Switching to a new Mac or reinstalling macOS? Your game saves won’t move themselves. Unlike Windows, macOS doesn’t have a universal AppData folder — saves scatter across ~/Library, ~/Documents, and game-specific hidden directories.
This guide covers every major launcher and the exact paths to check before you wipe or migrate.
Steam on Mac: Where Saves Live
Steam on macOS stores saves in two places depending on whether the game uses Steam Cloud:
If Steam Cloud is enabled: Right-click the game → Properties → General → confirm “Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud” is on and the Last Sync timestamp is recent. Cloud saves survive reinstalls automatically.
For local saves, check these paths:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/[SteamID]/[AppID]/remote/~/Library/Application Support/[GameName]/~/Documents/[GameName]/
To open Library (it’s hidden by default): open Finder, hold Option, click the Go menu — Library appears. Or press Cmd + Shift + G and type ~/Library.
Copy the entire folder — not individual files — to an external drive or cloud storage. Save files often depend on companion .bak and config files in the same directory.
Epic Games on Mac
Epic doesn’t cloud-sync every title. Local saves are usually at:
~/Library/Application Support/Epic/[GameName]/~/Documents/[GameName]/
Games like Fortnite store progress server-side via your Epic account and transfer automatically when you sign back in. For single-player titles, assume local backup is required.
GOG Galaxy on Mac
GOG Galaxy has cloud saves for compatible titles — look for a cloud icon next to the game in your library. For everything else, check:
~/Library/Application Support/GOG.com/Galaxy/Applications/[AppID]/~/Documents/[GameName]/~/Library/Application Support/[GameName]/
The Universal Fallback: Sort by Date Modified
If a game’s save folder isn’t where you expect it:
- Open Finder and press Cmd + Shift + G
- Navigate to
~/Library/Application Support - Sort by Date Modified — recently changed folders are save candidates
- Repeat in
~/Documents
This catches games that use non-standard or publisher-specific paths.
Restoring Saves on a New Mac
After reinstalling or moving to a new machine:
- Install the game through its launcher
- Launch it once to create the initial save directory structure
- Quit the game
- Replace the newly created save folder with your backed-up copy
- Relaunch — your progress should appear
Launching first is important: it creates the folder path the game expects. Pasting saves into a missing directory structure won’t work.
Quick Lookup: Exact Save Path for Any Game
Rather than guessing, look up the exact macOS save folder for any specific game on this site.