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Step 1: You need to first locate your PlayOnline folder where ever it is installed and find the file for usr > all. Typically the file path is going to look something like this "C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\usr\all". Essentially you are likely going to find it somewhere in your C drive (or w/e drive you install your games).

Step 2: Located in this folder is a file named "login_w.bin". This is the file for PoL that stores your character login info at the PoL screen. Make sure when you are logging into PoL currently, the first 4 characters login that you want to store are the 4 character logins you see at the login page. This is going to be our first "set" of logins we are going to save. Once you verify by going to the login screen those are the correct 4 logins, go ahead and exit out of PoL and right click the "login_w.bin" file and rename it "chars1.bin".

Step 3: Now log back into PoL and (don't panic!) you will see all your character login info has disappeared. This is intentional, as we will use this blank slate to add in the additional character information you could not fit before! Go ahead and add the login info / log in to all the characters you have been stuck guest logging into this whole time until you have them all saved (you can fill up all 4 slots if you wish or even just do 1). Once you confirm that the PoL login page has all the character character login info for the 2nd set of characters, go ahead and exit PoL completely.

Step 4: Now we are going to head back to the PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\usr\all folder and you will see that the "login_w.bin" has returned. This is the new set of logins you just created. Go ahead and right click the "login_w.bin" file and rename it "chars2.bin" just like before to create a 2nd chars file.

Step 5: Next log back into PoL one more time and verify that once again all your character log in info is missing. This will now recreate a blank "login_w.bin", which is what we want for the final part of the puzzle in the next step. Go ahead and exit PoL completely out.

Step 6: To make this work we need to create 2 bat files that, when we run them, are going to replace the blank "login_w.bin" with either "chars1.bin" or "chars2.bin". This way before we log into PoL, we run those files (or scripts) to change what list of login characters we will be presented with when we go into PoL. In the PlayOnline\SquareEnix\PlayOnlineViewer\usr\all we have been working in, right click in any of the open space and select "New > Text Document". Go ahead and right click the "New Text Document.txt" file and rename it "Chars1.bat". It is very important that you change the .txt to a .bat and that the file type changes. You may get a popup alerting you that the file type is changing from a txt to a bat file, just accept it.

Step 7: Right click the "Chars1.bat" file and select edit to open it in your default txt editing program. It is here we are going to past the code to make the bat file do its magic. Inside the text file copy and past the following exactly into the "Chars1.bat" and save it:
Yes you need the word copy, followed by the link of of what file location the "chars1.bin" is and the "login_w.bin" is. IMPORTANT! IF YOUR FILE PATH DIFFERS FROM THIS aka if you file path for PlayOnline is not in C:\Program Files (x86) you will have to edit those file paths in the quote before you paste them into the "Chars1.bat" file for this to work. This is what messes a lot of people up on this step.

Step 8: Now we need to make a 2nd .bat file for the other PoL login set. The easiest way to do this will be to just copy the first on you just made. So go ahead and right click the "Chars1.bat" file and select copy and paste a new one in the folder. Rename the new one "Chars2.bat" and then right click that new "Chars2.bat" file and select edit. We just need to edit the test to change the part where it says "chars1" to "chars2", but the full test that is in "Chars2.bat" should look like this for reference:
REMEMBER to double check the file location if needed like we did for "Chars1.bat" in the previous step.

Step 9: Next we want to create some shortcuts for these .bat files to put them in a more useable location. Some people like them on their desktop, but I prefer them right in my Window4 file since there is where I'm launching my game anyways. Start by right clicking the "Chars1.bat" file and select "create shortcut". Note that it may not let you make a shortcut in this folder and might force you to create it on the desktop, that is ok just remember that is where it ended up. Next do the same for the other .bat file by right clicking "Chars2.bat" selecting "create shortcut". You should get two files that say "Chars1.bat - Shortcut" and "Chars2.bat - Shortcut" You can move these files to where ever is most convenient for you! I recommend having them in the same place you launch PoL or Windower.

Step 10: We are now finished! To get the "Chars1.bat - Shortcut" and "Chars2.bat - Shortcut" files to swap your login profiles, just right click one (making sure you are not logged into PoL at all, actual Final Fantasy is fine though) and select "Run as Administrator". It is very important to run these files as Admin or they will NOT swap the login info. There you have it! If you need to log in with the first four characters you set up in PoL, Run "Chars1.bat - Shortcut" as Admin and open PoL to find those 4 characters info saved, if you need to access the others Run "Chars2.bat - Shortcut" as Admin and open PoL to find the rest of your characters info saved. The best thing about this is in theory you can keep going and do a chars3, chars4, etc and have as many profiles as you would like!

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments to make the guide better you can message me @MothMan on our FFXI community discord!

Also special shoutout to @Kanryu of Ragnarok for his original reddit comment that helped inspire this detailed guide.