Why Your Silksong Save Keeps Resetting

Quick answer

Close the game and write down four things: slot number, displayed playtime, last bench, and the modification time of userX.dat. Make one harmless in-game change, save and quit, then look again. No new timestamp means a local write problem. A new timestamp followed by older progress after Steam sync points to competing copies. A different slot or Steam ID folder means you were watching the wrong file.

Match what you observe to the next check

The modification time never changes: check free space and security software blocking the documented save folder.
The time changes, then the file or progress becomes older after sync: copy both candidates outside Steam’s folders before choosing either one.
The time changes on user2.dat while you keep checking user1.dat: match the profile slot to the file number.
The expected file lives under another numeric Steam ID: launch once with the intended account and use the folder that account creates.
The rollback returns only after a mod is re-enabled: test the clean game and keep the modded candidate separate.

Run one controlled save test

Back up the entire save folder and label the copy with the current date and device.
Temporarily avoid opening the same profile on a second PC.
Record playtime, location, slot number, and the local file modification time.
Make one harmless change, save and quit normally, then confirm the local timestamp advanced.
Restart before turning anything else back on. If the change remains, enable Steam Cloud, test again, and only then restore one mod at a time.
Stop as soon as the rollback returns. If it happens immediately after sync or after one mod is restored, you now have a specific condition to test again—not a reason to change five save fields at once.

Cloud sync can preserve the wrong copy

Steam Cloud is designed to synchronize user data, but a device that closed without uploading or another device holding an older copy can create a conflict. Do not keep launching both devices while deciding which file contains the latest progress.

Copy each candidate outside Steam’s managed folders before responding to a conflict. Compare the in-game playtime and location rather than assuming the most recently downloaded file is the furthest-progressed save.

Test once with every mod switched off

A recent community case traced repeated resets to a boss-rush mod that remained on another machine. That proves one mod-related case, not that every rollback is caused by the same mod.

Test the unmodified game with a copied save. Remove or disable mods according to their own documentation, verify game files if appropriate, and do not publish a modded save as evidence of a base-game bug without saying so.

Preserve the original before testing

Work on copies, change one thing at a time, and keep the original until the chosen save opens, saves normally, closes, and opens again.