If you’ve spent any amount of time exploring Palpagos Island, you’ve probably run into this frustrating problem: you spot a rare, shiny Pal you’ve been chasing for weeks, pull up your Palbox to make space, and realize every single slot is stuffed with random common Pals you caught on a whim. Knowing how to release Pals in Palworld is not just a basic quality of life skill—it also gives you access to valuable rewards that make your entire team stronger, so it’s worth learning the process correctly early on. You don’t have to hoard every Pal you catch, and releasing unwanted ones is actually encouraged by the game’s mechanics, not a punishment for catching too many.
How to Release Pals in Palworld: Exact Step-by-Step Process
Releasing Pals is a straightforward process, but there are a few small hoops you have to jump through to make sure you don’t run into errors. First, open your Palbox either by interacting with the fixed Palbox terminal at your base or opening the portable Palbox tab in your main menu. Navigate to the Pal you want to release, and select it to pull up the action menu. You’ll see a “Release” option near the bottom of the menu, alongside options like move to party, assign to base, and breed.
When you select Release, a confirmation pop-up will appear that shows exactly what rewards you’ll get for letting that Pal go. You can review the rewards before confirming, so you don’t accidentally give up a Pal that would have given you rare items. If you want to release multiple Pals at once, you can use the bulk select feature in the top right corner of the Palbox menu, which saves you a ton of time if you have dozens of common duplicates taking up space.
You can only release Pals that are not assigned to any base task, breeding farm, or riding slot. If you get an error message when trying to release a Pal, head to your base management menu first to unassign it from any jobs, remove it from the breeding farm, or take it out of your ride slot. This is the most common issue new players run into when trying to clear out their Palbox, so it’s an easy fix if you know where to look.
Key Rewards You Get for Releasing Unwanted Pals
Releasing Pals isn’t just about freeing up storage space—you get tangible rewards for every Pal you let go, many of which are hard to find anywhere else in the game. The rewards scale based on the Pal’s level, rarity, and whether you’ve leveled it up yourself, so you’ll get far better rewards for releasing a level 40 rare Pal than a level 2 common Chikipi. Most players don’t realize how valuable these rewards are until they start releasing Pals regularly, so it’s worth making it a part of your routine every time you return to base after a long hunting run.
The most valuable reward you’ll get is Pal Souls, which you use at the Statue of Power to upgrade your Pals’ core stats like max HP, attack, defense, and work speed. Upgrading your main team’s stats with Pal Souls can make them twice as strong in combat, and you can’t get enough Pal Souls from regular gameplay without releasing unwanted Pals. You’ll also get other useful rewards depending on the Pal’s element and type.
- Pal Souls (small, medium, or large, based on Pal rarity and level)
- Small amounts of gold, especially for Pals above level 20
- Rare crafting materials matching the Pal's element (fire Pals drop flame organs, for example)
- Occasional tech points for releasing Pals you have caught 10+ times already
For example, releasing a level 30 Grizzbolt will get you a large Pal Soul, a stack of flame organs, and over 1000 gold, which is way more than you’d get selling it to a merchant. Releasing a rare or high-level Pal gives you far more Pal Souls than releasing a common low-level one, so it’s worth holding onto rare duplicates until you’re sure you don’t need them for breeding, then releasing them for a big reward boost. You can easily get enough Pal Souls to max out a main combat Pal’s attack stat in just a few days of regular hunting and releasing.
When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Release Your Pals
Just because you can release Pals doesn’t mean you should release every single duplicate you catch. There are times when releasing is the best choice, and times when holding onto a Pal will benefit you more later on. First, let’s cover when releasing is the right call: if you have multiple duplicates of common Pals that you have no use for, if you have Pals with terrible passive traits that make them useless for both combat and work, or if you need space for a rare spawn that’s only available for a limited time. You don’t want to miss a Legendary Pal because your box is full of low-level Chikipis you’ll never use.
Now for the times you shouldn’t release a Pal, even if you think you don’t need it right now. Don’t release Pals with unique passive traits like Lucky, which increases item drops, or Legendary, which boosts all stats by 20%. Never release a Pal with a rare passive trait before checking if you can transfer that trait to another Pal via breeding first. You might be able to pass that Lucky trait to a high-damage Pal like Blazamut, making your farming runs way more profitable down the line.
Also don’t release Pals that you use for specific niche tasks, even if they’re low level. A level 10 Digtoise with 4 stars in mining is way more useful for early game ore farming than a high level Pal with no mining skill. If you’re short on space, you can always build extra Palbox storage extensions instead of releasing Pals you might need later, so only release Pals you’re 100% sure you won’t use down the line.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Releasing Pals
Even though releasing Pals is a simple process, there are a few common mistakes that new players make that can cost them valuable Pals or resources. The first and most costly mistake is not locking your favorite Pals before sorting through your box. It’s way too easy to hit select all and release your main combat Pal by accident when you’re in a hurry to catch a rare spawn. Lock your favorite or frequently used Pals first to prevent accidental release, even if you are sorting through your Palbox quickly. Locking a Pal only takes one click, and it will stop you from being able to release it until you unlock it again.
Another common mistake is releasing all duplicates without keeping a small stock for breeding. You might find a perfect Pal later that you want to breed for perfect traits, and having a few duplicates of common Pals with good passives will save you hours of hunting later. Try to keep at least 2 or 3 of each common Pal type with good passive traits in storage, just in case you need them for breeding combinations later.
Third, don’t release Pals without checking the reward preview first. You might accidentally release a rare Pal that would have given you a huge stack of Pal Souls, when you could have released 10 common Pals instead to free up the same amount of space. Double check the Pal's passive traits and level before hitting the confirm release button, as you can't get released Pals back. There’s no undo feature for release, so taking an extra two seconds to confirm is worth it to avoid losing a Pal you worked hard to catch or level up.
The last mistake to avoid is releasing low level Pals when you could use them for synthesis to level up your main team faster. If you’re trying to get your new Legendary Pal from level 1 to 50 quickly, feeding it low level Pals via synthesis is faster than releasing them for small Pal Souls. So choose which option fits your current needs, don’t just release everything by default. If you need stat upgrades more than fast levels, release them, and if you need to level a new Pal fast, use them for synthesis instead.
At the end of the day, mastering how to release Pals in Palworld is one of those small skills that makes your entire playthrough way less stressful. You’ll never have to pass up a rare spawn because your Palbox is full, and you’ll have a steady stream of Pal Souls to power up your favorite team members without grinding for hours. I used to hoard every single Pal I caught for the first 10 hours of my playthrough, convinced I would need them all later. Once I started regularly releasing unwanted Pals, I had enough Pal Souls to max out my main Grizzbolt’s attack stat in two days, and I caught three rare shiny Pals in the same week because I always had empty slots available. Take a few minutes to sort through your Palbox the next time you log on, and you’ll be shocked at how many extra resources you can get just from letting unwanted Pals go back to their natural homes.