Ludusavi is the save backup tool people reach for when a game has no cloud saves, or when Steam Cloud can’t be trusted. This guide covers what it does, how to use it, and how to keep its backups somewhere other than the one PC they were made on.

What Is Ludusavi?

Ludusavi is a free, open-source game save backup tool. It uses the PCGamingWiki save database to work out where your games store their saves, so you don’t have to hunt through AppData folders and Proton prefixes yourself.

  • Backs up saves for thousands of games automatically
  • Works on Windows, Linux and macOS
  • Supports Steam, GOG, Epic and other launchers
  • Restores saves from a backup
  • GUI and command-line versions

How Do You Use Ludusavi?

  1. Download Ludusavi from the GitHub releases page, or use the copy bundled with SaveSync (below).
  2. Run a scan to detect your installed games and their save locations.
  3. Back up the saves to a folder.
  4. Restore a backup when you need it, from Ludusavi’s restore screen.

The full reference is the Ludusavi README.

Does Ludusavi Back Up Your Saves to the Cloud?

Not on its own. Ludusavi writes backups to a folder you pick. If that folder is on the same drive as the game, a dead drive or a reinstall takes the saves and the backups with it.

That is the gap SaveSync fills. SaveSync bundles Ludusavi and acts as the cloud for its backups, so games SaveSync doesn’t support natively still get an off-PC copy.

How to Back Up Ludusavi Saves to the Cloud With SaveSync

  1. Find Ludusavi in SaveSync. It appears in your Games Library like any other game.
  2. Click Play. SaveSync ships with the Ludusavi executable, so this starts Ludusavi.
  3. Create local backups in Ludusavi for the games you want covered.
  4. Back in SaveSync, add a save: select the backup folder Ludusavi generated and click Create Save.
  5. Wait for the upload to finish. The backup is now stored in the SaveSync cloud.

SaveSync then downloads your cloud backups to your PC in the background. Activate a backup in SaveSync and it places those files in Ludusavi’s backup location; Deactivate removes them. To restore, activate the save in SaveSync, then open Ludusavi and use its restore function.

One rule: don’t use Ludusavi for games SaveSync already supports. Backing up the same game through both can cause sync conflicts. The supported games list shows what SaveSync handles natively.

Can You Share a Ludusavi Backup With a Friend?

You can share it through SaveSync, but restoring it on someone else’s PC may not work out of the box. Ludusavi records where the save came from, and your friend may have a different Windows username or install path.

Ludusavi’s Redirects feature lets you remap a backup to the right location on their PC. For co-op games SaveSync supports, use SaveSync’s own sharing instead - see how to share game saves with friends.

Back Up Once, Keep It Everywhere

Ludusavi finds and backs up saves for games nobody else covers. SaveSync gets those backups off the one PC they were made on. Need help setting it up? Ask in the SaveSync Discord.