Godot export fails with "No export template found at the expected location": the templates that do not upgrade with the Editor

verbatim errorERROR: No export template found at the expected location: /Users/dev/Library/Application Support/Godot/export_templates/4.3.stable/

Problem

The game runs fine from the editor. Project > Export, pick Windows Desktop, hit Export Project, and it refuses:

ERROR: No export template found at the expected location:
  /Users/dev/Library/Application Support/Godot/export_templates/4.3.stable/

The Export dialog offers no download button, and the folder it names either does not exist or contains a 4.2.stable/ directory.

Root cause

Export templates are a separate download from the Editor, version-locked: templates built for Godot 4.2 cannot export a 4.3 project, so every editor upgrade orphans your templates until matching ones are installed. The editor looks for export_templates/<exact editor version>/ and treats any other version as absent.

Two variants of the same failure: (a) a fresh machine that never installed templates at all, and (b) the subtly worse one — an editor installed from a self-compiled or non-standard build (e.g. 4.3.stable.custom_build), which looks for a directory that the official template download never creates.

🔒 the fix — including 4 code blocks — is members-only. $1/mo unlocks everything.