Where Are Hollow Knight Save Files Located?
Hollow Knight save paths on Windows, macOS and Linux, and which user*.dat files to back up before the final bosses.
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Hollow Knight is a Unity game, so saves follow Unity persistent data rules on each OS. Windows uses AppData/LocalLow, Mac uses Application Support with a unity prefix, Linux uses .config/unity3d. The pattern repeats across many Unity titles.
Slots are named user1.dat through user4.dat. Copy the whole Team Cherry folder rather than single slots. The folder also holds crash logs that help when a save refuses to load. Keep Steam Cloud paused while restoring or it may overwrite your files.
Where Hollow Knight stores this, by platform
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\LocalLow\Team Cherry\Hollow Knight
AppData is hidden. Paste %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Team Cherry\Hollow Knight into Explorer. Back up all user*.dat files together.
~/Library/Application Support/unity.Team Cherry.Hollow Knight
Note the unity. prefix, which differs from most Mac apps. Use Go > Go to Folder in Finder to open the hidden Library.
~/.config/unity3d/Team Cherry/Hollow Knight
Native Linux builds use this XDG path. Steam Proton installs may instead use compatdata/367520 in your Steam library, so check there if empty.
Frequently asked questions
Which files are my actual Hollow Knight saves?
user1.dat to user4.dat, one per save slot, plus .bak backups the game writes. Copy the entire folder with the game closed to preserve all slots and settings.
Why did my Hollow Knight save disappear after a crash?
The active .dat may have been mid-write. Look for a .bak file in the same folder, duplicate the folder first, then rename the backup to userN.dat and test with Steam Cloud paused.
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