No Man’s Sky: How to Delete, Copy, or Swap Save Files | PC Tweaks

The single save file system of No Man’s Sky is causing some explorers to chafe under the limitations, while others are experiencing issues loading, backing up, or restoring files. If you’re looking to start a new game, or want to create a back-up of your 100 hours of gameplay, then we’ve got a few solutions.

No Man’s Sky is a technically astounding bit of coding, where you can seamlessly fly from one star to the next, then swoop down through the atmosphere  of a verdant planet — all without hitting a single loading screen. Everything is procedurally generated, guaranteeing that you’ll experience a (mostly) unique alien world.

All that comes at a price — there’s only one save file per instance. If you’ve hit that annoying preorder glitch, if you’re stuck on a planet without a ship, or just want to share your save file with the world, check out the multiple methods for deleting, copying, or swapping saves with the guides below.

Check out even more No Man’s Sky content:

• No Man’s Sky: Beginner’s Guide – 5 Steps To Get You Started
• No Man’s Sky: Complete Platinum Trophy Guide 
• No Man’s Sky: 3 Methods to Get You to the Center of the Galaxy
• No Man’s Sky: Earn Millions of Units With These Easy Farming Tricks
• No Man’s Sky: How to Dupe Items in Your Inventory | Exploit Guide
• No Man’s Sky: Exploit Saves to Get New Ship Skins | Glitch Guide
• No Man’s Sky PSA: Don’t Install Patch 1.03 For an Easier Platinum
• No Man’s Sky: Explore Four Types of Star Systems For Rare Rewards
• No Man’s Sky: How to Solve Observatory Puzzles | Solution Guide
• No Man’s Sky: Unlock Free Loot With the Atlas Pass Blueprint
• No Man’s Sky: How to Find and Fix Free Ships | Location Guide
• No Man’s Sky: Ultra HD Wallpapers | 4k

How to Delete, Copy, or Swap Save Files | PC Tweaks

To begin tweaking your save files, first you’ll need to find where these files are located. If you have the Steam version of No Man’s Sky, follow these steps:

1. Right-Click No Man’s Sky in your Steam Library ->Select Properties -> Go to the Updates Tab
   • Uncheck “Enable Steam Cloud Synchronization” under Steam Cloud
2. Go to your Hello Games save file folder.
   • C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Hello Games
     • OR
   • Press [Windows Button + R] -> Enter “%appdata%

The AppData folder is hidden. To show hidden folders, follow these steps:

• Open Control Panel -> Go to Appearance and Personalization -> Go to Folder Options
  • Under the View tab, check “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” under Hidden Files and folders.
  • Left-click OK to confirm.

Now that you’ve located your Hello Games save file directory, we can begin!

NOTE: Preorder bonuses will still appear in-game, even after deleting your save file.

How to Delete

To remove your save file and restart with a fresh game:

• Delete the AppData\Roaming\Hello Games folder.

Only delete “Hello Games” to wipe your save. When you restart No Man’s Sky, a new save file will be automatically generated. You can now re-enable the Steam Cloud.

How to Copy

To copy your save file and create a back-up:

• Copy the AppData\Roaming\Hello Games folder and place it somewhere else on your computer. A back-up folder or on your desktop will work.

This allows you to keep two or more save files at once. A new folder will be created when you restart No Man’s Sky. The new file can be saved, so you can keep 2+ files at once, if you don’t mind moving around files to load previous saves. You must keep Steam Cloud set off if you plan to copy / swap save files.

How to Swap

To switch from one save file to another:

• Replace the current AppData\Roaming\Hello Games folder with your back-up copy. Make sure the back-up file has the exact same name as it did before or No Man’s Sky will generate a new save file.

You can also copy/paste the current folder into a new location if you want to keep that save, then copy/paste it back into the AppData\Roaming folder later to resume a previous save. Keep the Steam Cloud checked off if you want to swap between save files.

How to Restore Lost Save Files

Some players are experiencing problems with save files not properly loading. One solution is to restore a previous version of your save file. You might lose some progress with this method, but you won’t lose ALL of your progress. You’ll simply revert to an earlier point in your gameplay.

• Go to the AppData\Roaming\Hello Games folder.
• Right-click on the Hello Games folder.
• Go to the Previous Versions tab.
• Select a previous version under “Folder Versions” then left-click Restore…

If you’re worried about losing progress, copy/paste your Hello Games folder under AppData\Roaming to another location for back-up.

Is there anything else you need to know about the PC version of No Man’s Sky? Sound off in the comments!