How to Transfer Your Cities: Skylines Save to a New PC
Last verified: 2026-09-14
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves
Copy the entire save folder from %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves on your old PC to the exact same path on the new PC — that folder is your whole Cities: Skylines progress.
Before you move anything, make a full backup of every Cities: Skylines save on the OLD PC in one command. Press Win+R (or open Command Prompt), paste this, and hit Enter:
robocopy "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves" "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\CitiesSkylines-save-backup" /E /COPY:DAT /R:1 /W:1
/E mirrors the whole save tree (every profile sub-folder and slot) to a backup folder on your Desktop without touching the originals. Copy that folder to the new PC, then restore by swapping the source and destination paths.
Move your Cities: Skylines save to a new PC — the exact folder to copy, cloud-sync notes, and the mistakes that lose progress.
Where the files live: see the full Cities: Skylines save file location guide for every platform path (PS5, Xbox, Steam Cloud).
How to transfer your Cities: Skylines save to a new PC
- On the old PC, press Win+R, paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves, and press Enter to open the Cities: Skylines save folder.
- Select everything inside that folder and copy it to a USB drive, a cloud folder (OneDrive/Google Drive), or a network share.
- Install Cities: Skylines on the new PC and launch it once, then quit — this creates the empty save folder so the path exists.
- On the new PC, open the same path (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves) and paste the copied files in, overwriting if asked.
- Launch Cities: Skylines and confirm your progress loaded before deleting the backup copy.
Does cloud sync move it for you?
On PC, Cities: Skylines uses Steam Cloud, so your .crp city saves sync across machines with the same account. If a cloud and local save conflict, choose the newer copy so you don't lose your city.
Common mistakes
- Copying only a single save file instead of the whole folder — many games keep settings, profiles, or rolling backups alongside the main save.
- Forgetting to launch Cities: Skylines once on the new PC first, so the destination folder doesn't exist yet when you paste.
FAQ
How do I move my Cities: Skylines save to a new PC?
Copy the save folder at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves from the old PC to the exact same path on the new PC, then launch the game. Use a USB drive, cloud storage, or a network share to move the files.
Will Cities: Skylines cloud saves transfer automatically?
On PC, Cities: Skylines uses Steam Cloud, so your .crp city saves sync across machines with the same account. If a cloud and local save conflict, choose the newer copy so you don't lose your city.
Where is the Cities: Skylines save folder on the old PC?
It's at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves. Paste that into the File Explorer address bar (or Win+R) to open it. See our full location guide for every platform.
Do I need to copy any other files?
Copy the whole save folder, not just one file — some games store settings, backups, or profile subfolders alongside the main save. Copying the entire folder avoids missing anything.
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Need another game or a quick backup? Use the Save Location Finder — pick any game to get its exact save path plus a ready-to-run backup command.