How Can I Transfer Game Saves from Windows to Linux?

For games that aren’t on Steam or don’t support cloud saves, it can get tricky. Many games built with engines like Ren'py or Unity typically have a default location for save files, but you'll need to do a little digging or a quick Google search to find the exact path. Once you know where their save files go in Linux, it’s usually just a matter of copy-pasting them into the right folder after reinstalling the game.

Another good resource is PCGamingWiki; they have a wealth of information about where different games store their save data. If it's stored locally, you can easily back it up and transfer it to wherever the game in Linux expects to find it.

If your games run through Wine or Proton, look for a folder called 'wine prefix' which acts like a Windows C: drive and find your game’s save files there. For Steam games, they would be located in something like ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/[AppID]/, where [AppID] is the game's specific identifier. Knock on wood, and hopefully you won’t run into any major issues!

There’s also a tool called Ludusavi that can help automate the backup and restore process for save files across different platforms. It might save you some time if you’re dealing with many games.

First off, if your games are on Steam and support cloud saves, just reinstall them on the Linux version of Steam, and your saves should be auto-synced. If not, you'll need to figure out where the save files are stored on Windows and manually copy them over after reinstalling the games in Linux.