Your latest gaming session just ended, and you’re proud of how far you’ve progressed in Baldur’s Gate 3. You shut down your computer, planning to continue on another device later. But here’s what happens next: you fire up the game on your laptop, ready to pick up where you left off, only to find your save files missing or stuck at an older point.
This Steam Cloud sync issue has frustrated countless BG3 players. Whether you’re switching between your desktop and laptop or just want the peace of mind that your progress is safely backed up, a broken sync can feel like a punch to the gut. Let’s figure out why this happens and how you can fix it yourself.
What’s Really Going On With Your Steam Cloud
Steam Cloud is supposed to work quietly in the background, uploading your game saves to Steam’s servers so you can access them from any device. When everything works smoothly, you barely notice it exists. Your saves just appear where you need them.
But here’s where things get tricky. BG3 creates multiple save files every time you play, and these files can get pretty big. We’re talking anywhere from a few megabytes to much larger sizes, especially if you’ve been playing for dozens of hours. Each character you create, every decision you make, and all those quicksaves add up fast.
Steam Cloud has limits on how much data it can handle for each game. When BG3 tries to sync too many saves or files that are too large, the system can choke. You might see a sync error message, or worse, the sync might appear to complete but your files don’t actually update on the cloud.
If you ignore this problem, you risk losing hours of gameplay. One player I helped had lost over 40 hours of progress because they assumed their saves were syncing properly. They switched computers, found old saves, and kept playing, only to realize later their main character’s progress was gone forever.
BG3 Steam Cloud Not Syncing: Likely Causes
Several things can prevent your BG3 saves from syncing properly. Let me walk you through the most frequent culprits so you know what you’re dealing with.
1. Your Save Files Are Too Big or Too Many
Steam Cloud gives each game a certain amount of storage space, and BG3 can easily max that out. The game autosaves constantly, creates quicksaves, and lets you make manual saves whenever you want. Before you know it, you’ve got 50 or 100 save files sitting in your folder.
Each of these files takes up space on Steam Cloud. When you hit the limit, Steam stops syncing new saves. It might still show the sync icon, but nothing new gets uploaded. Your older saves stay on the cloud while your recent progress sits only on your local drive.
This becomes especially problematic if you’re like most players who rarely delete old saves. You keep thinking you might need them later, but they’re actually preventing your current progress from backing up.
2. Steam Client Issues Are Blocking the Sync
Sometimes the Steam client itself gets stuck or confused. Maybe it didn’t shut down properly last time, or an update went wrong. The client might think it’s syncing when it’s actually frozen on an old task.
You’ll often see this after your computer crashes or loses power while Steam is running. The client tries to resume where it left off but gets tangled up. Your BG3 saves sit there waiting while Steam spins its wheels trying to complete an impossible task.
3. Your Internet Connection Dropped During Upload
This one seems obvious, but it catches people off guard. Steam Cloud needs a stable internet connection to upload your saves. If your Wi-Fi hiccups right when Steam is trying to sync, the upload fails.
Here’s what makes this tricky: Steam doesn’t always tell you the sync failed. You might close the game, see a brief sync message, and assume everything worked. But if your connection was weak or dropped partway through, those saves never made it to the cloud.
Larger save files take longer to upload, giving your connection more time to fail. A 10MB save might upload in seconds on a good connection, but if you’re on spotty Wi-Fi, it could time out halfway through.
4. Steam Cloud Got Disabled Without You Realizing
Steam has a setting that lets you turn Cloud sync on or off for each game. Sometimes this gets toggled accidentally. Maybe you were trying to fix another issue and disabled it, or a Steam update reset your settings.
You could also have Cloud sync enabled globally but disabled specifically for BG3. This happens more often than you’d think. People troubleshoot other games, change settings, and forget BG3 was affected too.
5. File Conflicts Are Preventing Updates
This happens when Steam sees two different versions of the same save and can’t decide which one to keep. Maybe you played offline on one computer, then played on another computer while connected. Now Steam has two sets of saves that don’t match.
Steam’s supposed to ask you which version to keep, but sometimes this dialog doesn’t appear or gets stuck. Your saves end up in a weird limbo where Steam won’t sync either version because it’s waiting for you to make a choice you never saw.
BG3 Steam Cloud Not Syncing: How to Fix
Let’s get your saves syncing again. These fixes have worked for most players I’ve helped, and they’re all pretty straightforward to try.
1. Clean Out Your Old Save Files
Start by opening your BG3 save folder. You can find it by going to Steam, right-clicking Baldur’s Gate 3, selecting Properties, then Local Files, and clicking Browse. Look for a folder called “Saves” or “PlayerProfiles.”
Take a look at how many save files you have. If you’re seeing 30, 40, or more files, that’s your problem right there. Keep your most recent saves and maybe a few backup saves from key story points. Delete the rest.
After cleaning up, restart Steam completely. This gives the client a fresh chance to sync your trimmed-down save folder. You should see the sync happen within a few minutes of launching Steam again.
2. Force Steam to Re-Sync Your Files
Sometimes Steam needs a firm nudge to get syncing again. Close Steam completely by right-clicking the Steam icon in your system tray and selecting Exit. Make absolutely sure Steam isn’t running in the background.
Go to your Steam installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam) and find a folder called “userdata.” Inside, you’ll see folders with long number names. Find yours (if you only have one Steam account, there’s probably just one folder). Inside that, look for BG3’s app ID folder (1086940).
Rename this folder to something like “1086940_backup.” Now restart Steam. Steam will create a fresh folder and try to download your cloud saves. If your cloud saves were good, this replaces any corrupted local files.
3. Check and Re-Enable Steam Cloud
Open your Steam library and find Baldur’s Gate 3. Right-click it and go to Properties. Look for the Steam Cloud section.
Make sure the checkbox that says “Enable Steam Cloud synchronization” is checked. If it’s already checked, try unchecking it, clicking OK, then going back in and checking it again. This basically resets the sync.
You can also check your global Steam Cloud settings. Go to Steam Settings, then Cloud, and verify that “Enable Steam Cloud synchronization for applications which support it” is turned on. Both settings need to be active for BG3 to sync.
4. Verify Your Game Files
Steam has a built-in tool that checks if your game files are intact. Sometimes sync issues happen because BG3 itself has corrupted files that confuse the Cloud system.
Right-click BG3 in your library, go to Properties, then Local Files, and click “Verify integrity of game files.” Steam will scan everything and fix any problems it finds. This takes a few minutes but can clear up weird sync bugs.
After verification completes, launch the game and create a test save. Exit the game and watch to see if Steam syncs that new save properly.
5. Manually Upload Your Saves
If automatic syncing keeps failing, you can force the issue. First, locate your save files using the method I mentioned earlier. Copy these files to a safe location like your desktop or an external drive.
Now go to another computer where you want to play, or uninstall and reinstall BG3 on your current computer. Once Steam is set up again, close it completely. Manually copy your save files back into the BG3 save folder.
Start Steam and launch BG3. Your saves should appear in the load game menu. Play for a bit and create a new save. When you exit, Steam should sync this session. You’ve essentially given Steam a clean slate to work with.
6. Contact Steam Support
If none of these fixes work, something deeper is wrong. Steam Support can check your account for sync issues that you can’t see or fix yourself.
Go to help.steampowered.com and submit a ticket about Steam Cloud sync problems with BG3. Be specific: tell them what you’ve already tried, when the problem started, and whether it affects only BG3 or other games too. They usually respond within a day or two and can reset things on their end if needed.
Wrap-Up
Getting your BG3 saves to sync properly shouldn’t feel like solving a puzzle. Most of the time, it’s either too many old saves clogging up your Cloud storage or Steam needing a simple restart. Clean out those unnecessary save files first, give Steam a fresh start, and verify your settings are correct.
If you’re still stuck after trying everything here, there’s no shame in reaching out to Steam Support. Your gaming progress matters, and protecting those saves is worth the extra effort. Keep those recent saves backed up manually until you’ve got sync working reliably again.