The short answer: on PS5 your saves can travel console to console over your home network, on Xbox games that support Play Anywhere carry your saves with your account, and on a PC with Steam it depends, game by game, on whether each one uses Steam Cloud. None of the three is quite the same, and the differences matter most in the hour before you wipe the old machine.
A new console tends to arrive with a small, quiet worry attached. The box is exciting. The hours of progress sitting on the old one are the part people actually care about. Here is what each platform's own documentation says about getting them across, and where the gaps are.
PS5: a direct transfer, with a few rules
Sony's support page on transferring data to a PS5 covers moving from a PS4 or from another PS5. The old machine is the source console and the new one is the destination.
Before you start, Sony says to sign in to the same account on both consoles, update both to the latest system software, synchronise your trophies, and connect both to the same network, by Wi-Fi or LAN cable. You can transfer during the new console's initial setup by following the on-screen steps, or later from Settings > System > System Software > Data Transfer.
What comes across depends on when you do it. From another PS5, user and account information, saved data, screenshots and video clips, games and console settings can all transfer, during setup or after. From a PS4 the list is shorter after setup: user information and console settings only transfer during initial setup, and after setup Sony says you can transfer only the saved data of the user who is logged in. Sony's table notes that the saved data row "applies to saved data from games that are playable on a PS5 console." Child accounts have their own rule. Sony says that with a child account you can't transfer data during initial setup of the new console, and gives two ways round it, in its own words: "Complete initial setup for a child account, and then transfer data," or "Use an adult account for initial setup. Then, transfer data from both the adult account and the child account during the initial setup process."
Sony also flags a few traps:
- Don't turn either console off, change network settings or run connection tests mid-transfer, as that may damage or lose data.
- You can only transfer from one console to one PS5.
- Any game or saved data already on the destination console won't be transferred.
The transfer isn't the only route. Sony says PlayStation Plus members can download saved data from cloud storage, and PS4 saves can be copied to a USB drive and moved that way. One important exception: you can't copy PS5 saved data to a USB drive. If you skip the network transfer and don't have PS Plus, that is worth knowing before the old PS5 leaves the house.
Xbox: Play Anywhere games follow your account
Xbox's clearest promise is for games that support Xbox Play Anywhere. Its Play Anywhere page says that when you play one of those games, your progress is saved with Xbox, so you can pick up where you left off on another Xbox console, a Windows 10 or 11 PC or a supported handheld, "bringing all your saves, game add-ons, and achievements with you." In its January 2026 update post, Xbox Wire put Play Anywhere at over 1,000 games and said you just sign in with your Xbox account on any device.
The same post announced a Game Save Sync Indicator for PC and handheld devices, giving real-time visibility into cloud save status so you know when progress is synced. That's the useful bit for anyone moving off a Windows PC or handheld: before you shut it down for good, there is now a way to check that the upload actually finished, rather than trusting it did. Xbox announced it for PC and handhelds, not consoles.
The honest caveat is what these pages don't cover. Both describe Play Anywhere games specifically. Xbox's support site has its own cloud saves FAQ, but its pages wouldn't load as readable text for this article, so I couldn't verify what it says about other games on a new console and haven't guessed. For an Xbox game outside Play Anywhere, check Xbox Support directly before you retire the old console.
Steam on a new PC: it's game by game
Steam's approach is the most hands-off and the least uniform. Steam Support describes Steam Cloud as cloud storage hosted by Steam that games and the client can use, and says games can store many kinds of data there, including game settings, save games and profile stats.
The key word is "can". Steam describes a service games are able to use, which isn't the same as a promise that every game does. My advice, rather than anything Steam says: for any game you care about, confirm it uses Steam Cloud before you move. If you can't, assume its saves live only on the old PC and that copying them across is your job.
Before the old machine goes: a checklist
- PS5 to PS5 or PS4 to PS5: do the network transfer during setup if you can, since some data, including a PS4's user information, only comes across then. Keep both consoles on until it finishes.
- PS5 without a transfer: remember PS5 saves can't go to a USB drive. Without the transfer, PS Plus cloud storage is Sony's other route.
- Child accounts on PS5: follow one of Sony's two routes above. The adult-account route moves both accounts' data during initial setup.
- Xbox: for Play Anywhere games, sign in with the same Xbox account on the new device. Moving off a PC or handheld, check the Game Save Sync Indicator first. For other games, check Xbox Support.
- Steam (my suggestion): confirm which of your important games use Steam Cloud, and copy saves yourself for any you can't confirm before you wipe the drive.
- Everyone (also my suggestion): don't factory reset anything until you've opened your most precious save on the new machine and seen it load.
It's a small chore set against a lot of hours, and the last step, actually checking, is still yours.
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