Where Are Age of Empires III Save Files Located?
Original 2007 Age of Empires III saves in My Games, with home cities lost to the ESO shutdown.
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The original 2007 Age of Empires III keeps saves in a Savegame folder under My Games, with settings in a Users folder beside it. The layout predates every modern convention and has survived unchanged, which makes it refreshingly easy to back up by hand.
One loss is permanent: home cities lived on the Ensemble servers, which shut down in 2024 along with the Steam delisting. Local files cover campaigns and skirmishes only. The Definitive Edition is a separate game with separate folders for anyone moving on.
Where Age of Empires III stores this, by platform
C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires 3\Savegame
Campaign and skirmish saves here, settings in the Users sibling folder. Home cities were server-side and are gone with the ESO shutdown.
~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/105450/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Age of Empires 3/Savegame
Proton prefix for Steam Deck and Linux desktops, app ID 105450. Same My Games tree inside the prefix.
Frequently asked questions
Where did my Age of Empires III home cities go?
They lived on Ensemble's servers, shut down in 2024. Local files never held them, so no backup can restore them. The Definitive Edition starts fresh.
Do the original and Definitive Edition share saves?
No. The Definitive Edition is a separate game with its own folders. Campaigns must be replayed there from scratch.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.