Imagine you’re a few hours into a lengthy gaming session, and the power suddenly goes out. No big deal, it comes back within seconds. You reboot your console and try to continue where you left the game, only to discover the outage corrupted your save—hours of progress gone in an instant. If you ever experienced this horrible fate, you probably felt devastated. We’re so used to modern tech that we often forget how the time we spend gaming, hours and hours of it, boils down to just a few megabytes on our console’s storage.
Nobody should experience this tragedy. In this article, we’ll show you how to backup your save data so you never have to worry about it again, regardless of your favorite gaming console.
How to Back up Save Data on Your Console
All modern consoles have some sort of automatic way to backup your save data. However, since the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are still incredibly to get, we’ll focus on the current generation.
How to Backup Your Saves on a Playstation 4
There are basically two ways to protect your precious saves on a PS4. The more convenient method is the automatic backup to your Playstation Pluscloud storage. The greatest benefit of using PS Plus is the hefty 100 GB cloud storage for backing up your save data. The system performs this automatically, so you don’t have to worry about it.
To enable automatic save backups, go to Settings, Application Saved Data Management, and then Auto-Upload. Make sure to check Enable Automatic Uploads, and your data will automatically transfer to your cloud storage. You have the option of disabling this feature for any games you want. It’s also important to note that your PS4 can upload this data while it’s on or in rest mode.
To make use of this feature in rest mode, you have to allow your PS4 to use the internet while it’s hibernating. Head over to Settings, Power Save Settings, Set Features Available in Rest Mode, and enable the Stay Connected to the Internet option.
To upload a particular save, press the Options button while the game is highlighted in the main menu. Select Upload/Download Saved Data. You’ll be able to compare your local and cloud saves and upload or download them as you wish.
If you don’t have a PS Plus subscription, you can always keep a copy of your saves on a USB drive. Go to Settings, System, Back Up and Restore, and select Back Up PS4. Keep in mind that this won’t sync your precious trophies. To back them up, go to Trophies from the main menu, hit Options, and choose Sync With Playstation Network.
How to Back up Your Saves on Xbox One
Just like the PS4, Xbox One allows you to sync your saves to the cloud. The process is even easier since everything happens automatically. You can even take advantage of this feature without having an Xbox Live Gold subscription. As long as your Xbox is connected to the internet, there’s nothing to worry about.
Microsoft offers cloud storage for each game. This storage increases as you add new titles to your library, so you don’t have to worry about running out of available space for your saves. There’s no way to make a backup to a USB drive, but you won’t need it as long as you have internet access.
Game On!
Losing progress in our games is never a good thing, but fortunately, modern consoles are equipped to back them up at all times. While you’re waiting for next-gen to become widely available, have a look at this website for trusted online casinos and the best signup bonuses. Who knows, maybe Lady Luck will smile on you and boost your gaming budget!
