Help Index → Opening, saving, and protecting your data → Use case 2
Use Pick Folder... to select another Steam or GOG account or a folder you browse to manually. Discovery only suggests a starting folder; a confirmed choice is remembered separately from loading its data.
Before you start
- Identify the actual account directory that contains the intended game save files. Do not choose a folder merely because its name looks familiar.
- Close No Man’s Sky and keep needed editor work before replacing the workspace.
Steps
- Open File > Open NMS Save File and read Save Path. The app reuses an existing remembered directory; otherwise this field is blank until you choose and confirm a folder. (control reference)
- Click Pick Folder.... An existing selected path stays selected; otherwise the picker suggests the Steam st_* or GOG DefaultUser account with the newest readable embedded save timestamp under the normal NMS root. Check the suggestion or browse to your intended directory. Cancel changes nothing. (control reference)
- Review Confirm Preference Disk Write. Choose OK to remember this directory, or Cancel to keep the previous path and dropdown contents. (control reference)
- Check the refreshed Game Slot entries, Save Name and Description. An empty list or unreadable metadata is not evidence that this is the correct account. (control reference)
- Select the intended slot and click Load Slot only after verifying the folder and slot. Review replacement and any equal-timestamp confirmation. (control reference)
Expected result
- A successful confirmed folder change updates Save Path and rescans slot metadata.
- Loading is a separate action; browsing and remembering another directory do not redirect the target of data already loaded in the editor.
What changes, and when to save
Confirming the folder choice writes the save-folder preference. Scanning is read-only. Load Slot replaces app memory; it does not write live save data.
Check the result
- Read the displayed path after confirmation and confirm a recognizable save name.
- After loading, check the loaded-slot status and recognizable content, not just the remembered path.
Important details and recovery
- This picker is not an account-login mechanism or a general platform converter.
- Full Live Save Backup requires an existing remembered source folder. Check its proposed full NMS source after changing folders; it does not silently use an unconfirmed picker suggestion.
- Discovery is not a login or proof of account identity. Equal newest timestamps retain the first encountered account; the app does not rank them by Windows Date modified or search recursively through backups.