While the phrase "steam deject" may conjure up images of a boiling kettle or an quondam-timey railroad train, when information technology comes to video games it's a killer feature of the largest PC gaming platform. If you game on Steam, you lot'll definitely want to know how to utilize Steam Cloud game saves. When things go wrong, you'll exist glad your precious hours of progress are safely stored where no ane can delete them.

What Are Steam Deject Saves?

Games that you purchase and download through Steam can upload and download salve game files to Steam'south servers. In other words, if you lose your reckoner's data, set up a new computer or play your Steam games on multiple computers, y'all can call up your latest save game via the cyberspace.

When y'all uninstall a game then reinstall information technology at a later date, your salve games will be restored likewise. In general, Steam Cloud saves permit you forget about your salvage data and only get on with gaming.

Does Every Game Support Steam Cloud Saves?

Not every game on Steam supports cloud saves. This is something that's left up to the developer. All games don't work the same either. Developers get to choose what data is uploaded and what isn't. If you want to know if a Steam game supports cloud saves, simply become to its shop folio and check if the Steam Cloud logo is under the list of game features.

Ensuring Cloud Saves Are Active for Your Game

It'due south possible to disable cloud saves for all games on a given Steam figurer. You can also enable or disable the feature for individual games equally well. If your game supports Steam Deject saves merely isn't syncing, you can check if the feature is enabled with ease.

To check the global cloud save settings:

  1. Open Steam.
  2. Select Steam > Settings.
  3. Switch to the Cloud tab.
  4. Ensure that Enable Steam Deject synchronization for applications which support it is toggled to your preference.
  1. Select OK.

To cheque cloud save status for individual games:

  1. Open Steam.
  2. Go to your Steam library.

[4 Steam Library i.jpg]

  1. Right-click on the game in question.
  2. Select Properties.
  1. Switch to the Full general tab.
  2. Check that cloud synchronization is toggled according to your preference.

Over again, not all games have the Steam Cloud save feature, so if you don't see that choice for an private game, it probably doesn't support information technology. Nosotros encourage yous to brand manual backups of your save game data in that case.

Finding Downloaded Steam Deject Saves on Your PC

Speaking of making transmission backups,y'all can actually access the local re-create of your cloud saves on the local machine. As long as you know the folder locations, of course:

  • PC: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Back up/Steam/userdata
  • Linux: ~/.local/share/Steam/userdata

But remember that these are the default locations where cloud salve data is stored locally. If you lot specified a custom folder when you installed Steam, you need to go to that folder instead.

Within these folders, yous'll find the saves stored according to Steam App ID. This is a unique number that corresponds with a game's catalogue number in the Steam store. You lot can easily find which ID goes with which game by entering the ID number on SteamDB.

What to Do with Steam Cloud Save Conflicts

Sometimes, yous'll go an error bulletin from Steam that at that place'southward a conflict between the salve game stored on your local computer and the ane that Steam has on their server. This usually happens because you progressed on ii different versions of the same save game file.

Virtually of the time, the correct selection is merely to pick the most recently modified version of the file, but in some cases that may actually non be the salve you want. Just to be safe, we recommend choosing to cancel the cloud sync conflict the first fourth dimension yous come across it.

At present go brand a backup of the local file using the folder locations we but discussed in the previous section. If it turns out that the local files were the ones that you should have kept, you lot tin get back and supersede them manually.

Manually Download Your Steam Cloud Saves

Another cracking choice is the ability to view and download your Deject Sync files using a spider web browser. Simply get to the View Steam Deject and log into your Steam account if you aren't already.

Hither you can encounter every individual game file that'southward stored in your Steam Deject Sync account. All you have to do is select the download button and yous have a copy for yourself. This is useful for using save files with other versions of a game and to apace make a backup of the deject files before they are removed in a sync conflict resolution equally nosotros just saw.

But bear in heed that more than than save game files are stored here. Developers may cull to store other data, such as game configuration files, right alongside your saves. And then make sure you're downloading the right thing!

How to Fix the "Steam Was Unable to Sync" and Other Problems

The final fleck of crucial information you need to go along well with Steam Cloud saves is what to do when things go wrong. Here are some general tips:

  • Check the Steam abode page to see if their servers are down.
  • Restart your modems, routers and computer.
  • Connect to a different network.
  • Check your firewall and antivirus settings.
  • Disable any software that monitors or modifies network traffic to bank check for conflicts.
  • Disable your VPN, Steam doesn't like them and they tin become you lot banned.

Now you lot're armed with all the noesis you need to become the almost out of the Steam Cloud save feature. Which means you tin become back to the all-important job of enjoying your video games.