Save file location, backup, and corruption fix

Find the save directory

Press Windows + R and paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves. If you browse manually, AppData is hidden by default, so enable hidden items in File Explorer.

The files are readable text, but that does not make live editing safe. Close the game before viewing or copying them so an autosave cannot overwrite the same file midway through the operation.

Create a complete backup

Patch 1.0.11 now checks that saves are not corrupt before loading and creates backup copies in case a file becomes damaged. This is useful protection, but the official notes do not document backup retention, selection, or a manual restore interface.

Keep making your own dated copy of the entire Saves directory before editing files or loading an important world after an update. Steam Cloud is synchronization rather than a user-controlled version history and should not replace a local backup.

• Close How to Fish and wait for Steam's sync indicator to finish.
• Copy the full folder to Documents or external storage.
• Do not edit the only copy.
• Keep at least one backup from before the problem appeared.

Upload an existing save to Steam Cloud

After installing Patch 1.0.12, launch How to Fish on the PC that already contains the campaign you want to keep, confirm the save is present, then exit the game once. Keep Steam online until synchronization finishes before opening the game on another device.

If two computers already contain different progress, close the game on both and back up both local folders before choosing a cloud-conflict option. The official announcement does not describe merge behavior or a user-facing version history.

Fix generic Game Name entries

A reported corruption symptom is a load menu filled with generic Game Name entries that cannot be selected or deleted. The community workaround removes corrupted .txt saves from the live directory so the game can rebuild a usable list.

Use a safer variation: create a Quarantine folder outside the Saves directory and move suspected files there one at a time. Relaunch after each move. When the menu becomes usable, the last moved file is likely involved. This preserves the original for a future repair attempt.

Handle missing boats and ground items after 1.0.10

Patch 1.0.10 saves up to 64 ground items and prioritizes weapons, tools, quest items, and creatures. This applies after the update and does not guarantee recovery of an item that disappeared in an older save.

If the boat or important equipment is missing after loading, stop repeated saves and copy the current Saves folder first. Record the island, where the item was left, and whether the world was hosted. Preserve the affected file for a patch instead of replacing it with an unverified download.

Recover after a bad edit

Close the game and Steam, move the modified live folder aside, and copy the untouched backup back to the original LocalLow path. Start Steam, check which version it proposes during any cloud conflict, and choose the known-good local timestamp when available.

If both local and cloud copies are already damaged, keep them rather than repeatedly resaving. A later game update or community repair tool may recover fields that the current build cannot parse.

Report a reproducible save bug

Record the game version, whether the session was solo or hosted, the last island, and whether the game crashed or exited normally. Include file timestamps and the exact load-menu symptom, but never publish personal Windows paths or unrelated files.