Save file gone after uninstalling the game?

[kruger5]

It's been years since I played this game, I reinstalled it to check up on my base and my save file is gone. Do saves always disappear when you uninstall the game?

[Tex]

Yes, you uninstalled the game, which means removing it from your system. The saves are part of the game, and every part is removed, so the saves are removed.

[eschnak1472]

SN does not have cloud saves as the files are too big unfortunately, in the future I recommend backing up your saves before uninstalling.

[admiral1018]

This is a Steam-specific issue for Subanutica, and I'm not sure why it hasn't been changed. Steam saves games in the game folder and deletes them on uninstall, whereas Epic saves Subnautica save files in the %appdata% folder and maintains them if you no longer want the game on your system. There's no reason the saves necessarily need to be removed from your machine when you uninstall the game files.

[Coops]

Originally posted by admiral1018:

This is a Steam-specific issue, and I'm not sure why it hasn't been changed. Steam saves games in the game folder and deletes them on uninstall, whereas Epic saves them in the %appdata% folder and maintains them if you no longer want the game on your system. There's no reason the saves necessarily need to be removed from your machine when you uninstall the game files.

That's not always the case. I have several games that save in Users\<name>\Saved Games or Users\<name>\documents folder. I think Unknown Worlds is one of the few that saves in the actual game folder. Others either use local folders outside of Steam or in the cloud.

[Tex]

Originally posted by Coops:

Originally posted by admiral1018:

This is a Steam-specific issue, and I'm not sure why it hasn't been changed. Steam saves games in the game folder and deletes them on uninstall, whereas Epic saves them in the %appdata% folder and maintains them if you no longer want the game on your system. There's no reason the saves necessarily need to be removed from your machine when you uninstall the game files.

That's not always the case. I have several games that save in Users\<name>\Saved Games or Users\<name>\documents folder. I think Unknown Worlds is one of the few that saves in the actual game folder. Others either use local folders outside of Steam or in the cloud.

I prefer it in the game folder, nice to keep everything where it should be. No hunting for files.

[Ancient]

I literally just uninstalled the game today and it did not delete the save files. I just reinstalled it fresh and my saves were still there.

I believe that unless you also manually deleted the contents of the game's cache folder, then the saves should still be there.

They are not part of the "game cache" as Steam sees things as they were created after the installation of the game. Even Steam support says as much for games that use the cache folder tree for saves: "any additional post-install files that were created after install should remain intact after using the Steam Client to uninstall the game".

[Tex]

Originally posted by Ancient:

I literally just uninstalled the game today and it did not delete the save files. I just reinstalled it fresh and my saves were still there.

I believe that unless you also manually deleted the contents of the game's cache folder, then the saves should still be there.

They are not part of the "game cache" as Steam sees things as they were created after the installation of the game. Even Steam support says as much for games that use the cache folder tree for saves: "any additional post-install files that were created after install should remain intact after using the Steam Client to uninstall the game".

Probably because when you uninstall a game on Steam it doesn't delete it all, you need to manually delete the game folder.

[InfraReaper]

Originally posted by The Great Wrapper:

Originally posted by Ancient:

I literally just uninstalled the game today and it did not delete the save files. I just reinstalled it fresh and my saves were still there.

I believe that unless you also manually deleted the contents of the game's cache folder, then the saves should still be there.

They are not part of the "game cache" as Steam sees things as they were created after the installation of the game. Even Steam support says as much for games that use the cache folder tree for saves: "any additional post-install files that were created after install should remain intact after using the Steam Client to uninstall the game".

Probably because when you uninstall a game on Steam it doesn't delete it all, you need to manually delete the game folder.

Interesting 180 you did on this post. It seems like you never really knew the answer.

[Tex]

Originally posted by InfraReaper:

Originally posted by The Great Wrapper:

Probably because when you uninstall a game on Steam it doesn't delete it all, you need to manually delete the game folder.

Interesting 180 you did on this post. It seems like you never really knew the answer.

I do know the answer lmao, it's my first comment. The second comment was a guess as to why it didn't delete their save file when they uninstalled the game. You really need to pay more attention before trying to "gotcha" people.

[TheClosetSkeleton]

Saves should still be there, and even updated. Either you forgot you deleted them or got rid of the subnautica folder in commons.

Saves are not part of the cache install on steam, they'll remain after every unninstallation.

I've been hopping back n forth with month/years in between new playthroughs on this game and every time I re-install it saves are there.

[Tex]

Originally posted by TheClosetSkeleton:

Saves should still be there, and even updated. Either you forgot you deleted them or got rid of the subnautica folder in commons.

Saves are not part of the cache install on steam, they'll remain after every unninstallation.

I've been hopping back n forth with month/years in between new playthroughs on this game and every time I re-install it saves are there.

That;s because they added cloud saves. Saves are in the folder.

[margalus]

Originally posted by The Great Wrapper:

Originally posted by TheClosetSkeleton:

Saves should still be there, and even updated. Either you forgot you deleted them or got rid of the subnautica folder in commons.

Saves are not part of the cache install on steam, they'll remain after every unninstallation.

I've been hopping back n forth with month/years in between new playthroughs on this game and every time I re-install it saves are there.

That;s because they added cloud saves. Saves are in the folder.

Sorry, but you are wrong, as is your first answer. Steam never deletes saves or configs for games when you tell it to uninstall games. It never has. You have always had to manually delete saves if you want them gone.

[Ignis]

I marked the correct post as an answer already.

Steam doesn't delete files it doesn't know. When you install the game, it places the files related to the build in the library folder, and when it uninstalls it removes these files.

Save slot folders are not part of the build, they are created afterward. Therefore, not deleted by Steam. cloud or not.

The fact players sometimes didn't see their save after reinstalling is mostly due to the fact that they reinstalled the game in another library folder or they formatted in-between. Therefore their SNAppData was empty in the new one.

And if you don't believe it, you can easily disable the cloud and try by yourself.

The cloud adds another level as they'll be synchronized in the new library folder even if it isn't the same as the first installation.

It's time to lock this old thread.