How to use Steam Cloud to store your game data online

One of the many useful functions of Steam is the so-called Steam Cloud. It stores your client and game data in the cloud, which means you can log into your Steam account on different computers and pick up where you left off.

We’re going to explain a bit more about how the Steam Cloud can help you, how to manage your files, and how to deal with any problems you may encounter.

What is the vapor cloud?

As mentioned, the Steam Cloud is a system that stores game and platform data on Valve’s servers. Games can use the Steam Cloud to store settings, games, profile stats and more. The Steam client uses it for items like library collections, friend nicknames, and settings.

While this data is also stored locally, storing it in the cloud gives you redundancy. If your computer fails, you can log into your Steam account on a new system and recover those important files.

It also means you can switch between systems seamlessly. For example, if you switch to Valve’s Steam Deck from your PC, you don’t have to manually transfer saved game files. This happens automatically in the background thanks to the Steam Cloud and you can continue the game from where you left off.

How to tell if a game supports the Steam Cloud

To view all games on Steam that support the Steam Cloud, you can use Steam search. On the right below Narrow down by functionuse steam cloud.

At the time of writing, over 33,500 games on Steam support the Steam Cloud. While developers are encouraged to integrate Steam Cloud into their games, it’s not mandatory – meaning over 85,000 games don’t.

If you’re wondering if a game you’re about to purchase supports the Steam Cloud, see the product details on the right-hand side. It will be listed in the section that also contains information about whether the game has controller support, Steam achievements, Steam workshop integration and so on.

Unfortunately, it does not describe in detail what the exact integration is. You’ll have to contact the developer to find out for sure (perhaps via the Steam forums), although it’s more than likely that at least your saves will be included.

If you have already purchased the game, look for the cloud status label in your library. It appears next to stats like Last played and game time. If you don’t see it, the game doesn’t support the Steam Cloud.

How to activate the Steam Cloud

Steam Cloud is enabled by default, but you can toggle this for your entire account and for individual games.

For all games

1. Open the Steam client.
2. Select from the top menu steam > settings.
3. Select in the left menu cloud.
4. Switch Enable Steam Cloud syncing for applications that support it as needed.
5. click OK.

For single games

1. Open the Steam client and go to library Tab.
2. right click the game for which you want to adjust the Steam Cloud settings.
3. Choose properties.
4. By doing General section, toggle Save games to Steam Cloud for [game name] as needed.

Here’s how to view and download your Steam Cloud data

Your Steam Cloud data is stored in the cloud, of course, but also locally on your computer. Here’s how you can view and download it.

Locally

If you installed Steam in the default location, your cloud files will be saved in this folder:

• Window:

  C:Program Files (x86)Steamuserdata

• MacOS:

  ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata

• Linux:

  ~/.local/share/Steam/userdata

This folder contains subfolders corresponding to the Steam IDs that Steam used on your computer. Check out our guide on how to quickly find your Steam ID if you’re not sure which folder belongs to your account.

Within this folder are other subfolders. Each represents a game on your Steam account, named by its AppID. You can use a website like SteamDB to find out the appID of a game. Files for the Steam client are located in the folder named 7.

Whenever a file is written to or retrieved from the Steam Cloud, it is logged to the following file (again, assuming you used the default Steam install location):

• Window:

  C:Program Files (x86)Steamlogscloud_log.txt

• MacOS:

  ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/logs/cloud_log.txt

• Linux:

  ~/.local/share/Steam/logs/cloud_log.txt

On-line

It’s much easier to manage your Steam Cloud files Steam’s Remote Storage page. This page lists your games in date order from the day you first played them, with the earliest game at the top.

You can see how many files are saved for each game and the total size of those files. click Show files then to see them Download that you need.

How to solve Steam Cloud problems

You may be having an issue where you launch a game and a Steam sync conflict Warning. This means that the local file on your computer does not match the one in the cloud. This usually happens when Steam Cloud failed to sync correctly the last time you played the game, perhaps because your system shut down as expected.

The pop-up tells you when the cloud file and local file were last modified, along with an indication of which is newer. You can then choose which file you want to use when launching the game (probably the latest version, but that’s up to you), or you can cancel – although you’ll get the same prompt the next time you launch the game.

In other cases, you might get a warning that Steam couldn’t sync your files to the cloud. This could be due to an issue with Steam’s servers or connection issues on your end. You can ignore the warning and choose playing gamebut note that this may result in data loss.

If you keep getting Steam Cloud errors, consider resetting your router, temporarily disabling your firewall and antivirus programs, and disconnecting from any VPN.

Never lose your game save data

Unlike some consoles, like the Nintendo Switch, it costs nothing to use the Steam Cloud. It’s a standard feature of the client, and that’s remarkable. Assuming the game supports this feature, it means you’ll never have to go through the frustration of losing your save data.

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