Part of the Tips & FAQ Series:

Quick Answer

  • On PC, saves live in %APPDATA%\HelloGames\NMS\, inside a folder named DefaultUser or st_ followed by your Steam ID.
  • Backing up is a folder copy. Copy that whole NMS folder somewhere else. That is the entire procedure.
  • The game keeps rolling save slots, so a bad session can often be recovered without any backup of your own: load the older slot from the main menu.
  • Restoring is the same copy in reverse, but the folder and file names must match exactly or the game generates a fresh save instead.
  • Turn Steam Cloud off before hand-swapping save folders, or the cloud copy can overwrite what you just restored.
  • Back up before anything risky: a major patch, installing mods, or a big galaxy jump.
  • Permadeath is exempt from all of this by design. Restoring a backup to undo a Permadeath death defeats the mode.

Overview

Save corruption in No Man's Sky is rare, and that rarity is the problem: nobody prepares for it, so the people it happens to have no backup and hundreds of hours in one file.

The good news is that a backup is a folder copy, takes ten seconds, and the game is already doing half the work for you with rolling save slots. Below: where the files live, how to copy them, how to recover when something goes wrong, and the two mistakes that turn a recoverable problem into a lost save.

Scope note: the file paths below are for PC, where you have direct filesystem access. Console saves are managed by the platform, and that section says what you can and cannot do there rather than pretending otherwise.

Where Saves Live

PC

%APPDATA%\HelloGames\NMS\

Paste that into the Windows Run dialog (Win + R) or the Explorer address bar and it will resolve to your user folder. In full, it expands to something like:

C:\Users\<YourName>\AppData\Roaming\HelloGames\NMS\

Inside, you will find a subfolder that is either:

  • DefaultUser, on GOG and some other installs, or
  • st_<numbers> on Steam, where the numbers are your Steam ID.

That subfolder holds the actual save files. AppData is hidden by default; either use the %APPDATA% shortcut above, or enable Show hidden files, folders and drives in Explorer's View settings.

What the files are

Inside you will see several .hg files. The important thing to understand is that there is more than one save slot per save game, which is what makes in-game rollback possible. Do not try to hand-edit or selectively delete individual files. Copy the whole folder. Partial copies are how people turn a working save into a broken one.

Console

On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, saves are handled by the platform's own save-data system. You cannot browse them as files, but you can usually:

  • Upload save data to the platform's cloud through the console's system settings.
  • Copy save data to external storage on the platforms that allow it.

That is the equivalent of the folder copy below, and it is worth doing before a major update for the same reasons. The platforms and versions guide covers per-platform differences more broadly.

How to Back Up

The whole procedure, on PC:

  1. Close No Man's Sky completely. Copying a save while the game is running risks catching it mid-write.
  2. Open %APPDATA%\HelloGames\.
  3. Copy the entire NMS folder to another location: another drive, external storage, or a cloud-synced folder.
  4. Rename the copy with a date, e.g. NMS-2026-08-02. You will not remember which is which in three months.

That is it. Ten seconds, and it covers every save on that install.

When to do it:

  • Before a major game update. Patches occasionally interact badly with existing saves.
  • Before installing or updating mods. This is the single most common cause of save problems on PC.
  • Before a galaxy jump or any other irreversible decision you might regret.
  • Periodically on a long-running save. Monthly is plenty.

How to Restore

Same operation, reversed, with one detail that catches people:

  1. Close the game.
  2. Go to %APPDATA%\HelloGames\.
  3. Rename the existing NMS folder to something else rather than deleting it. If the restore does not go the way you expect, you want the option to go back.
  4. Copy your backup in, and make sure it is named exactly NMS, with the same internal subfolder name (DefaultUser or st_<numbers>) it originally had.
  5. Start the game.

⚠️ The name has to match. If the folder or its internal subfolder is named differently from the original, the game will not recognise the save and will generate a fresh one instead. This is the most common way a restore appears to "not work" when the data is actually fine.

Turn off Steam Cloud first

If you are hand-swapping save folders on Steam, disable Steam Cloud for No Man's Sky before you start (right-click the game → Properties → General). Otherwise the cloud copy can sync back over the folder you just restored, and you will conclude the restore failed when it was overwritten afterwards.

Turn it back on once you are settled on the save you want to keep.

One point we cannot fully settle: community sources disagree about exactly how much of No Man's Sky's save data Steam Cloud carries, with some describing it as screenshots-and-settings only and others reporting full save sync. We have not been able to confirm which is current. The practical advice is the same either way: disable cloud sync while hand-swapping saves, because that is safe under both readings.

Recovering Without a Backup

Before assuming a save is lost, try these in order. Most "corrupted save" reports are recoverable.

1. Use the game's own rollback. No Man's Sky keeps more than one save slot per game. From the main menu, look for an older slot and load that instead of the most recent. You will lose whatever happened since, which is usually a session rather than a save.

2. Remove all mods. A mod built for a previous build is the leading cause of saves that will not load on PC. Clear the mod folder entirely, launch, and see whether the save opens. The troubleshooting guide covers the folder structure.

3. Verify game files. Steam, GOG and Xbox all have an integrity check. A partially applied patch produces load failures that look exactly like save corruption.

4. Check for a version mismatch. A save touched by a newer build than the one you are running may refuse to load. Update the game fully before concluding the file is damaged.

5. Only then consider the save lost. If an older slot, a clean mod folder and verified files all fail, the file is genuinely damaged, and that is what the backup you made earlier is for.

Save Editors

Third-party save editors exist, and they are legitimate tools for repairing a broken save or recovering something the game lost.

Two honest cautions:

  • Always back up before running one. An editor that fails halfway leaves you worse off than you started.
  • Editors lag behind patches. A tool built against an older save format can damage a save written by a newer build. Check that the tool has been updated for your game version before pointing it at a file you care about.

Using one to repair damage is one thing; using one to grant yourself resources is a different decision, and it is yours to make. Just make it deliberately rather than discovering afterwards that the game stopped being interesting.

Permadeath

Everything above works mechanically in Permadeath, and using it to undo a death misses the point of the mode entirely.

Backing up a Permadeath save against file corruption is reasonable, because losing a run to a disk error is not the challenge you signed up for. Restoring one because you flew into a sentinel is just playing Normal with extra steps. The Permadeath and Survival guide covers the mode on its own terms.

FAQ

Where are No Man's Sky saves on PC?

%APPDATA%\HelloGames\NMS\, in a subfolder named either DefaultUser or st_ plus your Steam ID.

How do I back up my save?

Close the game and copy the whole NMS folder somewhere else. Copy the entire folder, not individual .hg files.

My save will not load. Is it gone?

Probably not. Try an older save slot from the main menu, remove all mods, verify game files, and check you are on the current game version. Most load failures are one of those four.

Does the game keep backup saves automatically?

It keeps rolling save slots, so you can usually load an older one from the main menu and lose a session rather than a save. That is not a substitute for your own backup before risky changes.

Why did my restored save not appear?

Almost always a naming mismatch. The folder must be named NMS and the internal subfolder must keep its original name, or the game creates a fresh save instead.

Should I turn off Steam Cloud?

While hand-swapping save folders, yes, otherwise a cloud copy can overwrite your restore. Turn it back on afterwards.

Are save editors safe?

They are useful for repairing damage, provided you back up first and the tool has been updated for your current game version. An editor built for an older save format can damage a newer save.

Key Takeaways

  • PC saves: %APPDATA%\HelloGames\NMS\. Back up by copying that whole folder.
  • Copy the folder, never individual .hg files. Partial copies break saves.
  • Restoring requires exact folder names, or the game silently makes a new save.
  • Disable Steam Cloud while hand-swapping, or your restore gets overwritten.
  • Try the game's own older save slot first. Most "corrupted" saves are recoverable without a backup.
  • Mods are the leading cause of saves that will not load on PC. Clear them before panicking.
  • Back up before patches, mods and galaxy jumps. Those are when it matters.