How to Move Rooms in Fallout Shelter A Quick Guide: Read This in 60 Seconds: Expert Tips for Room Relocation

Moving rooms in Fallout Shelter is a common question for players looking to optimize their Vault layout. Surprisingly, Fallout Shelter does not allow you to directly move rooms once they are built. Instead, you can only demolish rooms at the far left or right ends of each floor. This means rearranging your shelter requires careful planning or a sequence of demolitions and rebuilding to achieve your desired layout. To "move" a room, you’ll need to:

1. Demolish rooms: Only empty rooms at the ends of a floor can be demolished (no Dwellers inside, not merging two rooms together).
2. Rebuild rooms in your preferred location: Once you’ve cleared space, you can reconstruct the desired room type in the new location.
3. Relocate Dwellers: After rebuilding, assign your Dwellers to the new room.

Since you can’t shift rooms like puzzle pieces, advanced Vault planning is critical. As a designer, I recommend visualizing your ideal Vault arrangement before construction. Group functional rooms such as power generators and water treatment together, leaving expansion zones at the ends for future edits. Digital tools, especially purpose-built room planner platforms, can help you sketch and revise your layouts, avoiding costly mistakes in-game or in real life.

Tips 1:

Plan your Vault horizontally — place matching rooms adjacent to each other for efficiency. Always keep at least one end room empty when expanding, to maintain flexibility for future changes. Use placeholders for rooms you might want to move, so you’re not forced to demolish vital resources later.

FAQ

Q: Can you move rooms directly in Fallout Shelter?

A: No, you cannot move rooms directly. You must demolish and rebuild.

Q: What rooms should I build first for efficient layout?

A: Focus on essential resource rooms (power, water, food), then group them logically for Synergy bonuses.

Q: How do I demolish a room?

A: Tap the room at the floor’s end, ensure it’s empty, and select the demolish icon. You cannot demolish merged or occupied rooms.

Q: Do you get full resources back when demolishing rooms?

A: No, demolishing a room returns only a portion of the original cost. Plan carefully to avoid avoidable loss.

Q: Are there any external tools to help design my Vault’s layout?

A: Yes! Room design and planning tools can assist with both real and virtual designs, allowing for better planning before you build.