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After pouring over a hundred hours perfecting your island paradise in Valheim or finally defeating that brutally difficult boss in Elden Ring, the last thing you want is for all that glorious gaming progress to get unceremoniously wiped out. Trust us, you do NOT want to be left sobbing into yourSteam Deckas you desperately try loading game saves that just aren’t there anymore (don’t ask us how we know).
With a few simple backup steps and restoration procedures, defending your Steam Deck data from even the most catastrophic storage issues only takes minutes. By this point, we’ve probably, very successfully sold you on the idea of backing up your data. So step forth, brave gamer, on a quest to defend against dastardly data loss (just read the guide below).
Updated on May 08, 2025, by Sai Vsr:In this update, we bring you some useful tips on avoiding common backup issues with your Deck.
Why Backups Are Important
Seriously though, as you play games on your Steam Deck, those games are saving data either in the cloud or locally on your device’s internal SSD storage. This can include things like:
If something happens to your Steam Deck or its storage, all of that data could be lost forever if you don’t have backups. So creating regular backups of your most-played games is just good practice to avoid catastrophic data loss.
Choosing A Backup Drive
The first step in keeping your Steam Deck game data safe is choosing a suitable backup drive. This needs to be an external USB drive with ample storage capacity for the amount of data you want to back up. Some good options include:
No matter which option you choose,ensure your backup drive uses USB-C connectivity to plug right into your Steam Deck.
Backing Up Your Steam Deck Game Data
Once you’ve got your backup drive, it’s time to preserve your current Steam Deck game data. It’s fairly easy to get this done too. Here’s what you need to do:
Recovering Your Steam Deck Game Data
Okay, no one ever wants to think about this…BUT if disaster ever strikes, and you lose access to your Steam Deck game data, you are absolutely sc- no wait, we just went through data backup. This meansyou can leverage your backups to bring that data back from the dead.Follow these steps to get that in order:
Denial for the win :)
Preventing Common Issues
Having problems with your Steam Deck backups can sometimes get so ugly that you may just end up chucking it down the trash compactor. But don’t worry, that’s what I’m here to prevent. Here’s a few handy-dandy tips :
Staying on top of software updates, matching game versions, regularly verifying backup integrity, and addressing connection issues can help avoid headaches down the road. Just take it step-by-step and you’ve got this!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I back up Steam Deck data to cloud storage services?
While the Steam Deck doesn’t natively support cloud backup locations, you can utilize a cloud syncing service like Google Drive or Dropbox if you have their apps installed. Just make sure you have enough cloud storage to handle all your game data.
Do Steam Cloud saves protect all my game data?
Steam Cloud is great for syncing basic game progression and settings across devices, sure, but it has storage limits and also, not all Steam games fully support Steam Cloud. So backing up locally is still recommended for guaranteeing you have all game data protected.
What can I do if my backups aren’t restoring properly?
If you run into issues restoring Steam Deck backups, first make sure the backup file itself is not corrupted. You can try restoring it to a different Steam Deck to check. Also, confirm you are picking the correct storage location for restoration. Lastly, double check that your OS and game versions match what the backup file expects to see. This should be a good place to start.
