as new ones. Select planets in the system view, right-click one of them and select Copy, or press Ctrl+C. A bar at the top of the map says what you copied. Press Esc to clear it.

Paste a copy the same way as a move: select Paste from the right-click menu, or press Ctrl+V. A single planet goes where you right-clicked, or where the pointer is. Several planets line up outward from where you pasted. You can paste into the system you copied from, and paste the same copy as often as you like. Each paste is one edit.

• A copy keeps the planet's class, size, look, ring, deposits and modifiers. Its moons come with it. A moon you copy on its own becomes a planet.
• A copy has no colony, station, anomaly or archaeological site.
• Copied planets are still there to paste after you open another save. Closing the app clears them.
• A pasted planet with a numbered name, such as Meissa II, takes the next number in its new system.
• Stars, ring world sections and planets with a megastructure can't be copied, and saves from before Stellaris 4.0 can't take a copy.