Backup locations and storage
SaveKeeper keeps everything in ordinary files and folders on your computer. You can open, copy or move any of it yourself.
SaveKeeper's folder
SaveKeeper's folder sits next to the game's own SaveGames folder:
| Windows | %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Hovgaard Games\Big Ambitions\SaveKeeper |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/com.Hovgaard-Games.Big-Ambitions/SaveKeeper |
The quickest way there is Open SaveKeeper Folder on the Overview tab. Inside:
| Folder | What it holds |
|---|---|
Trash | Saves and characters you deleted. Each entry has a RESTORE.txt saying where each file goes back. |
Snapshots | Saves as they were when you loaded them. |
Backups | ZIP backups, while you use the default backup location: Saves for single saves, Version Safety Backups for the complete ones. |
Journal, Temp | SaveKeeper's record of each file operation, used to finish or undo one that was interrupted, and work in progress. |
Leftovers | Anything SaveKeeper found in its work area and could not explain. Never deleted automatically. |
logs | SaveKeeper.log. It does not contain your user name, so it is safe to attach to a support ticket. |
A README.txt in the folder explains the same, including how to restore a save by hand
without SaveKeeper. Open Logs on the Overview tab opens the logs folder.
Choosing another backup location
SaveKeeper's folder is on the same disk as your saves. A backup on the same disk does not help if that disk fails, so you can send backups somewhere else: press Change Backup Location in the safety backup question, or Change on the Overview or Backups tab.
- Pick a folder in the window that opens (Home, Documents and Desktop are one click away), or type a path, then Use This Folder. Use Default Location goes back to SaveKeeper's own folder.
- SaveKeeper creates a SaveKeeper Backups folder inside the one you choose, with
SavesandVersion Safety Backupsinside it. - Only backup ZIPs go there. The Trash and snapshots stay in SaveKeeper's own folder, next to your saves, so a deleted save can be moved rather than copied.
- New backups go to the new location. Backups you already made stay where they are; SaveKeeper does not move them.
Locations SaveKeeper will not use
SaveKeeper refuses a location, and says why, if:
- it is inside the game's SaveGames folder, or would contain it (a backup mixed in with the saves it protects is not a backup, and could confuse the game);
- it is inside SaveKeeper's own Trash or snapshot folders;
- it is a link or shortcut to another place rather than a real folder;
- SaveKeeper cannot write there, or the folder is not available, for example an external drive that is not connected.
If a location you chose earlier becomes unavailable, the Overview tab shows it as Can't be used right now, with the reason, until you reconnect the drive or choose another.
Free space
Before any copy, SaveKeeper checks there is room for it and still keeps space free for the game's own saves. If there is not, it does not start, and tells you how much it needs and how much is free. Nothing is changed. If it cannot tell how much space is free at all, it does not start either.
The Overview tab shows how much space the Trash and snapshots use. SaveKeeper never frees space by deleting anything itself; above 2 GB it suggests emptying the Trash and removing older snapshots, and leaves that to you.