On Steam and Epic, look in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\. On Xbox app for PC, saves are sandboxed inside the Packages folder. On Xbox Series, the filesystem is not exposed — backups go through the Manage game menu.
Pre-launch reference, last verified 2026-05-13. Paths to be confirmed against the launch build.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\ C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\ Access: Yes — open Explorer, paste %LOCALAPPDATA% in the address bar, navigate from there.
Cloud: Mirrored to Steam Cloud automatically when the game closes cleanly.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\ C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\ Access: Yes — same path as Steam, since UE5 uses the engine default regardless of storefront.
Cloud: If Epic Cloud Saves are enabled in the Epic launcher settings for Subnautica 2, mirrored on game close.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\<microsoft-package>\SystemAppData\wgs\ C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Packages\<microsoft-package>\SystemAppData\wgs\<container>\ Access: Technically yes, but sandboxed. The folder is owned by the system and most users cannot edit it without taking ownership through Properties → Security.
Cloud: Synced via Xbox Play Anywhere to the Microsoft account, not Steam Cloud.
Not exposed to the filesystem Console-managed only Access: No — there is no file browser. Backups happen through the Manage game menu (copy to USB or to the Xbox cloud).
Cloud: Always cloud-synced via the Microsoft account.
One habit during Early Access: copy the SaveGames folder before every patch. Patches can change the save format and bad migrations are the most common way to lose hours in EA.
Quit the game. Press Win+R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%, press Enter. Navigate into Subnautica2 → Saved → SaveGames. Right-click → Copy. Paste somewhere outside that folder, ideally on a different drive. Done.
Sandboxing makes manual backups painful. The cleaner method is letting Xbox Play Anywhere sync the save to your Microsoft account, then signing in on another device or a Series console to confirm the cloud copy is current. If you really need a local copy, take ownership of the Packages folder in Security settings first — but it tends to revert on app updates.
My games & apps → Manage game & add-ons → Saved data. From there you can move or copy the save to a connected USB drive. The drive must be formatted as exFAT, not the Xbox-format external storage.
For Steam and Epic, the path is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\. The full path resolves to C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Subnautica2\Saved\SaveGames\. Type %LOCALAPPDATA% directly into the Explorer address bar to get there without expanding the username. For the Xbox app, the path is inside %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\ in a sandboxed folder and is harder to access manually.
On PC, quit the game first, then copy the entire SaveGames folder somewhere safe. The folder is small. Do this before every patch during Early Access — patches can change the save format, and a broken migration is the most common way to lose hours in EA. On Xbox Series, use the Manage game menu to copy the save to USB.
Yes within the same storefront. Steam Cloud handles the sync automatically when you sign into Steam on a new PC. For a manual copy, paste your backed-up SaveGames folder into the same path on the new PC before launching the game. Epic works the same way if you backed up locally.
Either the patch changed the save format and the migration failed, or Steam Cloud / Xbox cloud uploaded an older save over your current one during a conflict. Check the cloud version history in your storefront's help console first. If that fails, look in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Subnautica2\Saved\Backup\ — UE5 games often write an auto-backup there before destructive operations, though Unknown Worlds has not confirmed this for Subnautica 2.
The official platforms are Windows, Xbox Series, and Xbox on PC. There is no native macOS or Linux build. Steam Deck players run the game through Proton, which translates the Windows path to a Linux equivalent inside the Proton prefix — usually under .steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1962700/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/Subnautica2/Saved/SaveGames/. Steam Deck verification status is being tracked separately.
Unknown Worlds has not detailed the co-op save model yet. Subnautica 1 only had single-player saves, so the host/guest save split for Subnautica 2 is a new behavior. Expect a separate subfolder for hosted co-op worlds, with guest progress tracked against the host's save. We will document the actual layout here once the launch build ships.
Save files only matter if you can also restore them — these pages cover the rest of the path.