Your group’s ready to fish, the boat’s loaded, and the host isn’t online. Maybe they’re asleep, maybe they’re stuck at work, maybe it’s just not their night. Either way, the island run everyone’s been building - the gear, the rare catches, the unlocked islands - is sitting on a PC nobody else can reach.

This guide covers what to actually do about it, from a one-off manual transfer to setting up SaveSync so a missing host stops being a blocker.

Why the Run Gets Stuck on One PC

How to Fish doesn’t run through a dedicated server - it’s host-based, like most small co-op sims. Whoever opens the game and starts the session is the one whose machine is writing the save. Everyone else connects to them for the duration of that session.

When the host isn’t playing, that save is sitting in their %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves folder, on a PC that isn’t yours. No host, no session. No session, no fishing.

Option 1: Ask the Host to Send Their Save

Works if the host is reachable, just not planning to play tonight.

  1. Ask them to close How to Fish if it’s running.
  2. They open %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves and grab the .txt files inside.
  3. They send you the folder (zip it first - Discord and most chat apps handle a zip more reliably than a loose folder of files).
  4. You drop those files into the matching Saves folder on your own PC, overwriting what’s there.
  5. You open How to Fish and host.

This works as long as:

  • They’re actually willing to pause and send a folder.
  • The save they send is current - not from three sessions ago.
  • The game is closed on both ends while the files move, so nothing’s mid-write.

If the host isn’t responding at all, you need option 2.

Option 2: Use a Save That Was Already Shared

If your group set this up ahead of time, this is a non-issue - you already have the latest save sitting on your own PC.

SaveSync syncs the How to Fish save to every player in the group after each session. It’s on the host’s machine, on yours, and on everyone else’s. When the usual host is offline, you just open How to Fish and host from your own synced copy.

If you already have this set up, you’re done - just launch the game. If not, skip to the prevention section below; this is precisely the situation it’s meant for.

Option 3: Roll Back If the Save Gets Corrupted or Griefed

If someone’s copy gets overwritten with an older version, or a session goes wrong and you want to undo it, a plain manual copy gives you nothing to fall back on - once you overwrite the .txt files, the previous version is gone.

SaveSync keeps a history of every synced save, tagged with who synced it and when. If a bad transfer wipes out progress, pick the snapshot from before it happened and restore that instead of accepting the loss.

Option 4: Start Fresh (Last Resort)

If no one has a usable save - the host is unreachable, nobody set up sharing, there’s no manual backup sitting anywhere - the run is gone. Start a new island and set up save sharing this time, before the next scheduling gap costs you another one.

How to Prevent This Going Forward

The fix is the same one every host-based co-op game needs: the save shouldn’t live on one PC.

Set Up SaveSync Once

  1. Every player installs SaveSync from Steam.
  2. Whoever currently has the furthest-along save opens SaveSync, selects How to Fish, and creates a save share for it.
  3. They share it with each friend’s Steam username.
  4. Friends open SaveSync, find the shared save, and click Activate.
  5. From then on, whoever hosts syncs automatically when the session ends.

After that, “the host is offline” stops being a reason the group can’t play - it’s just a reason someone else hosts instead.

Keep History On

Free safety net: every SaveSync sync is a snapshot you can roll back to. If a session goes badly, or a copy gets overwritten by mistake, you’re one click from the version before it happened.

FAQ

What happens in How to Fish when the host goes offline?

The session ends and progress stays on the host’s PC in their Saves folder. Nobody else in the group can resume that run until either the host comes back or someone gets a copy of the save to host from instead.

Can I take over hosting a How to Fish run from someone else?

Yes, if you have their save. Copy the .txt files from their Saves folder to the matching folder on your PC while the game is closed, then host from there. SaveSync does this transfer automatically after every session.

Where do I find the How to Fish save to copy it manually?

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Dazed Games\How to Fish\Saves on the host’s PC. Close the game first so the .txt files aren’t being written to while you copy them.

Will I lose progress if I take over hosting?

Only if the copy you’re hosting from is out of date. Whoever played most recently has the current save - if they haven’t shared it since, you’ll be a session behind. SaveSync syncs after every session so the copy on your machine is always the latest one.

Don’t Let the Island Wait on One Person

A missing host is the single most common reason a co-op run quietly dies. Set up save sharing before it happens to your group.

SaveSync on Steam - one-time purchase, covers How to Fish and dozens of other co-op games on the same install.