How to Fish Steam Cloud — Save Upload & Sync

Patch 1.0.12 on September 4, 2026 added official Steam Cloud support to How to Fish. This guide covers uploading an existing save created before the patch, syncing between a Windows PC and Steam Deck, and protecting your progress before resolving a conflict.

Steam Cloud is synchronization, not a guaranteed undelete tool. Preserve the correct local campaign until it opens on the destination. Dazed Games has not published conflict-merging behavior, backup filenames, or a manual cloud-restore browser.

Upload an existing save

For campaigns created before Patch 1.0.12, Dazed Games gives one important migration step: run How to Fish on the PC that already contains the wanted save, then exit the game normally so Steam Cloud can upload it.

1. Choose the source device first. Use the PC or Steam Deck that currently shows the campaign, island progress, equipment, and currency you want to keep.
2. Restart Steam and install Patch 1.0.12 or later. Do not start the migration from an older build.
3. Open How to Fish on that source device. Confirm the expected save appears before entering or creating another campaign.
4. Make one normal save cycle. Press Save if appropriate, then leave through Main Menu or Quit and close the game.
5. Let Steam finish synchronization. Keep the source device online and do not immediately open the game elsewhere while Steam is still processing the exit.
6. Open the destination only after upload completes. Confirm the campaign, island, and important equipment before continuing play.

The order matters. Starting on the device with the wanted existing save avoids confusion about which local state should become the cloud copy.

How to Fish | Release Date Trailer

Sync a save between Steam Deck and Windows PC

Steam Deck Verified and Steam Cloud are separate features, but How to Fish now has both. Verified covers Deck compatibility; Patch 1.0.12 supplies the save-sync feature. Use the same Steam account, upload from the device with the correct campaign, and wait for synchronization before switching.

Situation	Safe sequence	Do not assume
Deck has the wanted save; PC is blank	Update and exit once on Deck, wait for sync, then open on PC	That opening the blank PC first will fetch the right campaign
PC has the wanted save; Deck is blank	Update and exit once on PC, wait for sync, then open on Deck	That Steam Deck Verified alone performs save migration
Both devices show different progress	Close both games and back up both local folders before choosing a source	That How to Fish merges two campaigns
Destination still has no save	Stop creating slots, preserve the source, and repeat the version or sync checks	That reinstalling will reconstruct the missing campaign

Steam Cloud still looks disabled or the save is missing

A new Steam discussion appeared immediately after the patch with players saying Cloud still looked off. That is a community report of post-update confusion, not proof that Patch 1.0.12 failed for every account. Check the version and source-device upload path before changing files.

1. Fully restart Steam. Install every pending How to Fish update and confirm the game is no longer on 1.0.11.
2. Return to the source device. Confirm the wanted save is still present there. If it is, do not delete or replace it.
3. Exit normally again. Open the wanted campaign, save, return to Main Menu or Quit, and allow Steam time to finish the upload.
4. Check that Steam Cloud is enabled in your Steam client. If the client reports an error or remains out of sync, keep both local copies intact instead of repeatedly launching both devices.
5. Report the exact state. Include Patch 1.0.12 or later, source and destination device, whether Steam showed synchronization, and whether either device still has the correct campaign.

Do not use a replacement executable, unknown cloud utility, or another player’s save. Those actions add new variables and can overwrite the only intact local copy.

Protect two different local saves before resolving a conflict

Dazed Games has not published a How to Fish-specific rule for merging two divergent campaigns or deciding which timestamp wins. If both devices have meaningful progress, preserve both before responding to a Steam conflict or opening the game repeatedly.

1. Close How to Fish on both devices. Stop new saves while the states differ.
2. Back up each local folder separately. On Windows, copy the complete %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\ folder to a dated location. Do not merge its files with the other device.
3. Record the state you want. Note the island, equipment, currency, and last-played time shown on each device.
4. Select one source only after comparing both. Keep the other backup untouched until the chosen campaign opens, saves, and reopens correctly on the destination.

The Windows folder is community-documented rather than published in the patch note. Confirm it exists and matches the current modified time before treating it as the live data folder.

What Steam Cloud does not prove

• Steam Cloud does not replace the corruption checks and backups added in Patch 1.0.11. These are separate protections.
• The announcement does not document conflict-merging behavior, backup filenames, retention, quota details, or a manual cloud-restore browser.
• Cloud sync on one Steam account does not establish that a host world can be transferred safely to a different account.
• A successful upload cannot restore items or progress already missing from the source save.
• The Steam store feature panel may lag behind the official patch announcement. The explicit Patch 1.0.12 statement is the current game-specific answer.

Related pages

• Updates Hub — PATCH 1.0.12 official notes
• Save Files — LocalLow folder and pre-Cloud save behavior
• Troubleshooting — save, Relay, and black screen issues
• Co-op Guide — multiplayer saves and cross-device play