Sword of the Sea How to Save: Slots and PC Backups

How to Save and Continue Your Adventure

Keep your adventure ready for your next session. This Sword of the Sea how to save guide covers returning to your saved game, copying save slots, and backing up your Windows files. Preserve a separate copy before starting New Game Plus or changing your current playthrough through Chapter Select.

To access your saved progress:

1. Open the pause menu during gameplay.
2. Select Exit to Main Menu when that option is available.
3. Open File Select and select your existing file.
4. Choose Continue to resume that file.

The file display includes an area name and elapsed time, giving you a way to identify the save before continuing. Check those details instead of selecting a slot by its position alone.

Continue resumes an existing file. New Game Plus starts another adventure using a completed file, while Chapter Select takes you into a chosen chapter.

Official page: Sword of the Sea (swordoftheseagame.com)

How to Copy a Save Slot

The Copy option lets you duplicate an existing save into another slot. Use it to preserve a starting point before experimenting with another playthrough.

Image: Steam / Giant Squid

1. Enter File Select from the main menu.
2. Select the save you want to preserve.
3. Choose Copy and place the duplicate in another slot.
4. Select Continue on the copy to play from it.

Keep track of which slot holds the original and which one you are actively using. An in-game copy gives you another selectable file; a separate PC backup also preserves files outside the game’s slot menu.

PC Save Location, Backups, and Steam Cloud

On Windows, the game stores its .sav files inside the SaveGames folder. The Steam version also supports Steam Cloud.

Image: Steam / Giant Squid

Save detail	Location or support
Windows save files	%LOCALAPPDATA%\SwordOfTheSea\Saved\SaveGames\*.sav
Windows configuration directory	%LOCALAPPDATA%\SwordOfTheSea\Saved\
Steam cloud syncing	Steam Cloud

Back Up Your Windows Saves

Close the game before copying its files.

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\SwordOfTheSea\Saved\ into the address bar.
3. Copy the entire SaveGames folder to a separate backup location.
4. Label that copy so you can distinguish it from later backups.

Copy the whole folder rather than choosing an individual .sav file. This keeps the files together without requiring you to identify which one belongs to each slot.

Restore a Backup

With the game closed, preserve a copy of your current SaveGames folder first. Then copy the backed-up folder into %LOCALAPPDATA%\SwordOfTheSea\Saved\, replacing the corresponding files when prompted.

Launch the game and inspect File Select before continuing. Keep both backups until you have opened the file you intended to restore.

Steam Cloud provides syncing, while a separate folder copy gives you a backup you control. Keep that separate copy when preserving a particular point in your adventure.

Protect Your New Game Plus Progress

Chapter Select unlocks after finishing the story, and it lets you return for missed collectibles. Collectible progress carries into chapter replays and New Game Plus.

Image: Steam / Giant Squid

However, using Chapter Select resets progress for the current playthrough. For New Game Plus Completed, select New Game Plus and complete the adventure through the credits without switching to Chapter Select during that run.

Copy your completed save before beginning another adventure. Use chapter replays for collectible cleanup, and keep your active New Game Plus run on its continuous path through the story.

The August 29, 2025 update also added a loading indicator when using Restart Chapter or Rewind 5 Minutes.

The September 19, 2025 update added a collectible tracker to Chapter Select and another to the pause screen in New Game Plus. Use those counters to plan cleanup without interrupting a playthrough you intend to finish.