Is it possible to turn off steam cloud saving?

[Natt]

I won't have a internet connection for a while as i'm going camping, but i know ( from previous experience ) that if you go offline you can't acces cloud saves. Feedback would be appreciated.

[Bumbefly (we/All)]

When you leave Cloud Storage enabled and play offline, next time you playe online the games should give you the option to either upload from your computer to the cloud or download to your computer from the cloud. Not all games have that option implemented i must add or sometimes it can be bugged.

So you don't need to dis-able the feature. If you realy want to disable it, you can do that for all games at once in
(left top corner) Steam -> (dropdown menu) Settings -> (pop-up window) Cloud.

Furthermore, you can en-/dis-able it per game via
Library -> rightclick {Game} -> (pop-up menu) Properties -> (pop-up window) tab Updates.

[onurguzel16]

Originally posted by Bumbefly Sony Test םו:

When you leave Cloud Storage enabled and play offline, next time you playe online the games should give you the option to either upload from your computer to the cloud or download to your computer from the cloud. Not all games have that option implemented i must add or sometimes it can be bugged.

So you don't need to dis-able the feature. If you realy want to disable it, you can do that for all games at once in
(left top corner) Steam -> (dropdown menu) Settings -> (pop-up window) Cloud.

Furthermore, you can en-/dis-able it per game via
Library -> rightclick {Game} -> (pop-up menu) Properties -> (pop-up window) tab Updates.

Hi friend,
At this point I would like to ask 2 questions here.

1) Although I disabled Steam Cloud from Steam main settings menu globally, some games like Left 4 Dead 2 has also their own Steam Cloud (by default enabled) setting in-game menu as option. Which setting such games will rely on? Steam or in-game cloud setting?

2) Although I disabled Steam Cloud again globally for all games, when I right click a game and view properties, I see small amount of cloud space seems to be used by the game. How can this be? I only uploaded a few screenshots with the corresponding game but the total size doesn't match there, so it must be something different.

Hope you can help.

Best regards.

[Bumbefly (we/All)]

1) Game specific settings should overrule global settings.

2) I actually don't know this.

[LILI]

for point 2, there are 3 types of uploads to the cloud (sorry for my approximate English):

- the manual saved games (0 if you have not yet saved a game by yourself)

- the automated saved games: it can be an "autosave", "quicksave", done at start of a game, or before end of turn, etc. All done by the software as soon as you enter a game, even without doing anything but exiting this game or even tutorial. Each game has its own rule concerning this. Keep also in mind that it will take also into account the game mode. By instance, "iron mode" in a game supporting it (no save, or only 1 or hardcore mode: you die you loose all saved games) will erase your cloud if you fail.

- the initialization data for the cloud: it can store your saved games, but also complementary data, such as a setting, a preference, a game layout (interface), so then you experience the same game with same interface/settings which is the very point for a Cloud. It won't store much video data (screen/display settings) as it can be very different across your devices, but mostly interface layout (I want this minimap larger, but not the log on op left, etc,...).

Each and every game will behave in a different way.

Now, the question is : how to erase the data in the cloud. You cannot do it 100%.

You can erase the saved games from within the game if it is linked with its cloud: It is mostly a 1 by 1 process, very painful for games where you made a LOT of saves (ex, a long RPG like Skyrim, or a difficult turn-by-turn game like GC3 or HOI4/CK2/EU4, etc etc..). Erasing using the game interface will force the (de)synchronization for each file.

You can also manually delete the files in your computer, allowing bulk erasing. But do not do this with game closed as, when it will be open again, the cloud will of course resynchronize and re-install the just-deleted files !
Use Alt+Tab when in-game (so the link is alive with cloud), and delete.
Do it and test how the game synchronization responds to your cleaning action ... Beware that, depending on external factors (Cloud directly monitored by Steam, or editor's cloud, or delayed/mirror cloud, etc), deleting directly the files in your saved game folder can have a different effect and you need to test the best time for direct deletion: launcher closed/game closed/game launcher open/main game interface/in-game playing...

Finally, just de-activate like "Bumbefly Sony Test" says above, and wait.
It is best in this case to, 1st, de-activate individually using the properties for EACH game, as it will signal Steam that you do NOT want a cloud for this game. Easier understanding for the internal Steam's database monitoring tool.
Using the global Settings/Cloud option can bypass the cleaning flag, or make it harder for Steam for knowing if you really want no cloud (and its data) for later...
Steam will clean the data after a (long) while if the game has not been played. To be honest, I think it is more year(s) than days !

[Natt]

Originally posted by LILI:

for point 2, there are 3 types of uploads to the cloud (sorry for my approximate English):

- the manual saved games (0 if you have not yet saved a game by yourself)

- the automated saved games: it can be an "autosave", "quicksave", done at start of a game, or before end of turn, etc. All done by the software as soon as you enter a game, even without doing anything but exiting this game or even tutorial. Each game has its own rule concerning this. Keep also in mind that it will take also into account the game mode. By instance, "iron mode" in a game supporting it (no save, or only 1 or hardcore mode: you die you loose all saved games) will erase your cloud if you fail.

- the initialization data for the cloud: it can store your saved games, but also complementary data, such as a setting, a preference, a game layout (interface), so then you experience the same game with same interface/settings which is the very point for a Cloud. It won't store much video data (screen/display settings) as it can be very different across your devices, but mostly interface layout (I want this minimap larger, but not the log on op left, etc,...).

Each and every game will behave in a different way.

Now, the question is : how to erase the data in the cloud. You cannot do it 100%.

You can erase the saved games from within the game if it is linked with its cloud: It is mostly a 1 by 1 process, very painful for games where you made a LOT of saves (ex, a long RPG like Skyrim, or a difficult turn-by-turn game like GC3 or HOI4/CK2/EU4, etc etc..). Erasing using the game interface will force the (de)synchronization for each file.

You can also manually delete the files in your computer, allowing bulk erasing. But do not do this with game closed as, when it will be open again, the cloud will of course resynchronize and re-install the just-deleted files !
Use Alt+Tab when in-game (so the link is alive with cloud), and delete.
Do it and test how the game synchronization responds to your cleaning action ... Beware that, depending on external factors (Cloud directly monitored by Steam, or editor's cloud, or delayed/mirror cloud, etc), deleting directly the files in your saved game folder can have a different effect and you need to test the best time for direct deletion: launcher closed/game closed/game launcher open/main game interface/in-game playing...

Finally, just de-activate like "Bumbefly Sony Test" says above, and wait.
It is best in this case to, 1st, de-activate individually using the properties for EACH game, as it will signal Steam that you do NOT want a cloud for this game. Easier understanding for the internal Steam's database monitoring tool.
Using the global Settings/Cloud option can bypass the cleaning flag, or make it harder for Steam for knowing if you really want no cloud (and its data) for later...
Steam will clean the data after a (long) while if the game has not been played. To be honest, I think it is more year(s) than days !

I posted this 4 years ago lmao

[LILI]

I know of course ! :)

But, do not forget that you are on a global information asset.
Answer is not 1 for 1, but 1 for all.
Your (very good) question, 4 years ago, is still useful today. It has no time limit as what you express is still a valid point today and obviously for some more years. If not many.

I looked for answers concerning other matters, and just came here during my search.
As I had the answer, it is here like in wikipedia, if you have the answer, give it, so then other after you (yes, even 4 years later!) can find what they look for.

And I see that you are still subscribed! So, you see, it is still something alive even for you !

[Bumbefly (we/All)]

Thank you Lili for completing the needed answer.