The short version
Look in a mirror
Since patch 0.1.5, a Para can freely re-edit their own appearance by using any mirror, or by visiting the hospital or the pharmacy. That covers everything in the Paramaker except relationship labels, personality and lifestage. Personality needs RESETPERSONALITY from the console and lifestage needs SETAGE; both are destructive. And whatever you change, the genetics your children inherit stay as they were at creation.
The primary source
What the studio actually wrote
One line in the 0.1.5 patch notes, published 2 July 2026, is the entire official record. It is worth reading in full because the exclusions are stated precisely:
Edit Appearance: Players will now be able to freely edit their Paras by looking into a mirror or by going to the hospital and pharmacy. This includes all options available in the Paramaker except for labels, personalities, and lifestages.
Note the word 'freely' — there is no cost, no cooldown and no unlock. Note also that this line predates nothing else on the subject: the studio has not revisited it since, so anything beyond these three exclusions is community observation rather than official text.
Where
Six routes back into the editor
Three of these reopen the whole appearance editor and three cover a slice of it. The partial routes were documented before 0.1.5, so their scope may have widened without an announcement.
| Route | Scope | How it works | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any mirror | Full appearance | Click a mirror the Para can reach and take the edit interaction. Fastest route, and it needs nothing but a mirror on the lot. | 0.1.5 |
| The hospital | Full appearance | The same full editor as the mirror. Handy when you are already out in town, or when the household has not bought a mirror yet. | 0.1.5 |
| The pharmacy | Full appearance | The third full-editor location, added by the same patch as the other two. | 0.1.5 |
| A dresser | Partial | Makeup and outfits. This was the in-world route before 0.1.5 widened things, and the studio has not said whether its scope changed since. | Launch |
| The hair salon | Partial | A 2025 dev chat described going in person as how you change a haircut. Since 0.1.5 a mirror covers hair too, so treat the salon as flavour rather than a requirement. | Launch |
| Edit Household | Full appearance | Before a household moves in, this reopens the Paramaker with nothing locked. Once they are settled in town, use one of the routes above. | Launch |
Editing a Para with a mirror
The fastest route, start to finish. Any mirror on the lot works, including the cheap ones.
- 1
Select the Para you want to change
It has to be the Para doing the looking. You cannot edit a housemate by walking someone else up to the mirror.
- 2
Click a reachable mirror
If nothing happens, the usual cause is pathing — the mirror is behind furniture or on a wall the Para cannot get to. Buy a cheap one and place it in an open bathroom wall.
- 3
Take the edit interaction
The Paramaker opens on the Appearance tab with the Para already loaded. Clothing works here too, so this doubles as a wardrobe.
- 4
Confirm with the checkmark
The blue checkmark commits and returns you to Live Mode. Ctrl+Z still works while you are inside, so a bad slider drag is not a reason to back out entirely.
What stays locked
Three things, and the patch notes name all three. Anything a guide tells you about editing these in-world is wrong.
Relationship labels
Who this Para is to everyone else stays where the relationship system put it. The editor will not rewrite it.
Personality
Stats, Vibe, Social perk, Talent and Lifestyles are all fixed. The only way back in is RESETPERSONALITY from the console, which drops the Para to level 1 and clears every upgrade.
Lifestage
Age is chosen once and then only moves forward on its own. Changing it needs SETAGE from the console.
Editing appearance does not edit genetics
This trips people up. Genetics are set in stone the moment a Para is created. If you dye a Para's hair from black to blonde at a mirror, black remains the colour coded into their genes and black is what can appear in their children. The same applies to anything you change later — the editor changes what the Para looks like, not what they carry. It is worth getting a Para's natural colours right at creation if you plan on generations.
Body, face and heightThe console route
EDITCHARACTER reopens the Paramaker for the active household and predates the mirror route. It is still the fastest way to edit several Paras in one go, and it is the only in-game route that does not require the Para to walk anywhere. Open the console with Ctrl+F1, or Cmd+F1 on a Mac.
EDITCHARACTERCREATECHARACTER <model>LEVELUPPERSONALITYRESETPERSONALITYSETAGE <age>LEARNALLSKINS <category>
Two of these are flagged high risk in our command index. RESETPERSONALITY drops the Para to level 1 and clears every trait choice and upgrade they have earned; SETAGE rewrites a value the interface deliberately locks. Copy the save before either. Paralives ships no Steam achievements, so nothing here can lock one — the risk is entirely to your own save.
The mod this replaced
Before 0.1.5, Customize Para After Creation was one of the most subscribed items on the Paralives Workshop, because the base game genuinely had no answer to this. The patch made it redundant, which is a pattern worth watching: the mods that top the Workshop charts are mostly quality-of-life fixes, and the studio has been steadily absorbing them.
Questions about editing Paras
- How do you edit a Para after creating them in Paralives?
- Use any mirror on the lot, or visit the hospital or pharmacy. Patch 0.1.5 made this free and unlimited. It covers everything in the Paramaker except relationship labels, personality and lifestage.
- What is the EDITCHARACTER cheat in Paralives?
- A console command that reopens the Paramaker for the active household. Open the console with Ctrl+F1 (Cmd+F1 on Mac) and type it. It is still useful for editing several Paras at once, though the mirror route covers most cases now.
- Can you change a Para's personality after creation?
- Not through the mirror — the patch notes exclude personality by name. RESETPERSONALITY in the console will clear it, but it also drops the Para to level 1 and wipes every upgrade they have earned, so copy the save first.
- Can you change a Para's age or lifestage?
- Not in the interface. SETAGE is the only route and our command index rates it high risk. Left alone, lifestage advances on its own as the Para ages.
- Do you still need a mod to customise a Para after creation?
- No. Customize Para After Creation was near the top of the Workshop subscription charts for exactly this reason, and patch 0.1.5 built the feature into the base game.
- Does changing a Para's hair colour change what their children inherit?
- No. Genetics lock at creation. The original base colour stays coded as the genetic value no matter how often you re-dye at a mirror.
Keep reading
Related pages
The Paramaker, tab by tab
What the editor contains, so you know what you are reopening.
Body, face and height
The tab the mirror reopens, plus the genetics rules in detail.
Console command index
EDITCHARACTER, RESETPERSONALITY, SETAGE and the rest, with risk ratings.
Opening the cheat console
Ctrl+F1, or Cmd+F1 on a Mac, and what to type first.
Installing mods
Workshop basics, for the CC that adds hair and clothing to the editor.
Patch history
The full version chronicle, including everything else 0.1.5 changed.
Editing routes checked against the 0.1.5 patch notes and 0.1.7c on 27 July 2026.