Features
If you searched Steam remote storage, you were almost certainly trying to do one of three things: find a cloud save, delete one, or work out why your progress vanished. Here is how all of it works.
What Steam Cloud actually stores
Steam Cloud (referred to as Remote Storage in your account settings) syncs specific files between your machines: save games, configuration files, and some settings.
Two things worth knowing immediately:
- Not every game supports it. Cloud support is implemented by each developer, so a game without it stores saves only on your local drive.
- What gets synced is decided by the developer, not by you. Some games sync everything, others sync only progress and not settings.
How to view and delete your cloud saves
This is the page most people are actually looking for.
- Go to store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage
- Sign in if prompted
- You will see every game using cloud storage, with file counts and space used
- Click Show Files on any game to see individual files
- From there you can download or delete specific files
Be careful with deletion. Removing a cloud file does not remove the local copy, but if the local copy is then overwritten by an empty cloud state, progress can be lost. Download a copy before deleting anything you might want.
Turning Cloud sync on or off
For one game
Right-click the game in your library, choose Properties → General, and toggle Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud.
For everything
Go to Steam → Settings → Cloud and toggle cloud synchronisation globally.
Turning it off is occasionally useful when a game keeps restoring a broken save, but leaving it on is correct for almost everyone.
The sync conflict message
If Steam reports a conflict, it has found a local save and a cloud save that do not match, and it needs you to choose.
The safe approach: check the timestamps and the machine names before picking. If you played on a laptop last night and are now on your desktop, the newer file is usually the one you want. If you are unsure, choose the newer one — and if it turns out to be wrong, the remote storage page above may still hold the older version.
Why progress disappears
The game does not support Cloud
The most common cause. Check the game store page for the Steam Cloud tag in the features list. If it is absent, saves live only on the machine you played on.
You played offline
Steam queues the sync and uploads when you reconnect. If Steam was closed improperly before that happened, the local save may not have uploaded at all.
You hit the storage quota
Each game has a cloud quota set by the developer. Exceeding it silently stops new files syncing, which is why the remote storage page shows space used per game.
You picked the wrong side of a conflict
Choosing the older file in a conflict overwrites the newer one. This is the most painful and most avoidable cause.
Where local saves actually live
If a game has no cloud support, its saves are usually in one of these:
- Steam userdata folder:
Steam/userdata/[your ID]/[app ID]/ Documents/My Games/AppData/Roaming/orAppData/LocalLow/
Backing up these folders before reinstalling Windows or moving machines is worth the two minutes, because nothing else will do it for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is Steam remote storage?
Steam Remote Storage is the account page where you can view, download and delete your Steam Cloud files. It shows every game using cloud storage along with file counts and space used.
How do I delete Steam cloud saves?
Visit store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage, sign in, click Show Files next to the game, and delete individual files. Download a copy first if there is any chance you will want the progress back.
Why did my Steam cloud save disappear?
The most common reasons are that the game does not support Steam Cloud at all, that you played offline and the sync never completed, that the game exceeded its cloud storage quota, or that you selected the older file when resolving a sync conflict.
How do I turn off Steam Cloud for one game?
Right-click the game in your library, choose Properties then General, and disable Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud.
Does every Steam game use cloud saves?
No. Cloud support is implemented by each developer. Check the store page feature list for the Steam Cloud tag. Without it, saves exist only on your local drive.
For more Steam utilities, see our directory of Steam tools.
