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I've already seen this question and this one, but neither explicitly tells me whether a particular game syncs saved game files to the Steam Cloud.

Do all Steam games with Steam Cloud enabled automatically sync your saved games?
Are there some games that don't?
How can I tell which are which?

I ask because I'm about to go on a bloodthirsty purge of my locally-installed Steam games, and I don't want to lose my saves. The Steam Cloud seems like a perfect option (redownload the game, get all your saves back at the same time), but I don't want to accidentally delete a game and then later discover "Oh, by the way, we didn't sync your saves, but we did sync your graphics preferences! Ha ha!"

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Steve V.
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5 Answers5

21

Currently, after latest games library UI update (November 2019), you can find that in game details:

  1. Select a game on the list
  2. Click 'Show more details' button
  3. If the game supports Cloud Saves, the appropriate information will be listed in details somewhere under the button enter image description here
miszczu
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  • Is this 100% correct? For example, I have Dark Souls: Remastered which supports cloud saves (I've used them), but it doesn't have the icon there. – igg Dec 25 '19 at 08:36
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    @IraklisGkougkousis: Interesting.Well, either the info is missing on Steam for this game or DS:R is using some other solution for saving to cloud. – miszczu Jan 13 '20 at 20:43
  • ARK Survival Evolved has the Cloud Saves entry, but doesn't use the cloud at all. Yup, we can't trust it. Damn. – Jürgen A. Erhard Apr 25 '23 at 14:57
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    It's worth noting that many modern games will support cloud saves through their own online services, and therefore not needing Steam's cloud save feature, and that these won't show up as supporting cloud saves here. For example, any game in which you have to have an account with the game publisher to play. Free to play games or any games where you maintain a player character on the publisher's server are a big example of this.

    Steam cloud saves basically work by taking a game that doesn't sync its progress with the server but instead stores is locally, and syncs those local files for it

     – AceStar Apr 28 '23 at 06:27
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In the sidebar in a game's store page you can find this kind of information about what Steam features a game supports.

In the sidebar you can find this kind of information about what Steam features a game supports

Not all games support Steam Cloud. If you are worried about these games' save files, you could use a tool that finds all game save files and make a backup of them for you. It's called GameSave Manager

Wai Wong
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One way to tell is to find the game's remote folder in your steam userdata. I find the easiest way to figure out which game is the right one is to launch it, save your game, and exit. Then sort the folders by last updated date. This is my steam userdata folder for UnEpic G:\Steam\userdata\XXXXXXXX\233980 (the X's will be digits that are your steam account id or something.)

Once in this folder check out the contents of the remote folder. This is where the files synced to steamcloud are stored. You may be able to identify what information is being synced by the contents of this folder. For example, UnEpic has the following.

G:\Steam\userdata\XXXXXXXX\233980\remote
\save (folder with game_0.sav in it)
\config.cfg
\retos.bin

It appears this game saves your savegame files, configuration, and another unkown file.

Dustin Cowles
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If you go to your library and enble the List View, you can then Right-Click on a game with the cloud icon, under Properties -> Updates, you will see a check box to sync 'your experience'.

There is also a check box under Settings --> Cloud.

Sabremoe
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    But does this tell me if saved games are synced, or just that something is synced? – Steve V. May 01 '13 at 02:58
  • ARK Survival Evolved (the example I ran into today) does have all these trappings, but does NOT save anything(!) into the Cloud. Yes, Studio Wildcard is infamous… – Jürgen A. Erhard Apr 25 '23 at 14:59
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If you go to the store page of some game, you can see in the right column if it uses Steam Cloud or not, below of Metascore and. For example:

Orcs must die! has the icon of a cloud and the phrase "Steam Cloud".

Natural Selection 2 not.

Armaggedon
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    Yes but does that mean that it definitely syncs saved games or just that it syncs something? – Steve V. Oct 16 '12 at 17:06
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    Syncs saved games and preferences. Read it here, third paragraph. – Armaggedon Oct 16 '12 at 18:02
  • Wrong. Check ARK Survival Evolved. It has everything you mention, but saves NOTHING into the Cloud. And please, replace that WP link with https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/68D2-35AB-09A9-7678 – Jürgen A. Erhard Apr 25 '23 at 15:03
  • If the icon is present, it means it syncs game progress, settings and saves where applicable. It would not make sense to implement any steam cloud sync for a game if these can't be included (but, if there is an exception out there, then so be it).

    If the icon is not present, it doesn't mean that these aren't synced, just that Steam doesn't do it. The game's publisher may have its own sync feature.

     – AceStar Apr 28 '23 at 06:29