The Caribbean is vast, and rebuilding the Jackdaw into a floating fortress takes an immense amount of time, Reales, and dedication. Whether you are hunting down every last collectible, fully upgrading your hull, or dominating the naval combat loop, your save file is the most valuable treasure you own in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.

However, recent community reports have highlighted a frustrating reality: unexpected bugs, accidental deletions, and cloud sync errors can wipe out dozens of hours of progress in an instant. Over the past 24 hours alone, multiple players have flooded community forums begging for replacement save files—particularly around the volatile Sequence 9 checkpoint following the Charles Vane encounters—because their data was lost or hopelessly corrupted. Another user chasing the platinum trophy noted they had to actively roll back to an older manual save to bypass a progression blocker.

If you are heavily invested in the game, relying solely on the automated cloud sync is a massive gamble. This guide breaks down exactly where to find your save files, how to properly back them up across PC and consoles, the dangers of cloud synchronization, and the complicated truth about sharing save files with other players.

Why You Need Manual Backups Now

While the Anvil engine overhaul looks phenomenal, complex open-world games invariably have edge-case progression snags. The autosave system in Black Flag Resynced is aggressive. It triggers every time you dock the Jackdaw, fast travel, buy an upgrade, or finish a mission.

If your game crashes at the exact moment the autosave icon is spinning, the file can become corrupted. If you encounter a rare softlock—where an NPC fails to spawn or a trigger doesn’t activate—and the game autosaves your broken state, you are permanently stuck unless you have a backup.

The community has specifically flagged Sequence 9 as a danger zone. This sequence involves significant geographical shifts and inventory alterations. If something goes wrong during the transitions here and you do not have a prior save to fall back on, you risk losing not just your story progress, but all the side content you ground out beforehand. Players chasing 100% completion absolutely need a safety net.

PC Save File Locations: Steam vs. Ubisoft Connect

On PC, finding your save files requires digging into your hidden system folders or program directories. The location differs depending on which storefront you purchased the game from, though both ultimately route through the Ubisoft Connect ecosystem.

For Ubisoft Connect Users

If you purchased the game directly through the Ubisoft store or Epic Games Store (which links to Ubisoft Connect), your save files are buried deep in the launcher’s installation path.

Navigate to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\savegames\[Your Unique Account ID]\[Game ID]

[Your Unique Account ID] is a long string of alphanumeric characters specific to your Ubisoft account.
[Game ID] is the specific numerical identifier for Black Flag Resynced. You can usually identify it by looking at the “Date Modified” timestamp to see which folder was updated when you last closed the game.

For Steam Users

Even though Steam launches Ubisoft Connect in the background, the save files are usually kept in the standard Steam userdata directory for easier Steam Cloud syncing.

Navigate to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[Your Steam ID]\[Steam Game ID]\remote

To back up your progress, simply copy the entire folder containing the .save files and paste it somewhere safe—like a folder on your Desktop named “Black Flag Backups” with the current date. Do this after any major milestone, such as taking over a difficult fort or completely upgrading your mortars.

Surviving The Cloud Sync Trap

Cloud saves are a double-edged sword. They are great if your hard drive fails, but they are a nightmare if your local save gets corrupted.

Why? Because if your game crashes and corrupts your local save, the moment you close the application, the launcher (Steam, Ubisoft Connect, PlayStation Network, or Xbox Live) will helpfully upload that corrupted save to the cloud, overwriting your good backup.

Disabling Cloud Overwrites on PC

To prevent Ubisoft Connect from forcefully overwriting your manual backups when you are trying to restore them:

Open the Ubisoft Connect PC client.
Click on your profile icon and select Settings.
Under the General tab, uncheck Enable cloud save synchronization for supported games.

When you need to restore a backup, place your copied .save files back into the original directory with Cloud Sync disabled. Launch the game, load the save, and trigger an in-game autosave (like fast traveling). After you confirm the save works, you can re-enable Cloud Sync. The client will warn you of a conflict between local and cloud data—always choose to upload your Local Data to the cloud.

Managing Saves on PlayStation 5

Console players do not have the luxury of dragging and dropping files on a desktop, but you can still manipulate the PS5’s cloud system to create safety nets, especially if you are hunting trophies and want to avoid the issues mentioned in our FAQ.

By default, the PS5 automatically uploads your save data to the cloud when you close the game or put the console in Rest Mode.

Go to Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS5).
Select Sync Saved Data > Auto-Sync Saved Data.
Turn this feature OFF for Black Flag Resynced.

Now, you have to manually upload your save to the cloud. Do this after a successful session. If you encounter a game-breaking bug, do NOT upload. Instead, delete the corrupted save from your console storage and manually download the clean version from your PS Plus cloud storage.

Can You Download and Use Someone Else’s Save?

Given the influx of players begging for Sequence 9 saves on Reddit, it is crucial to address how save sharing actually works in the modern Anvil engine ecosystem.

The short answer is: It is incredibly difficult and not recommended without specialized tools.

Ubisoft heavily encrypts its save files, tying them cryptographically to your specific Ubisoft Account ID. If you download a stranger’s save file from a forum and drop it into your directory, the game will refuse to read it. You will launch the game, select “Story,” and receive a blunt “Save Data is Corrupt” error message before being forced to start a new game.

In the past, modders created tools like the “ACSaveTool” to decrypt a save file, strip the original owner’s Account ID, and inject your Account ID. However, because Black Flag Resynced uses a heavily updated engine architecture, older save decrypters reportedly do not work flawlessly yet. While the modding community is actively working on new conversion tools, downloading random files poses a risk.

If you absolutely must try to salvage your playthrough using someone else’s file, you will need to wait for a verified, updated save-resigner tool specific to Resynced. Until then, focus entirely on creating your own manual backups.

Best Practices for the Caribbean

To ensure you never have to repeat the brutal grind for metal and wood, integrate these habits into your core gameplay loop:

The Pre-Boss Backup: Before engaging in major naval set pieces, explicitly back out to the main menu, tab out, and copy your save file. If you are struggling with the game’s toughest maritime challenges, reviewing our guide on how to defeat legendary ships is better than brute-forcing it and risking a crash during a prolonged fight.
The Fleet Safety Net: Kenway’s Fleet missions run in real-time. If a sync error scrambles your fleet rewards, you lose real-world hours. Back up your game before checking the captain’s cabin ledger after a long offline period. If you want to optimize this process, we have extensive platinum tips and fleet exploits that pair perfectly with rigorous save management.
USB Drives (PS4/Legacy only): Keep in mind that Sony removed the ability to back up native PS5 games to a USB drive. You can only back up PS5 saves to the cloud. PC players should keep a physical flash drive or a Google Drive folder specifically for milestone saves.

Losing a 60-hour save file is enough to make anyone abandon a game permanently. Take five minutes today to locate your files, disable automatic cloud overwrites if you are paranoid, and secure your legacy as a pirate legend.

How to Back Up Saves and Avoid Progress Loss in Black Flag Resynced