Step 1: Back Up Your Game Saves Regularly
The first step to finding your lost game saves is to back up your game saves regularly. This will ensure that you have a copy of your saves stored safely, so you can restore them if necessary.
- External Hard Drive: One of the easiest ways to back up your game saves is to use an external hard drive. Simply connect the hard drive to your computer, launch Steam, and go to your Games library. From there, you can right-click on a game and select “Properties”. In the Properties window, click on the “Manage” tab, and then select “Backups”. From here, you can choose the location where you want to store your saves, and Steam will automatically backup your game saves at that location.
- Cloud Storage: Another way to back up your game saves is to use cloud storage. Steam has integrated support for several cloud storage services, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive. To back up your game saves using one of these services, simply go to the “Backups” tab in the Properties window, select the service you want to use, and follow the prompts to set up the backup process.
Step 2: Use Steam’s Cloud Sync Feature
If you don’t have an external hard drive or cloud storage, you can still back up your game saves using Steam’s built-in cloud sync feature. This feature allows you to store your game saves on Steam’s servers, so you can access them from any device with an internet connection. To use this feature, simply go to the “Cloud” tab in the Steam client settings, and then enable the “Sync game data” option.
Step 3: Check Your Trash Folder for Deleted Saves
If you’ve already backed up your game saves, and they’re still missing, you can try checking your trash folder on your computer. Sometimes, deleted files can end up in the trash folder, and you may accidentally delete your game saves without realizing it. To check your trash folder on Windows, open the Recycle Bin application, and then search for any files that match the name of your game saves.
Step 4: Use Third-Party Tools to Recover Lost Saves
If none of the above methods work, you can try using third-party tools to recover lost saves. There are several such tools available online, including Photorec, TestDisk, and EaseUS MobiSaver. These tools use advanced algorithms to search for deleted files on your computer, and they may be able to recover your lost game saves even if they’ve been overwritten by other files.
Step 5: Prevent Future Accidents
- Always Save Your Progress Regularly: To avoid losing your game saves in the first place, it’s important to save your progress regularly. This will ensure that you always have a copy of your saves stored safely, so you can restore them if necessary.
- Be Careful When Deleting Files: Before deleting any files on your computer, make sure you know what you’re doing. Sometimes, you may accidentally delete important files that you didn’t mean to, which could lead to data loss.
