Many have come across a situation where, for one reason or another, there is a need to change the device, but I do not want to lose progress in my games. And then a thought may appear in my head that all the files of the game, including the save made during it, must be located somewhere. And if the game does not imply a permanent connection to the Internet, then the saved files should be stored on a PC / mobile device, and by copying them to some storage medium, the game can be launched in the future from the same place where it stopped. So where are the save games stored?
Of course, on a different device, these places are different, as well as the path to them. Therefore, in this article, the most frequent locations of save files on two platforms will be analyzed: PC (Windows) and mobile device (Android).
Where are game saves stored
Basically, on personal computers, game save files are located directly in the game folder. However, this is not always the case: games that require an Internet connection, such as MMORPGs, as well as multiplayer shooters, do not have save files at all. So you should not even try to look for them: all data about the user's account and its progress is saved.
But not all games are in their folders. Where are the game saves stored, if you can’t find them in the folder where the game was installed, does it work? In the semi-local folder Local. There are also games downloaded from large platforms like Steam, BattleNet, as well as from the Ubisoft website. In this case, all game data, including save files, will be in the root folders of these sites. Sometimes it happens that the files of applications installed through a torrent / disk appear here, so you should always check this folder.
In the line with the address you need to write C: \ Users \ <username> \ AppData \ Local. Username - account name. The user will be thrown into the folder in which the files of almost all applications are located.
Where are the games saved on Android
The files for most Android games are in the Data folder. However, this applies only to games and applications downloaded from the Play Market, or without a cache and additional files.
How to get there
In order to get into the Data folder, you need to open the phone files, select the device’s memory and find the Android folder there. It will contain several files, among which is the treasured Data. It stores 90% of application files that can be easily copied. However, when delving into the folders of games, you should be careful: if you delete / cut any file that the game needs, it may not start or dash the progress.
However, sometimes, especially when downloading games not through the Play Market, but from various third-party sites, or if the game needs an additional cache, it may not be on this list. This is because such games create a separate folder for themselves during installation. In this case, where are the save games, except for this folder? They can be located in two places: in the root folder in the device’s memory or in the games tab here.
In this case, the save files are located inside this folder.
How to update save
So, the files are copied and saved, and the device is updated. The user enters the game - and it starts again. How to insert the save game so that to return to the past progress?
Everything is quite simple: you need to add pre-copied files to where the game save files are stored. The path to these places is detailed above. Next, you need to delete all the perfect saves and paste those that were copied from the previous device instead.
Important: if various modifications or additions were installed in the game, they must be installed before transferring the save, otherwise the game runs the risk of flying out and deleting all the files that interfere with it.
If the game has an open world (for example, some kind of sandbox), then it is better to first walk around this world to load it. Otherwise, after a situation is possible when the game hangs, trying to download all the location files that were opened by the player in his old save.