How to Fish Saves: Location, Backups & Recovery
Last verified August 28, 2026 · Game version 1.0.10
If gear is missing right now, three rules first:
- Stop loading and re-saving. Every new write can overwrite the last healthy copy.
- Close the game normally (Main Menu → Quit) instead of alt-F4.
- Copy the entire save folder somewhere safe before trying anything below.
Where Your Saves Live
Windows:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\SavesSteam Deck / Linux (Proton):
~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/4001890/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/LocalLow/Dazed Games/How to Fish/Saves- The fastest way there: press Win+R, paste
%userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow, hit Enter, and open the Dazed Games folder. - If your install spells the folder differently, do not hunt blindly — make a fresh in-game save, then sort LocalLow by “Date modified” and open whatever changed seconds ago. A search for “Dazed” also covers spelling variants.
- Copy the whole folder, not individual files you think look important — until each file type is documented, keeping them together is the safe move.
A 30-Second Backup Habit
Before boss fights, island jumps, or any co-op night, double-click a one-line script instead of trusting memory:
backup-how-to-fish.bat
set STAMP=%DATE:/=-%_%TIME::=-%
set STAMP=%STAMP: =0%
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves" "%USERPROFILE%\HowToFishBackups\%STAMP%" /E /I /H /YEach run stamps a fresh copy into C:\Users\you\HowToFishBackups. Attach it to a desktop shortcut and run it before risky sessions. If your folder spells differently (see tip above), adjust the source path on the third line.
Keep at least one backup outside the game folders so a reinstall or verify-integrity pass can’t sweep it away, and resist pruning old copies while launch-month patches continue — yesterday’s dull Tuesday save has rescued more crews than any tool.
Rolling Back to an Older Save
- Quit How to Fish, then quit Steam entirely so nothing touches the folder mid-copy.
- Rename today’s live
Savesfolder toSaves_broken_YYYY-MM-DDinstead of deleting it. - Put the older backup back under its original name (
Saves). - Launch the game once. If the world looks right, press Save, return to Main Menu, and quit properly so the restored state commits cleanly.
- If the game refuses the save (a real possibility — see the timeline below), stop iterating guesses against the restored file while your other copy sits only one experiment away from being overwritten too.
What Each Patch Changed About Saving
| Patch | Save change | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.4 | Special characters in server names could corrupt saves — blocked. | Stick to plain letters and numbers when naming servers. |
| 1.0.6 | Crashes no longer write a save. Saving happens on Save, Main Menu, and Quit; saves are validated before loading. | Progress made minutes before a crash is simply gone — not hidden. Controlled exits matter more than ever. |
| 1.0.9 | Another anti-corruption attempt (“hopefully fixed” per the notes). | A prevention fix. It does not retroactively repair an already-broken file or resurrect vanished gear — reports still arrive on current builds. |
| 1.0.10 | Ground-dropped items are now written into the save file — up to 64, prioritizing weapons, tools, quest items and creatures. | Saves got bigger and dropped gear now survives session boundaries. The path, backup routine, and rollback steps on this page are unchanged. |
The Safe Recovery Order (When Something Already Broke)
- Stop saving. Don’t load, re-save, or “quickly test” fixes in-game.
- Close the game normally (Main Menu → Quit) if it is still running.
- Copy the entire save folder to a safe location before touching anything.
- Verify game files in Steam (Properties → Installed Files → Verify) to rule out a bad install.
- Test on a copy, never the original — if a workaround writes junk into the file, your backup is still clean.
Prevention Habits
Before big milestones — boss kills, quest hand-ins, boat upgrades — press a manual Save, then exit through Main Menu or Quit so the write completes beyond doubt. In co-op, agree on who saves and when: rejoining guests have seen inventory roll backwards when they expected a mirror of their last visit. One honest limitation worth internalizing after Patch 1.0.6: a crash costs you everything since the last completed save. Treating Save → Menu → Quit as part of the trip home beats treating it as optional ceremony.
If weapons, radar, or boat parts are missing but the world loads fine, switch to our items disappeared guide — it pairs with the backup steps on this page.
Save & Backup FAQ
Where are How to Fish save files located?
On Windows they live in the Saves folder under your AppData\LocalLow profile: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves. On Steam Deck or Linux through Proton, the same folder sits inside the game’s compatdata prefix: ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/4001890/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/LocalLow/Dazed Games/How to Fish/Saves.
Can I go back to an older save?
Only if you made a copy yourself. There is no built-in version history: the game keeps its current state (with an autosave roughly every minute since Patch 1.0.6) and every new save overwrites it. Rollback therefore means closing the game and Steam, copying an older backup over the live folder, and launching again — which is why the backup habit matters so much in this game.
Does How to Fish have Steam Cloud backups?
Treat any cloud copy as a bonus, never as your backup. During launch month, cloud sync did not protect several players from losing gear, and if Steam ever shows a sync-conflict prompt between a local and cloud copy, compare timestamps carefully and preserve both versions before choosing one. A manual copy in a separate folder is always safer.
My save will not load at all — what now?
Run the recovery order on this page: stop loading attempts, close the game normally, copy the entire folder, then verify game files in Steam and try once more. Patch 1.0.6 added a validation step before loading, which means badly damaged data is more likely to be refused than half-loaded, but it cannot repair the file. If the save still fails, report it to the developers and wait rather than deleting anything.
Sources & Verification
- Steam Discussion: FIXED “Equipping weapons boots you to homescreen and loses progress” — source for the AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves path
- Steam Discussion: “Saved game and lost everything?” — typical loss pattern described by affected players
- Official patch notes feed (app 4001890) — basis of the 1.0.4 / 1.0.6 / 1.0.9 timeline above
Data on this page is re-verified against the sources above after each official patch. See our editorial policy for how we source and correct game data.