Help Index → Opening, saving, and protecting your data → Use case 7
File > Save NMS Save File writes the edited context back to the exact Auto or Manual file retained by the successful live load. It also updates that file’s matching metadata. It is not Save As and does not use a slot merely browsed afterward.
Before you start
- Close No Man’s Sky and keep a verified independent full backup.
- Load the intended live save first. Without a retained live source, the app’s legacy JSON-writing path is not a game save.
- Before any sync, Pretty Print or structured refresh, copy EACH pending Raw JSON pane’s complete text to a separate external file. Successful tab sync refreshes ALL Raw JSON panes and can erase pending text elsewhere.
- A parse error can leave the old tree with a green sync light; an empty [] is silently ignored. Neither green nor a completion notice proves the intended value applied. Preserve text, compare the exact value in both panes, then correct/retry or deliberately reload; Pretty Print can overwrite failed text with the old model.
Steps
- If several panes contain wanted pending work, preserve ALL before any refresh. If applying it, reapply and verify one non-inventory tab at a time; never simply sync each changed tab. Keep inventory text externally and reproduce supported changes with structured tools instead.
- Check the loaded-slot status and review the edits in each affected tab. (control reference)
- After preserving every pending pane, reapply and verify wanted non-inventory text one tab at a time. Recreate wanted inventory changes with supported structured tools instead of inventory Raw JSON sync. Before Save, compare all intended values and untouched records with your copies; the save gate checks flags, not whether your edits actually survived. (control reference)
- Choose File > Save NMS Save File. (control reference)
- Read Confirm Live Save Write. Confirm the slot and Main or Expedition context, and ensure the game is closed. Choose Cancel if anything is wrong; choose OK only to authorize the overwrite. (control reference)
- Wait for saving and verification to finish. Read the Live save written notice and its exact data and metadata paths. (control reference)
Expected result
- The selected context is merged into the retained full save while the inactive context and unrelated root fields are preserved.
- Only the retained selected data/metadata pair is replaced; the other Auto/Manual sibling is not updated. Successful verification establishes a new saved-data baseline.
What changes, and when to save
OK at the live-write confirmation authorizes a real live-file overwrite. Synchronizing alone changes app memory. Cancel leaves current edits and live files unchanged. A refreshed pane is not proof that pending text survived; compare the intended values with your external copies before authorizing a live write.
Check the result
- Require the Saved and verified notice and check both target paths.
- Confirm Modified Data Saved is green. Inspect the intended edit again; an encoded, verified file is not proof the game will accept every edited value.
Important details and recovery
- There is no continuous external-file conflict detection. Keep the game and other save writers closed.
- The pair is not power-loss atomic. If recovery fails, keep the game closed and use independent recovery guidance rather than retrying blindly.
- Inventory Raw JSON synchronization is currently defective: it adds index-keyed data inside inventory dictionaries instead of replacing the intended records. Do not sync or Pretty Print inventory text as an editing workflow; keep it externally, use supported structured inventory tools, and inspect actual Name, Slots and unexpected fields before saving.