How to Fish Game Save Location on Windows

Quick answer

The How to Fish game save location on Windows is C:\Users\<name>\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves. Replace <name> with your Windows account folder. AppData is hidden by default, so the easiest route is to paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves into File Explorer's address bar. Before opening, renaming, moving, or changing any file inside it, close the game and copy the entire Saves directory to a separate backup folder.

A save path is most useful when you can reach it without guessing which Windows account or game folder is involved. How to Fish stores local progress under LocalLow, not inside the Steam installation directory. Reinstalling or verifying the game therefore does not make the install folder a substitute for a save backup.

This guide covers the Windows version listed on Steam. Folder names contain spaces exactly as shown. A missing folder does not automatically mean that progress was erased: Windows may be showing a different user profile, AppData may still be hidden, or the game may not have created a local save for that profile yet. Work through the checks below before changing anything.

Open the save folder directly

Exit to the Main Menu, quit How to Fish, and wait for Steam to stop showing the game as running.
Open File Explorer, click the address bar, and enter %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves.
Press Enter. If Windows resolves the path, confirm that the breadcrumb includes your current Windows user and the Dazed Games, How to Fish, and Saves folders.
Copy the complete Saves folder to a dated location outside the game folder, such as a personal backup directory. Keep the folder structure intact.

Important: Do not begin by deleting a file that looks damaged or obsolete. A full directory copy preserves the best recovery options if a later test goes wrong.

Browse there when the direct path does not open

Open C:\Users and choose the folder for the Windows account that actually launches Steam. In File Explorer, enable Hidden items from the View menu, then open AppData, LocalLow, Dazed Games, How to Fish, and finally Saves. If Steam is run under another Windows account, check that account rather than assuming the first similarly named profile is correct.

Keep the spaces in Dazed Games and How to Fish. They are normal folder names, not separators. Also make sure you are in LocalLow: Windows has separate Local, LocalLow, and Roaming branches, and searching the wrong branch can make the real save appear to be missing.

What to back up and when

Treat the whole Saves directory as one unit. Copying only the newest-looking file can miss supporting data, and timestamps can change during synchronization or a normal launch. Make backups while the game is closed so the copy is not captured halfway through a write. Give each backup a date and a short note, then leave its contents unchanged.

A backup on the same drive protects against a mistaken edit but not a drive failure. If the progress matters, keep another copy on a different drive or in a personal backup service. That is separate from Steam synchronization: sync is convenient, but it can reproduce a changed file and should not be treated as versioned archival storage.

Know when recent versions save

Patch 1.0.6 changed save behavior in two relevant ways. The game checks a save before loading it, and a crash no longer triggers an immediate save. Normal writes are tied to the manual Save action, returning to the Main Menu, quitting through the game, and an autosave that runs about once per minute.

That means a hard crash can leave the last short stretch of play unwritten without proving the entire save is gone. For a deliberate stopping point, use Save or leave through Main Menu or Quit, wait for the game to close, and only then make a folder backup. Avoid judging a save solely by a single file timestamp while the game is still open.

If the Saves folder is empty or absent

Confirm you launched How to Fish at least once with the same Windows account and reached a point where the game could save.
Restart Steam and inspect its synchronization status before launching again. Do not casually choose an upload or download side if Steam reports a conflict.
Search under C:\Users for another active Windows profile, but do not merge two Saves folders without preserving separate backups of both.
Use Steam Verify integrity of game files for installation problems. Verification is not a save recovery tool and does not replace the LocalLow backup.
If progress disappeared, stop here and use the dedicated disappeared-save guide before making changes.

Keep location and game files separate

Steam can show the installed game files through its Properties menu, but those files are not the local progress directory described above. Moving, verifying, or reinstalling the application may help a broken installation while leaving LocalLow data untouched; it can also create false confidence if you never copied the actual Saves folder.

For support, record the game version, Windows account involved, exact path you checked, and whether Steam displayed a sync warning. Share screenshots or filenames only if you are comfortable doing so, and keep your untouched backup private. Those details are more useful than experimenting with the contents.

Questions players ask

Why can I not see AppData?

AppData is hidden by Windows. Paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves into File Explorer, or enable Hidden items and browse manually. Be sure you are using the Windows profile that launches Steam.

Is the save inside the Steam install folder?

No. The verified Windows location is under your user profile in AppData\LocalLow. Steam installation files and local progress serve different purposes, so back up the LocalLow Saves directory before troubleshooting.

Can I delete a save to make the game recreate it?

Do not use deletion as the first test. Close the game and copy the entire Saves folder first. If official support later asks you to isolate a file, keep the original backup untouched and make only reversible changes.

Does Steam sync replace a manual backup?

No. Sync can keep current data available across machines, but it is not a dependable history of every version. A dated copy of the complete Saves directory gives you a separate recovery point.

Continue with the right tool

Sources and version notes

This page was checked against patch 1.0.9. Community strategies can change; official patch notes take priority when they conflict.

How to Fish Steam News Hub Patch notes for versions 1.0.4 through 1.0.9, including lobby, save, and connection fixes.
How to Fish on Steam Developer, release date, base game description, system requirements, and the official count of 28 achievements.
How to Fish Steam Discussions Problem reports used only to identify troubleshooting scenarios; advice is anchored to official patch notes where possible.