Hades II deliberately has its own Saved Games root and should be backed up independently from the original Hades. The familiar Profile*.sav naming can tempt a user to assume cross-game compatibility, but SaveEditor treats the names as organizational similarity only. The safe workflow is to copy the Hades II folder as a set, label the backup with build/date, and restore only into the same game/storefront. Microsoft Store remains separate because its data is contained in WGS.
Start with the least destructive explanation
When Hades II progress appears missing, first verify the active PC location: Windows: %USERPROFILE%Saved GamesHades II ; Microsoft Store: %LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesSupergiantGamesLLC.HadesII_q53c1yqmx7phaSystemAppDatawgs. Expected files/folders: Profile*.sav. Many apparent save failures are actually profile, storefront, path-redirection, or cloud-selection problems rather than damaged game data.
Preserve every surviving copy
Back up every Profile*.sav in the Hades II directory before experimenting with a slot. Preserve the whole WGS tree on Microsoft Store. Before renaming, moving, replacing, or opening candidate backups, copy them outside the live directory. Do not use the only surviving file as the test specimen for repair or editing.
Check launcher and cloud state
Storefront context: Steam, Epic Games Launcher, Microsoft Store. Do not put Hades I Profile*.sav files in the Hades II directory. Microsoft Store uses a WGS container instead of the normal profile directory. Cloud notes: Steam Cloud, Epic cloud, and Xbox Cloud are documented. A sync client can reintroduce an older or newer version after a manual restore, so recovery work should keep local and cloud copies conceptually separate until the wanted progress is confirmed.
Use format and compatibility clues
Hades II uses a dedicated Saved Games/Hades II root and Profile*.sav naming. It is a separate save generation from Hades even though the profile concept is similar. Profile naming similarity to the first Hades does not imply file-format compatibility. Treat the sequel as its own data format and restore only same-game snapshots. If the file exists but is ignored, compare the complete directory structure, slot/profile naming, game edition, mods/DLC, and any companion metadata. Do not assume an extension change or generic checksum tool can repair a game-specific container.
Game-specific troubleshooting
If a profile does not appear, confirm the folder is Hades II rather than Hades, then check the storefront and cloud conflict state before replacing files again. If a known-good backup works, preserve it and create a fresh in-game save before further experiments. If no copy works, prefer read-only inspection and source-backed game-specific tooling over repeated writes.
Verification context: Reviewed against current PCGamingWiki Hades II save-location/cloud data.