If you've spent any time building your Palworld base, you've definitely ended up with more Pals than you know what to do with. Maybe you caught 12 Chikipi while hunting for food early on, or grabbed a low-level Lamball that's now useless next to your end-game team. Figuring out how to get rid of Pals in Palworld doesn't have to be confusing, and you don't have to stick with extra Pals cluttering up your Palbox or taking up valuable work slots around your base. We've tested every method to clear out unwanted Pals, so you can pick the one that fits your playstyle and goals.
How to Get Rid of Pals in Palworld: The 4 Core Methods
Not all removal methods are equal, and each has different pros and cons depending on what you want to get out of clearing space. We’ve broken down every official, safe method you can use, no mods or exploits required:
- Release them back into the wild: This is the simplest method for low-level Pals you have no use for. Walk up to the Pal you want to remove, interact with it, and select the "Release" option from the menu. You’ll get a small amount of Pal essence as a bonus, which you can use to upgrade other Pals’ stats later. This works for both Pals in your party and Pals stored in your Palbox.
- Assign them to a different base: If you have multiple bases spread across the map, you can move unwanted Pals to a less active base to handle low-skill tasks like gathering wood or stone. This is a great pick if the Pal has decent work suitability stats that you don’t want to waste, even if it’s not strong enough for your main team.
- Use them for Pal condensation: For Pals that are the same species as one of your favorite strong Pals, you can use them in the Pal condensation process to boost your main Pal’s star rating and stats. This is the most efficient use for duplicate Pals, especially if they have passive skills you don’t want to throw away entirely.
- Sell them to the Pal merchant: If you’re short on gold, you can sell unwanted Pals to wandering merchants or the permanent merchant at the Small Settlement. Higher level Pals with rare passive skills sell for significantly more gold, so this is a great option if you need extra cash for building supplies or new gear.
If you’re not sure which method to pick, start with sorting your Pals by level and work suitability first. Low level Pals with no useful skills are perfect for releasing, while higher level duplicates work best for condensation or selling. You can also keep a small handful of extra Pals on hand for temporary tasks if you’re planning a big base expansion soon.
What to Do Before Removing Pals From Your Roster
You don’t want to accidentally get rid of a Pal you later realize you need, so take a few quick steps before you confirm any removal. First, check the Pal’s passive skills to make sure it doesn’t have a rare trait you can use for breeding later. Even a low level Pal with a 20% work speed boost passive is worth keeping for breeding lines, even if it’s not useful for work or combat on its own.
Second, make sure the Pal isn’t assigned to an active work task at your base. If you try to remove a Pal that’s currently tending to crops or manning a furnace, you’ll get a warning message, but it’s easy to click through and accidentally remove a Pal that’s keeping your base running smoothly. Double check your active work slots before you start clearing out your Palbox.
Sorting through dozens or hundreds of Pals can get tedious fast, especially if you’ve been playing for several hours straight. It’s okay to step away for a few minutes if you start feeling decision fatigue, so you don’t make a mistake you’ll regret later. If you want a quick, low-stakes distraction during that break, you can pull up Spin Winner, a casual quick-play option that lets you unwind without pulling you too far away from your game session.
Finally, if you’re on the fence about a Pal, move it to a separate storage tab in your Palbox first. You can come back to it in a day or two once you’ve decided if you really need it, instead of losing it forever once you release or sell it. Most players keep a "maybe" tab for Pals with rare passives they aren’t ready to use yet, and it cuts down on accidental losses drastically.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Clearing Out Pals
Even experienced Palworld players make mistakes when clearing out their Pals, and some of these mistakes can cost you hours of progress. The most common mistake we see is releasing Pals without checking their work suitability first. A low level Grizzbolt with level 3 handiwork might not be great for combat, but it can cut down the time it takes to craft high level gear by a huge amount.
Another big mistake is selling rare Pals for gold when you could use them for condensation or breeding. Rare Pals like Jetragon or Frostallion are almost never worth selling, even if you have duplicates, because their condensation boosts are far more valuable than the gold you’ll get for them. Only sell rare Pals if you already have multiple max-star versions of the same species, and even then, you might be better off keeping them for breeding lines for other players you play with.
You also don’t want to get rid of too many Pals at once before you have replacements lined up. If you release all of your low level Pals that handle farming and wood gathering, you’ll have no one to run those tasks while you train or catch new Pals to replace them. Replace one Pal at a time to make sure your base keeps running smoothly while you upgrade your roster. It might take a little longer, but you won’t end up with a pile of rotting crops or no fuel for your furnaces.
How to Stop Accumulating Too Many Pals Long Term
Once you’ve cleared out all your unwanted Pals, you can avoid getting stuck with a cluttered Palbox again by setting a few simple rules for yourself when you’re out exploring. First, only catch Pals that you actually need, instead of catching every Pal you see. If you already have three Lamballs with perfect work skills, you don’t need to catch another one just because it walked past you.
Set a hard limit for how many Pals you keep in storage at any given time. Most players find that 50 to 75 stored Pals is more than enough for breeding, backup workers, and combat teams. If you hit that limit, you have to clear out unwanted Pals before you catch any new ones, so you never end up with hundreds of useless Pals cluttering up your storage again. You can adjust this limit up or down depending on how much you enjoy collecting Pals, but having any limit at all will prevent clutter from building up.
You can also set up a regular sorting schedule, like sorting through your Palbox once every in-game week, to clear out any Pals you don’t need before they pile up. This only takes 10 to 15 minutes, and it saves you from having to spend hours sorting through hundreds of Pals later on. If you play with friends, you can even turn it into a group activity, trading unwanted rare Pals with each other instead of releasing them for just a small amount of essence.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get rid of Pals in Palworld is all about finding a system that works for your playstyle. You don’t have to follow every rule we laid out if you prefer to keep a huge collection of Pals for fun, but these methods will help you keep your base running smoothly and your Palbox organized if you don’t want extra clutter. Take your time when sorting through your Pals, don’t rush decisions, and you’ll never have to worry about accidentally getting rid of a Pal you wanted to keep.