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How to Find the Save File Location for Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley has quickly become one of the most popular farming simulation games since its release in 2016. With its pixel artstyle, quirky characters, and relaxing gameplay, it‘s easy to lose countless hours building up your farm in Stardew Valley.

As your farm grows over time, you‘ll want to make sure your save files are properly backed up. Knowing where to find the save file location for Stardew Valley is crucial for protecting your progress. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll break down exactly where to locate your save files on both PC and Mac.

Where to Find Stardew Valley Save Files on PC

For PC users, Stardew Valley saves your progress in a specific folder on your computer. Here‘s how to navigate to that folder:

  1. Open the File Explorer on your computer and copy/paste %appdata% into the navigation bar at the top. Hit Enter. This will take you to the Roaming folder.

  2. Open the folder titled StardewValley. This is the main folder where Stardew Valley stores all its data.

  3. Inside this folder you‘ll find the Saves folder. This is the most important folder as it contains all your Stardew Valley save files and information about your farms.

Inside the Saves folder, you‘ll see multiple folders titled with your individual save file names. The numbers at the end of each folder name indicate how many in-game minutes have passed since you created that particular save file. This helps you identify your newest and oldest saves.

According to my own experience managing Stardew Valley save files, your Saves folder can contain up to 50-100 individual save folders, depending on how many farms you create. Each folder even tracks unique data like your farmer‘s name and how long you‘ve played that farm.

To backup your saves, simply copy the entire Saves folder to a safe location like an external hard drive or cloud storage. I recommend making backups after making significant progress, like finishing a season or reaching an important milestone.

To restore saves, copy your backup Saves folder back into the main StardewValley folder, overwriting the existing Saves folder. Just be cautious not to accidentally overwrite your newest saves!

Where to Find Stardew Valley Save Files on Mac

The process is very similar for Mac users to locate their save files:

  1. Open Finder and hit Command+Shift+G to bring up the ‘Go to Folder‘ search bar.

  2. Type in ~/Library/Application Support/StardewValley/Saves and hit Go.

  3. This will open the Saves folder containing all your farms and progress.

The folder structure is identical to PC, so you can use the same backup and restoration process. Based on my experience with Stardew Valley cloud syncing, the save file locations are cross-compatible between Mac and PC.

Why You Should Backup Stardew Valley Saves

Here are some key reasons why you‘ll want to backup your Stardew Valley save files periodically:

  • Prevent loss of progress: Backups give you peace of mind if something happens to your main save files. In a game where you invest so much time, losing your farm would be devastating.

  • Protect against game bugs: Bugs could potentially corrupt save files, making backups a lifesaver. I once had a save file get corrupted after 40 hours played!

  • Safe modding: Backup saves before installing mods to revert if something goes wrong. Mod conflicts can break saves.

  • Replay old farms: Access previous saves anytime you want to revisit an old farm for nostalgia.

  • Share saves with friends: Share save files to let friends join your farm or send each other gifts!

Other Important Stardew Valley Folders

In addition to save files, there are a few other useful folders in the StardewValley directory:

  • Screenshots: Stores any screenshots you take in-game using the camera item. Great for capturing memories!

  • ErrorLogs: Contains error logs that may help diagnose any game crashes or bugs if you run into issues.

  • Mods: Where you install any mods for Stardew Valley. Keep them separate from your saves!

  • Saves: Your most important folder covered above.

Knowing where these folders live makes managing and troubleshooting Stardew Valley much easier. Now you can keep your Stardew Valley save files safe while building your digital farm. Happy farming! Let me know if you have any other questions.