Losing hundreds of hours of factory progress is the kind of disaster that turns a relaxing automation game into a tragedy. The good news: Satisfactory saves are plain files on disk, and once you know where they live, backing them up takes seconds. This guide covers exactly where Satisfactory stores saves on a single-player machine versus a dedicated server, how the game’s automatic backups work, how cloud and local saves interact, and how to restore a backup when something goes wrong.
Where Satisfactory stores save files (single-player)
On Windows, your local Satisfactory saves live under your user profile in AppData\Local. The full path is:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\- Expanded:
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\
The .sav file. To open the folder fast, press Win + R and paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames, then hit Enter. This is also where blueprints and settings are stored, so the whole FactoryGame\Saved tree is worth knowing.
The dedicated server save folder
A dedicated server keeps its saves in a separate server subfolder rather than the per-account ID folder. The exact path depends on the operating system and how the server runs. Per the official wiki, the locations are:
| Environment | Save folder path |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/.config/Epic/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/server |
| Windows (run as your user) | %LocalAppData%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\server |
| Windows (NSSM service) | %WINDIR%\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\server |
| Windows Server (service) | %WINDIR%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Local\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\server |
On a managed host the file layout is usually abstracted behind a control panel, so you rarely need to hunt for these raw paths yourself. If you’re standing up your own box, see our dedicated server requirements (RAM and ports) guide for the supporting setup, and the Satisfactory server documentation for panel-specific steps.
How Satisfactory’s automatic backups work
The game already protects you in two ways before you lift a finger:
- Rotating autosaves. Single-player autosaves run every 5 minutes by default (adjustable in Options), and the game keeps the last three. They’re named
{SESSION NAME}_autosave_#.sav, where#is 0, 1, or 2. When a new autosave is written, the oldest rotates out. - Overwrite backups. When you overwrite an existing save manually, the game copies the previous version into
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\SaveGames_backup. Note this happens on manual overwrites, not on every autosave.
On a dedicated server the same three-autosave rotation applies, defaulting to one save every 300 seconds. You can change how many rotating autosaves the server keeps via Engine.ini under [/Script/FactoryGame.FGSaveSession] with mNumRotatingAutosaves=XX. Bumping this up is cheap insurance for a busy multiplayer world.
Cloud saves vs local saves
Both Steam and Epic support cloud syncing of your local saves, which is great for moving between two PCs but can also cause headaches. Sync-conflict dialogs typically appear when you switch between the Experimental and Stable (Early Access) branches, play on more than one machine, or transfer a save between platforms. When prompted, choosing to upload your local save is the safer option if your most recent progress is on the current machine.
Two important caveats. First, dedicated server saves live in the server folder and are not covered by Steam/Epic cloud sync the way single-player saves are, so the server’s own backups are your only safety net there. Second, cloud sync is convenience, not a true backup, because a corrupted or accidentally overwritten file can sync the bad version everywhere. Keep an off-machine copy of anything you can’t bear to lose.
How to back up your saves
- Single-player: Close the game, open
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames, and copy the entiresatisfactory-saves-2026-06-13.zip) keeps versions tidy. - Dedicated server: Copy the contents of the
serversave folder shown above. On a managed host, use the control panel’s file manager or backup feature to download the.savfiles. Always grab a fresh backup before updating the server, since version jumps are the most common cause of save trouble — see our guide to updating a dedicated server. - Schedule it: Manual copies are fine, but automated daily backups beat human memory. A host that snapshots your save folder on a schedule means a bad recipe rework or accidental delete is never more than a click away from recovery.
If you’d rather not manage backup scripts and folder paths yourself, our managed Satisfactory hosting plans include automated backups and one-click save management so your factory survives experiments, updates, and the occasional catastrophe.
How to restore a backup
Restoring is the reverse of backing up. For single-player, fully close Satisfactory, then copy your backed-up .sav file (or the recovered file from SaveGames_backup / an _autosave_# slot) into your .sav to the server’s save folder and select it as the running save.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my SaveGames folder empty or missing?
The folder is created when the game first writes a save, so a brand-new install may not have it yet. Make sure you’re looking under %LOCALAPPDATA% (not Roaming), and check the correct server folder, which differs by OS and service type as listed above.
Will updating my server delete my save?
Updates don’t intentionally delete saves, but switching between Experimental and Stable branches, or jumping across major versions, is where conflicts and load failures most often happen. Always back up the server save folder before any update. The save header and save version are tied to the build, so a save written on a newer version may not load on an older one.
Are cloud saves a real backup?
No. Steam and Epic cloud sync mirror your current files across machines, which means a corrupted or accidentally overwritten save can propagate everywhere. Treat cloud sync as convenience and keep a separate, dated copy on another drive or in cloud storage for anything irreplaceable. Dedicated server saves aren’t part of platform cloud sync at all, so rely on the server’s rotating autosaves and your own backups.
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