How to Recover Lost or Deleted Game Data on Steam

Introduction

Steam has long been the go-to platform for PC gamers around the world. With thousands of titles, automatic updates, and built-in cloud saves, it offers one of the most convenient ways to manage and play games. However, despite its reliability, even Steam users aren’t immune to one of the most frustrating problems: accidentally losing game data.

Imagine launching your favorite game on Steam only to realize that your progress, saved files, or even the entire game folder has vanished. Whether it’s due to a system crash, accidental deletion, or a failed update, Steam game data loss can happen to anyone.

Why Steam Game Data Gets Lost

Before diving into the recovery methods, it’s important to understand why Steam game data disappears in the first place. Knowing the root causes not only helps you recover lost files more effectively but also prevents the same issue from happening again in the future. The issue usually stems from one or more of the following causes:

• 🔉Accidental deletion: You or another user may have deleted a game folder or save files unknowingly.
• 💾Drive corruption: A failing hard drive or SSD can make game data unreadable.
• 🔎System resets or reinstalls: Performing a Windows reinstall or factory reset can wipe your Steam library.
• 🛠️Cloud sync errors: Sync issues between local saves and Steam Cloud can lead to missing progress.
• 📂Antivirus interference: Security programs occasionally flag game files as suspicious and remove them.

How to Recover Lost or Deleted Game Data on Steam

Now that you know the possible reasons behind missing Steam game files, it’s time to move on to the most important part to get your lost or deleted game data back. No matter the reason for the loss of game data, the following methods will help you restore your progress and continue gaming.

Method 1. Recover from Recycle Bin

If you manually deleted (not permanently deleted) Steam game files or folders from Steam’s default game file download path (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common), it will be sent to the Recycle Bin. You can directly restore it before the Recycle Bin is emptied.

Step 1. Double click on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop to open it.

Step 2. Look for the game files you deleted and select them.

Step 3. Right click on them and choose "Restore" to recover them to their original location.

If the deleted data isn’t there, it may have been permanently removed, in which case, you’ll need deeper recovery methods.

Method 2. Restore Your Files with File History

Once you've enabled File History on Windows before the data loss, it will automatically save the copies of your game data. It allows you to restore files or folders to their previous versions when you need to.

Step 1. Type "Restore your files with File History" in the Start menu and open it.

Step 2. Browse through the versions and select a desired one based on the backup time.

Step 3. Click the green "Restore" button to return it.

Method 3. Restore from Steam Backup Feature

If you’ve used Steam’s built-in backup feature to back up your games in the past, Steam game data recovery will be easy and straightforward. You can restore the lost game data from the created backups.

Step 1. Open Steam and click "Steam" in the upper left corner, then choose "Restore Game Backup".

Step 2. Click "Browse" to navigate to the location containing the created backups, then click "Restore Backup".

Steam will automatically reinstall the games along with necessary files and configurations.

Method 4. Verify Integrity of Game Files

If you have neither used Windows Backup nor Steam's backup feature for your game files, the two methods mentioned above will not work. However, this does not mean that the game files are completely lost. Steam provides a built-in file verification feature which can automatically detect and repair missing or corrupted game files.

Step 1. Launch Steam and select "Library".

Step 2. Look for the game with lost game data and right click on it, then choose "Properties".

Step 3. Click "Installed Files" and "Verify integrity of game files". Steam will scan the local files, compare them with the online version, and replace any damaged or missing data.

Step 4. Wait for the process to finish and relaunch the game to check if it can run normally.

Method 5. Redownload the Game

If you uninstalled the game by right-clicking directly in Steam Library or manually deleted the entire game folder, re-downloading the game will be your last option. As long as you have ever purchased this game, you can re-download it at any time.

Step 1. Run Steam and sign in with your correct account.

Step 2. Go to "Library" and find the missing game. The uninstalled games are usually grayed out.

Step 3. Click "Install" and choose a drive to store the game data. Steam will automatically download and reinstall the latest version of the game.

After reinstalling, your saved progress might still appear if Steam Cloud was enabled.

Method 6. Recover Lost or Deleted Game Data with MyRecover

If your game data has been permanently deleted but you don’t want to re-download it because it will waste more extra space, a specialized recovery software like MyRecover can still bring your files back. It is a professional yet beginner-friendly data recovery tool designed to recover lost or deleted data from various data loss scenarios on Windows.

It allows you to recover lost Steam game data without any backup. In addition to Steam game data, it also supports recovering Steam game screenshots and can even retrieve data from game consoles such as PS4, PS5, Xbox, and more.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer from Microsoft Store, avoid installing it on the drive where the game data were stored.

Step 2. Run the program and select the drive or folder with lost Steam game data to scan, then click "Scan".

Step 3. Choose files you wish to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".

Step 4. Select a safe location (not the original one) to save the recovered files.

Once the process is completed, you will see the message "Files have been recovered successfully", then you can check them by clicking on the destination folder path or "Browse" button. After all game data have been recovered, move the recovered files to the game file's folder, then try launching the game again to check if it can run normally.

Conclusion

Losing game progress or installation files can feel discouraging, but with the right approach, most issues can be reversed and your gaming progress stays secure. Whether you recover data using Steam’s own tools, Windows backups, or third-party recovery software like MyRecover, you have several reliable options to bring your library back.

If you need more advanced requirements, the Professional Edition of MyRecover goes beyond standard recovery, supporting data recovery from unbootable system. It’s the ideal choice for gamers, creators, and advanced users who want a trustworthy and complete recovery experience.