Help Index → Opening, saving, and protecting your data → Use case 3
Load Slot chooses Auto or Manual using validated timestamps embedded in the slot’s metadata. The Save File dropdown is disabled and cannot force a particular sibling file. This is the app’s selection policy, not a guarantee of which save the game would choose.
Before you start
- Close No Man’s Sky so files do not change during loading.
- Know which folder and Game Slot you intend to inspect. Preserve current edits before consenting to replacement.
Steps
- Choose File > Open NMS Save File and verify Save Path and Game Slot. (control reference)
- Read the displayed Save File and Modified information as a metadata preview. Do not interpret Modified as a Windows file-modification-time comparison. (control reference)
- Click Load Slot and review the replacement warning. The loader validates both Auto and Manual data files and their matching metadata before selection. (control reference)
- If the embedded times differ, allow loading to finish: the newer metadata record wins without an Auto/Manual choice dialog. (control reference)
- If Equal save timestamps appears, choose OK to load Manual or Cancel to abandon the load. Cancel does not fall back to Auto. (control reference)
Expected result
- Unequal valid metadata timestamps select the newer Auto or Manual record. Equal valid timestamps require explicit Manual consent.
- Missing, invalid or unsupported timestamp metadata can stop loading even when a preview entry appears readable.
What changes, and when to save
Inspection and loading do not change live files. A successful load replaces editor data and retains the selected sibling as the later save target.
Check the result
- Inspect recognizable loaded data and the loaded-slot status.
- If you later deliberately save, the success notice identifies the exact retained data and metadata filenames; do not save merely to discover them.
Important details and recovery
- The picker preview is not a manual override. Its initial displayed sibling need not resolve an equal-time decision.
- Saving updates the selected metadata timestamp, but does not promise the same sibling will win every later reload.