How to Recover Deleted Game Files, Steam Data, or Save Games on PC

"I was uninstalling a game, but the uninstaller got stuck at 1%. After a few minutes, it closed along with the entire programs list window. When I checked, I found that it had not only uninstalled the game but also the whole parent folder it was in. That folder was my 'Games' folder, containing over 300 GB of games. Is there any way to recover them without having to reinstall each one?" - From a post on Reddit: Is there a way to recover 300GB of games?

Many people spend their leisure time mainly on playing computer games. However, there is always a risk of data loss, and users have reported various factors that may cause game files on the hard drive to fail at any moment.

Your game files have been permanently deleted from your computer, but they're still saved at their original location. As long as the hard drive that you saved your game files to isn't being written to, you can use this guide to recover your deleted game files on PC.

Why might game files, Steam files, or save games be missing?

Game files can go missing due to system issues, malware attacks, or hard drive formatting. You can uninstall unused games and remove their files to free up disk space. However, if you accidentally delete other games, they'll be permanently gone from your computer. Game file loss can occur for several reasons:

• Your games will still be visible in your Steam library, but their names will appear grayed out. This can happen if all the files are present, but Steam can't find your game.
• You may have accidentally deleted the game files on Windows while freeing up disk space or formatting your HDD.
• A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) can occur when you encounter a catastrophic error with Windows. Learn more about fixing BSOD errors here.
• A game may crash after a new update or patch due to any bugs or compatibility issues, causing the game files to disappear.

Examine the reasons for your loss in the aforementioned situations. Read on to learn how to recover deleted game files on your PC.

Recover Deleted Games on Computer with Software (Recommended)

A professional Data Recovery Software is recommended to recover lost Steam game files. It can quickly restore your game saves on PC whether you have backups or not.

The software named "Data Recovery Wizard" is designed to recover corrupted, damaged, or lost game files. It offers a simple and comprehensive solution for users to retrieve deleted files due to accidental errors, system failures, or other reasons.

You can recover deleted games saved on your computer by following these three steps:

Step 1: Choose a location and start scanning

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard, and hover the mouse over the partition/drive where the deleted files were stored. Click “Scan” to locate the lost files.

Step 2: Select the files to restore

Once the scan is finished, select the deleted files you want to recover. You can click on the Filter to display only the file types you need. If you remember the name of the file, type it in the “Search for files or folders” box – this is the quickest way to find your target file.

Step 3: Preview and recover the deleted files

Preview the recoverable files, select the ones you want to restore, and click "Recover" to save them to a new location instead of the disk where the data was lost.

Restore a Computer Game from the Recycle Bin

When a file is deleted, it's immediately moved to the Recycle Bin. Chances are high that you'll find the accidentally deleted game there.

What you should do is:

Step 1: Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.

Step 2. Check if the game's files are still in the Trash folder.

Step 3. If found, right-click on it and select Restore.

Step 4: Your saved game should now appear back in its original location.

When you delete files using the Shift key, they're permanently removed from the hard drive's directory, making them more difficult to recover. If you're looking for a solution on how to recover Shift-deleted files in Windows 11, visit the linked page.

Restore lost game files from the game library

Your game appears grayed out in your Steam library but is still accessible. It's possible that all the files are present, and there's just an issue with Steam locating the game.

And the save locations differ from game to game. Here's an example of how to recover deleted Steam game data.

Step 1: Open Steam on your device and select “Library.”

Step 2. In the left panel, right-click on the game's name, for example, Dota 2, and select Properties.

Recover lost game files from your game library

Step 3: Click on “Local Files” in the drop-down menu of the Properties window.

After doing this, you can reopen the game and check if the lost data has been restored.

Restore a Game Save Through the Steam Menu

If your game is still having issues on Steam, try this. This short process will check for any missing files.

Step 1: Open Steam and navigate to the "Library" section on your device.

Step 2: Right-click on the missing Hogwarts Legacy game title on the left and select “Properties.”

Step 3: Verify the game's files integrity by clicking “Local Files” and selecting it from the drop-down menu in the Properties window.

Verifying the integrity of game files.

Step 4. After doing these, try launching the game again and see if your lost game data is recovered.

Additionally, you can recover a lost save by deleting the "sav." file. Here's how:

Step 2. Navigate to the game's save directory: %localappdata%\[Game Name]\Saved\SaveGames.

Step 3: Select the folder with a string of numbers for its name.

Step 4: Delete the SaveGameList.sav file.

Step 5: Restart the Steam client and run the game.

Recover Lost Game Data from a Steam Backup

Creating a backup of your game is a wise choice, as it can be used to restore lost data. Here's how to use a Steam backup to recover missing game data:

Step 1: Go to Steam –> Backup and Restore Games.

Step 2. Choose to restore from a previous backup. You can also create a new backup here, which we'll discuss later.

Step 3: Find the game you want to restore. Click "Browse," then find the game within your Steam backup folder.

Step 4: Click on “Next”.

Step 5: Reinstall the game as instructed onscreen.

Conclusions

The guide on how to recover deleted game files on PC is finished. If you've never made file backups or have any history, you could also retrieve lost files with a Data Recovery Wizard tool. However, try to restore files from the recycle bin first.

A professional backup tool, such as Todo Backup, can save your files to a hard drive, an SD card, an external disk, or a cloud storage service. If you want to make sure your data is safe and can't predict the type of threat you might face, this is the way to go.

Frequently Asked Questions on Restoring Deleted Game Files on PC (UTF-8)

After learning how to recover deleted game files on your PC, you might have more questions. Check here to see if you can find your answer:

How do I restore a game that I permanently deleted from my Xbox?

Although the process of retrieving data from an Xbox One is complicated, it's possible with the help of a professional tool called “Data Recovery Wizard.” As long as overwriting hasn't occurred, this app can effectively recover permanently deleted or lost game saves from your Xbox One's hard drive, provided the console wasn't encrypted.

2. How to recover the game with System Restore?

It will only work if you have previously created a System Restore Point. If you are unable to create one, try one of the other methods above.

Use System Restore to recover the game from your computer as described below:

1. Type "Create a restore point" in the search bar, then select "System Restore" from the drop-down menu. 2. Choose the System Restore point where the deleted game was still stored from the list of available points. 3. Click "Next" and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

3. How to recover lost game files from PS4?

Using a file recovery tool is an effective way to retrieve deleted game data on your PS4. As long as the PS4's hard drive isn't encrypted, a utility like Data Recovery Wizard can help you restore lost PS4 game installs, game screenshots, or game videos. You only need to pay once you've found the game files you want.

< strong > 4. Why have I lost progress in my game?

When you launch Hogwarts Legacy, Steam might notify you that your save files on the Steam Cloud and your computer might be out of sync. When starting the game, you'll have the option to choose whether to access your local file or the cloud file. This indicates an incompatibility between your locally saved file and the one stored on the Steam Cloud.