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Steam Cloud overwrote my save

Updated
22 Oct 2026

This page helps you deal with a Steam Cloud sync conflict, or with a save that Steam already overwrote. Before you click anything, back up the save folders you can still see.

Before you choose in the conflict window

When: The Cloud Sync Conflict window is on screen

  1. Don't click either option yet. Write down the dates and times shown for the local and cloud files.

  2. Copy Steam\userdata\<your Steam ID>\<app ID>\ and the game's own save folder to another location as a safety backup. This is our own precaution; Valve's article only tells you to compare the dates.

  3. Pick the side whose timestamp matches your last real play session. If you're unsure, back up first and decide by your in-game progress.

Source

Turn off Steam Cloud for one game

When: You need to stop Steam overwriting local files while you put a backup back

  1. Open your Steam Library, right-click the game and choose Properties.

  2. On the General tab, turn off Cloud Synchronization.

  3. Copy the save files you want to keep into place by hand and launch the game to check. Then turn Cloud back on, and resolve the conflict window if it appears.

Source

If you chose the wrong side

When: The overwrite has already happened

  1. Don't launch the game again until you've looked for other copies.

  2. If you have another PC, launch Steam there so it can sync. Valve points this out.

  3. Check any local backups, OneDrive, File History and the Recycle Bin (see the recover-deleted-saves page), plus the game's own backup files such as .bak.

  4. Open Steam\logs\cloud_log.txt to see what Steam uploaded or downloaded, and when.

Source

What to know

  • The Cloud Sync Conflict window appears when you launch a game and Steam sees that your local files differ from the ones in the cloud. Valve says the file was changed in two places without syncing, possibly on this PC or earlier on another one, so Steam can't choose a version on its own. Source
  • Valve advises picking the most recently modified version, but only after checking the dates and times in the window against your own play history and progress. Source
  • Playing in Offline Mode stops syncing until you go back online, and it's very likely to cause a conflict. Source
  • If Steam says it "unable to sync" and you click Play anyway, local and cloud files can conflict, and you can lose data or progress. Source
  • Steam Support can do little about cloud problems. It says lost saves are unlikely to be recoverable by them, and it can't recover them or settle a cloud conflict for you. Source
  • You can turn Steam Cloud on or off per game or for everything. Per game: Library > right-click the game > Properties > General > Cloud Synchronization. For everything: Steam Settings > Cloud tab > "Enable Steam Cloud Sync for applications that support it". When it's off, progress is saved only on this PC. Source
  • The local copies of your cloud files are in Steam\userdata\<your Steam ID>\<app ID>\. On Windows the default is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata. For example, Dota 2's app ID is 570. Source
  • Steam logs every time it writes files to, or fetches them from, the cloud in cloud_log.txt. On Windows the default folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\logs. Source
  • Steam syncs a game's cloud files before and after every session. On a new PC, the files download before the game launches. Source
  • Developers decide what a game stores in Steam Cloud. A Steam store page shows a Cloud logo if the game uses it. Many games don't use Steam Cloud for saves at all. Source
  • If progress is missing after you moved to another PC, either the sync failed before you closed the game, or an older version got uploaded. The original may still be on the old PC, and launching Steam there may sync it. Source

Mistakes that make it worse

  • Choosing the wrong side overwrites the other copy. Valve says Support generally can't recover lost cloud saves. Source
  • If you turn Steam Cloud off for a game, progress is saved only on that PC. Turning it back on later may itself cause a conflict. This is our reading of how Valve describes conflicts, not a quote. Source
  • A game that uses a moved Saved Games folder may not sync through Steam Auto-Cloud. The game reads %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games, while Auto-Cloud syncs the folder's real location. PCGamingWiki gives Cyberpunk 2077 as an example. Source

Tools people use

  • Ludusavi: Back up your saves by hand before you settle a conflict. Third-party tool: use at your own risk and back up first.

Third-party tools are not ours. Back up first and use them at your own risk.

What we couldn't confirm

  • We couldn't confirm whether Steam keeps older cloud versions you can roll back to. No official page says so, and Valve's article suggests there's no way for you to roll back.
  • The exact button names in the conflict window (such as "Upload to Steam" and "Download from Steam") come from third-party posts, not an official page, so yours may read differently.
  • Valve says the window shows dates and times. We couldn't confirm whether it shows anything else, such as file size.

Game-specific pages