Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We apologize for any inconvenience experienced when trying to play Final Fantasy XIV. The issue you are describing may be related to permissions with regards to the game as well as your local files. Please try the following:

- Go to 'My Documents' > 'My Games' > 'Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn', right click on the folder itself, if it is set as read only, please uncheck that and re-launch Final Fantasy XIV.

- Run the game/Steam as an admin.

- If you are using Windows, 'OneDrive' may be running in the back ground which can cause communication issues as it attempts to resync your files. Please try disabling this program to see if it helps.

- Please make sure that any anti-virus software you have has the appropriate exceptions for the game's install folder.

- Disable any overlays (Geforce Experience, Discord overlay, etc.) that may be present while playing the game. Also make sure to close any other programs that are running alongside the game while playing.

Please note, you may backup your in-game configurations (including macros, gear sets, and hotbars) via the launcher. For more information, please refer to the 'Back Up Configuration Settings' section here:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/game_manual/config/

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!