Big Walk save file location & host transfer
Also searched as: save file location / where are Big Walk saves stored / save transfer / change host / corrupted save / lost save
The short answer
On Windows the save lives at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\House House\Big Walk\user_data\save_games as .sav files, and it belongs to the host. There is no in-game host migration: to continue with a new host, copy the .sav into the new host's save_games folder while the game is closed.
- Players
- Everyone
- Time
- 5-10 minutes
- Coordinates
- No fixed coordinate
- Reward
- Keeps your progress and lets a new host continue the same world
The official FAQ says it directly: the host saves your progress automatically and is the keeper of the save. That is why, when someone loses their save, "the wrong person hosted" is the first thing to check - the world on disk follows the host, not the group. It is not the only cause, though: the FAQ entries on this page also put a vanished save on Steam Cloud overwriting an inserted file, on corruption, or on a file that was deleted or never synced.
The Windows path below is confirmed by several Steam Community guides and discussions - the clearest being How to View and Transfer Saves Between Hosts - but the transfer is a community workaround rather than an official feature. Mac, Mac App Store and console paths are not yet independently verified, so treat this page as Windows-first.
Before you start
- Before a long run, agree who is hosting and whether that person is reliably online
- On Windows, AppData is a hidden folder - show hidden files if the path does not appear
- Back up the whole save_games folder before you change or move anything
Step-by-step 6 steps
- 1
Establish who the host is
Progress is bound to the host's save, so choosing the host is choosing whether this run can continue. Pick whoever has the steadiest hours.
- 2
Find the save folder on Windows
Press Win + R, paste this, and press Enter:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\House House\Big Walk\user_data\save_games
Written out, that is usually C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\LocalLow\House House\Big Walk\user_data\save_games. The folder contains one.savfile per save slot. - 3
Back up before touching anything
Copy the whole save_games folder somewhere safe. According to a Steam Community report the save is a plain JSON structure, so you can open it in a text editor to inspect it, but do not hand-edit it before backing up the original.
- 4
Transfer the save to a new host
Close the game completely on both machines. On the old host, copy the
.savfrom save_games. On the new host, launch the game once and create a new save so the folder exists, then close the game again and drop the copied.savinto the new host's save_games folder. Start the game and host - the transferred save should appear in the hostable-save list.Faster: Copy the newest file every time the host changes, and do the file copy while the game is closed. Steam Cloud can overwrite a file you insert while the game is running.
- 5
Continue without the original host
The same transfer flow works when the original host is gone: copy their
.savto a new host's folder and host from there. The Steam guide Continue Your Adventure Without the Original Host documents exactly this and also mentions a third-party sync tool called SaveSync. Do the manual transfer first - it needs no extra app and you can verify the file yourself.Faster: After the new host has played once, back up that save too. Keeping the old host's backup gives you a fallback if the first transfer goes wrong.
- 6
Recover a corrupted save (Windows)
One community-tested recovery method is Windows Previous Versions: right-click save_games, choose Properties > Previous Versions, pick a version from before the corruption, and copy the old
.savout before replacing the broken file.Faster: This worked for the guide author after a power outage, but it only works when Windows still has a previous version to restore. If your save predates patch 1.4.9, check the patch history first - 1.5.1 fixed a bug where those saves could get a challenge stuck in a reset state.
Where it goes wrong
These are the places players actually get stuck most often. Working through them in order usually finds the cause.
.sav files. Mac and console paths are not independently verified yet..sav - move it to the new host with the transfer steps above. If the file is gone from that machine too, work through the other causes this page documents: Steam Cloud overwriting an inserted file, corruption, or a save that was deleted or never synced..sav to the new host's folder, then let the new host start the session..sav into their save_games folder and let them host. Create a save on their machine first so the folder exists..sav. It is not guaranteed, so keep your own backups.Other System puzzles
After finishing: No in-game unlock - the save file is the progress itself.
Where this solution came from
Windows path, .sav files and the create-a-save-first transfer step: Steam guide How to View and Transfer Saves Between Hosts and Continue Your Adventure Without the Original Host. The host-owns-the-save rule: the official FAQ. Corrupted-save recovery: Steam guide 3781727370 - a single tested source, so it is written as a tip rather than a guarantee. The Steam Cloud overwrite warning is a community comment with low confidence. The server browser for finding players: Steam guide Big Walk Server Browser. The player-count tiers (2/3/4+) and the rule that the setting does not limit joins: the official FAQ. All facts were cross-checked on 2026-09-19 through Perplexity deep-web research and the sources above.
Puzzles in this game are not assigned in a fixed order: each tower needs a set number of gourds and has more challenges around it than that, so you choose which ones to clear, in any order. That is why two guides list different puzzle line-ups for the same tower — neither is wrong. Unless a coordinate is credited to a named source it is a community measurement, and later versions can shift it; once you are in the area, trust the landmark over the number.