Enshrouded Save File Location and 1.0 Save Migration

Short answer: as of Nov 3, 2026, Keen’s 1.0 notes put Enshrouded’s local saves in C:\Users\WINDOWSUSER\Saved Games\keen games\Enshrouded\default, where WINDOWSUSER stands for your Windows user name. If a character or world seems to be missing, check both the local tab and the Steam Cloud tab in the character and world menus first. Keen says that the first time 1.0 loads a save made with version 0.8 or earlier, it backs the save up and then migrates it to the new format.

Where Enshrouded 1.0 keeps your saves

Everything in this section comes from the “Save data” part of Keen’s 1.0 changelog (posted Oct 14, 2026, the day before 1.0 went live).

What	What Keen’s 1.0 notes say
Local saves	“The locally stored save data can now be found in this save data folder in Windows: C:\Users\WINDOWSUSER\Saved Games\keen games\Enshrouded\default”
Local or Steam Cloud	“In the character selection menu and the world selection menu, players can now select if they want to use a local save game folder or the Steam cloud folder. This is organized in separate tabs, so make sure to select the correct tab if you don’t see the character or world that you expected to see.”
Save format	Keen says 1.0 uses a new save format with smaller files and a simpler folder structure.
Read-only warning	“The game now displays a warning that the save data can’t be overwritten for both the world save and the character save. This could happen if for some reason the save data is set to read-only in Windows.”

Keen’s 1.0 notes don’t list the file names inside the new folder, and they don’t say how many backup copies 1.0 keeps or how often it writes them. We don’t fill those gaps from pre-1.0 information, because Keen says the format changed.

What 1.0 does to an Early Access save

Keen’s 1.0 notes: “When loading version 1.0 for the first time and the game detects a save game created with version 0.8 or earlier, the existing save data will be firstly backed up and secondly automatically migrated to the new format.” The notes don’t say where that backup is stored.

Two more lines in the same notes touch existing saves:

• “When playing for the first time in version 1.0.0.0 with an existing save game, the skill tree will be reset. Please make sure to spend the skill points again!”
• “Added additional measures to try and load save data as best as possible even if corrupted data has been detected.”

Keen’s Launch FAQ from Oct 13, 2026 says the same thing about old saves: “You can absolutely use Early Access saves once the game releases in 1.0.” Keen adds that the world and the first few hours of the game changed a lot: “if you’re up for it, we strongly encourage you to start over!”

What the 1.0 hotfixes and Patch #1 changed in the migration

None of the hotfix lines say the fix repairs a save that was already affected before the hotfix. Patch #1 is different: for a save that “caused migration issues before”, it asks you to try the migration again (last two rows). We quote them as Keen wrote them.

Release	Date	What Keen wrote about save migration
1.0.0.1	Oct 15, 2026	Nothing about saves or migration
1.0.0.2	Oct 16, 2026	“Fixed a rare crash during save game migration. The crash previously occurred when trying to load a corrupted character save. With this hotfix, such corrupted characters will not be migrated.”
1.0.0.3	Oct 21, 2026	“Fixed a rare crash that could occur during the save data migration process.”
1.0.0.3	Oct 21, 2026	“Improved the save data migration process in case a character has invalid entries in the additional backpack slots. Characters should now migrate correctly, without the items that previously caused the process to stop.”
1.0.0.3	Oct 21, 2026	“Improved the save data migration process for cases when the Flame Altar was not placed in the voxel grid for unknown reasons. The migration process now corrects the position of the Flame Altar within the grid. Unfortunately, in these cases, the affected player base’s water can’t be loaded and must be re-added as needed.”
Patch #1 (1.0.1.0)	Nov 2, 2026	Under “PC-specific”: “Fixed several cases that could cause a save data migration to trigger an error. If a save file caused migration issues before, please try the migration again with this update.”
Patch #1 (1.0.1.0)	Nov 2, 2026	Under “PC-specific”: “Increased the memory budget for the total sum of all player bases during the save data migration. This fix only affects save data with too many player bases.”

What this means for you:

• A character is missing from your list after 1.0. In 1.0.0.2, Keen wrote that corrupted characters “will not be migrated”, that it is “working on a fix”, and “if you are missing a character in your character list in the current version, please be patient - help is on the way!” In 1.0.0.3, characters with invalid backpack-slot entries “should now migrate correctly, without the items that previously caused the process to stop”. Keen didn’t say whether the 1.0.0.3 line is the fix promised in 1.0.0.2. Patch #1 (Nov 2) says: “If a save file caused migration issues before, please try the migration again with this update.” It doesn’t mention missing characters.
• The migration gave an error on PC. Patch #1 fixed “several cases” of that and asks you to try again on 1.0.1.0. The second Patch #1 line gives the migration more memory for player bases; Keen says it “only affects save data with too many player bases” and doesn’t say how many is too many.
• Water is gone from a base after migration. Per 1.0.0.3, that happens in the Flame Altar case above, and Keen says the water “must be re-added as needed”.

Three times Keen told players about broken saves (Early Access)

These are the three Steam announcements from the Early Access period where Keen’s notes touch save integrity, oldest first. All three came before 1.0 and its new save format.

Date	Post	Who was affected	What Keen asked you to do	Roll-back mentioned?
Nov 11, 2025	Hotfix #30	Old save files with broken character data	Nothing in the post	No
Nov 19, 2025	Hotfix #32	Players who hit the missing base / flame altars issue	Back up the save folder, then roll back to an older copy	Yes, with a link to Keen’s support site
Apr 23, 2026	Hotfix #39	Very large item collections, when updating to Update 8	Nothing in the post	No

Hotfix #30. The fix line reads: “Improved the handling of instances where old save files included broken character save data. Now, these cases issue a warning instead of causing a crash.” So this one changed a crash into a warning. The post doesn’t say the broken data gets repaired, and it doesn’t ask you to roll back.

Hotfix #32. The fix line reads: “Fixed an issue that under specific circumstances could lead to a broken save game where the flame altars could no longer be saved correctly.” Under Important Note, Keen wrote: “IF YOU ENCOUNTERED THE MISSING BASE/FLAME ALTARS ISSUE, YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION.” The action is to “immediately back up your save data (this means copy the save folder somewhere else for safekeeping) and perform a roll-back to an older copy of your save.” The post also says: “DO NOT KEEP PLAYING ON A BROKEN SAVE AS THE BACK UP SYSTEM WILL EVENTUALLY OVERWRITE OLDER, RECOVERABLE VERSIONS OF YOUR WORLD WITH THE NEW BROKEN ONE.” That warning was about the Early Access backup system. Keen hasn’t said how backups work in 1.0.

Hotfix #39. The fix line reads: “Fixed a rare issue with lost equipment items when updating to update 8.” Keen’s explanation is that “in very large collections of items”, some items did not get “converted into upgradable items correctly”. The post doesn’t say that items already lost come back, and it doesn’t mention a roll-back.

None of the three posts says what to do beyond what is quoted here. We haven’t added any fix of our own.

Which official note to open for your symptom

What you see	Open this	Notes
You can’t find your save, or a world or character seems gone	The “Save data” part of the 1.0 changelog	Check both the local and the Steam Cloud tab, and the new local folder above.
A character is missing after updating to 1.0	Hotfix 1.0.0.2, then Hotfix 1.0.0.3, then Patch #1	See the migration table above.
The migration stopped with an error (PC)	Patch #1	Keen asks you to try the migration again with 1.0.1.0.
Water missing from a base after migration	Hotfix 1.0.0.3	Keen says it must be re-added.
A warning that save data can’t be overwritten	The “Save data” part of the 1.0 changelog	Keen’s notes name a read-only save folder in Windows as one cause.
Skill points refunded or skill tree reset after an update	The 1.0 changelog for 1.0, the Update 8 notes for Update 8	Not damage. Both updates reset the skill tree once for existing saves. Update 8: “When loading an existing savegame from update 7 or older, the skill tree is reset.”
Equipment looks different after Update 8	Update 8 notes, then Hotfix #39	Hotfix #39 is for equipment that went missing in the Update 8 conversion.
Server world, or a server that doesn’t show up	Dedicated server setup, server not showing after update	See also the servers line below.

The two skill tree resets are also side by side in our look at the 1.0 combat changes.

Servers

Keen’s 1.0 save-data notes are written for the game client’s menus and the Windows save folder. They don’t say where a dedicated server keeps its world in 1.0. Server setup and config are on the dedicated server setup page. If your question is whether a given hotfix needs a server update, see which hotfixes need a dedicated server update.

How we checked this

We read the 1.0 changelog, the Launch FAQ, hotfixes 1.0.0.1 to 1.0.0.3 and the four Early Access posts listed in the sources, and checked every quote against copies of Keen’s Steam posts saved on Oct 26, 2026. On Nov 3, 2026 we read all 109 lines of Patch #1 (1.0.1.0) in a copy saved that day: the two migration lines above are the only ones about saves, and neither changes the save folder. We haven’t tested the migration or the Steam Cloud tabs ourselves. An earlier version of this page described the Early Access save folder, file names and backup copies. We took that out because Keen’s 1.0 notes say the save format and folder changed.