The Steam Backup Error happens when your game isn’t able to sync; what ends up happening is that Steam starts backing up all of your Steam games on the cloud. This problem will not only cause high bandwidth usage, but it will also take a lot of time for you to download everything back onto your computer. The good news is that there are many ways to fix this issue. If your steam backup is not working, here are some things you need to know and try fixing the issues right away.
Steam backup is your safe route to load and save game states whenever and from whenever you want. So, it’s also imperative to know the possible causes of the steam backup error to stay aware in the future.
What Causes Steam Backup Error?
There are many causes of steam backup error and some common ones are:
- A bad or unstable connection between you and Steam servers.
- Your ISP having problems during the download/upload process.
- DDoS attacks on Valve’s network are causing packets to get lost in transit across their network.
How to Fix Steam Backup Error?
To fix the Steam backup error, first ensure that your antivirus or firewall isn’t blocking Steam’s backup process. If the problem persists, try running Steam as an administrator to give it the necessary permissions. Lastly, if these steps don’t resolve your issue, reinstalling Steam after backing up your game files manually may be an effective solution.
In addition to these, there are multiple ways this issue can be fixed; what ends up happening is that all or parts of what should have been downloaded will need to be re-downloaded again. If you cannot connect online, then what needs to happen is you need to verify the integrity of the game cache. This is what will happen when all or parts of what should have been downloaded are re-downloaded again.
Fix 1: Deleting Files From the Steam Client Application Folder
Deleting these files will allow Steam to download a fresh copy of all games, which means any corrupted data will be replaced with new and updated data. The easiest way is by deleting everything in your Steam library; this can be done by going to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\<game name>.
Once you have found the Steam library folder, all that needs to be done is select everything in the folder, and delete it by pressing delete on your keyboard, or right-clicking and choosing “delete” from the menu options.
Fix 2: Using Steam Cloud Files
Steam Cloud Files are a copy of your Steam folder stored online on the cloud; this means that if something happens to your local data, you won’t lose any progress. How these files are used with Steam Backup Error depends on what caused your original problem in the first place.
If there was a bad connection between you and Valve’s servers, using Steam Cloud Files can sometimes help with a download. If it was an error with the ISP, these files wouldn’t do any good.
Fix 3: Completely Reinstalling Steam and Verifying Your Installation via the Steam website
First off, make sure neither your PC doesn’t have any files stored locally. It’s possible that your PC Steam or PC Epic Games Store save data has become damaged, which might lead to additional problems. The following methods can be used to reset/erase/remove it to ensure a fresh game state:
- In Steam Account, Go to Settings > Cloud, disable Steam cloud sync. We don’t want Steam to restore the files we’re about to delete.
- Exit Steam.
- Then, go to the following location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata.
- You should see a folder name with lots of numbers. That’s your Steam ID which holds all the saved data related to your Steam account; Open that folder.
- Locate the folder named with your game code; for example, 448080 for Fibbage XL. That’s the App ID for your game; Open that folder, and find the “Remote” folder.
- You’ll see the UserData.sav folder, followed by a series of numbers; delete it.
Reinstalling a fresh copy of Steam on your PC
This is one of the easiest ways to fix this issue; all you need to do here is reinstall Steam.
Verifying Integrity of Game Files
If you are still having minor issues with the game, try verifying the integrity of Game Files.
Restart your PC and launch Steam.
Fix 4: Clear Storage
Sometimes the issue is with your storage. Thus, by clearing your storage and freeing up the necessary space, you can get your Steam back up and running. Here’s how you can do this:
- First, go to the Start menu by clicking on the Windows icon.
- Then, click on the search box and enter the following: Storage Settings.
- Hit enter.
- Now, once the menu loads, click on “Configure Storage Sense“. You can also do the same from the Run Dialogue box.
- Finally, look at the bottom to find the “Clean Now” button and click it.
Fix 5: Disable the antivirus or firewall.
Next up, you can try deactivating your antivirus or firewall, which might be stopping Steam from functioning properly. These can even stop Steam from either accessing your local files or connecting to the internet, making it harder for the app to create a backup.
You can temporarily deactivate such programs to figure out whether they work or not. Follow these steps to do so:
- Press the Ctrl+Alt+Del buttons on your keyboard to bring up the Task Manager. Alternatively, you can always go to the Start menu and manually look up the Task Manager.
- Then, click on the Startup tab. It will list any programs that run when you switch on your PC, such as an antivirus.
- If there are, click on them and select the Disable option.
Fix 6: Use a third-party backup tool
Another simple solution would be to use a third-party app for any backups. Typically, the Steam backup error occurs when the app fails to sync with your game files, which in turn prompts it to download the backup from the cloud, taking up resources. You can make the process much more efficient simply by using a third-party backup tool that will ensure the integrity of your backup files.
Fix 7: Update your client
An older or outdated version of Steam might also be the reason behind this error. The best solution here would be to simply update your Steam application and then try again.
Fix 8. Delete duplicate “save” files
And lastly, if you find multiple duplicate save files in your storage, then chances are these extra files are causing an error with Steam, preventing the game from loading. Thus, by deleting the extra files, you might just find a solution to the issue.
Why Do You Need Steam Backups?
Steam Backups are extremely helpful for gamers because they can completely back up their game states without carrying around multiple discs or USB drives. Many people are experiencing problems because they lack knowledge of how the program works, how it backs up data, and where things go when making backups work properly.
Also, understanding how files are stored within the file folders helps, too, since there are always file paths involved in most cases.