Where your files live

Everything Creator writes, and where. Your maps go wherever you save them; everything else has a fixed home, and FILE > Show Map Folder opens the one your current map is in.

What	Where
Your maps	Wherever you saved them. The first Ctrl+S writes <name>.saved.map beside the map you opened; from then on that file is your map (first in RECENT MAPS, and later saves update it). FILE > Save Map As picks another name or folder. A new or generated map has no file yet, so its first Ctrl+S asks where to save it, starting in Documents\Creator\Maps.
New-map scratch file	%LOCALAPPDATA%\RustCreator\scratch\<number>\Untitled.map, the blank starting island a new or generated map opens. One file per open Creator window, in a folder named for that window’s process number, replaced by that window’s next new map and removed when Creator next starts after the window has closed.
Sidecar data	A file beside your .map, holding the app-only layers (trigger volumes, custom-prefab data). Keep it with the map when you move or share it.
Content snapshot (Rust’s art, copied from your install)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\RustCreator\content\<buildid>\, about 50 GB each
Autosaves (rotating safety copies)	<persistent data>\Autosave\autosave_N.map, 5 slots every 5 minutes by default, both configurable in Preferences > GENERAL
Crash copies (unsaved work saved on the way down)	<persistent data>\Autosave\emergency_<date>-<time>.map, beside the autosaves and never rotated over. Each recovery copy has a .meta.json beside it naming the map, the time and the edit count.
Screenshots (the F12 viewport shot)	Pictures\Rust Creator
Diagnostic runs (the F9 harness)	Desktop\RustCreatorDiag\run-<stamp>\, holding report.txt, the PNGs and the player log
Support bundles	Desktop\Creator-support-<date>-<time>.zip
Logs	HELP > Open logs folder opens it.
Quit record (how far each window got while closing)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\RustCreator\quit-trail\<number>.txt, one small file per window, named for its process number; the newest 64 are kept

A save is refused, with a message saying why, while a map is still loading or generating; save again once it finishes.

Why some folders still say “RustCreator”

The app was renamed to Creator, and the folder names were deliberately left alone: changing them would strand everybody’s existing settings, snapshots and screenshots. So RustCreator and Rust Creator in a path are the same app you are running, and the paths above are the current ones.

Moving a map to another PC, or to a server

Take the .map and its sidecar file. The map is the standard Rust file, and it also carries Creator’s own blocks inside it, which is what the server extension reads on the server. The sidecar holds the editor-side layers beside it. A map without its sidecar still loads and still plays; you just lose the parts of your working state that lived in the sidecar, so keep the two together.