Dark Souls III is a profile-container game: DS30000.sl2 can hold multiple characters, so copying it is not the same as exporting one slot. Manual backups remain especially important because players should not treat launcher sync as a guaranteed recovery system. Archive the full account-ID directory at important milestones. If you later experiment with a character manager or editor, keep the untouched original separate from every generated copy.
Where Dark Souls III stores PC saves
The researched save-location boundary is Windows: %APPDATA%DarkSoulsIII<user-id> | Linux / Steam Play: Steam Play: <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/374320/pfx/. The known file or folder pattern is DS30000.sl2. This is the practical starting point because launcher, profile, and storefront context can change which copy is active even when two folders look similar.
Storefront and profile differences
Documented launchers or storefronts: Steam. The account-ID directory is part of the profile. The save location is separate from the game installation directory. When looking for a missing save, identify the executable/storefront you actually launched and the user/profile that created the progress before copying anything between directories.
Cloud synchronization
Do not rely on Steam Cloud as the only backup for Dark Souls III; current community reports continue to emphasize local manual backups. A cloud service should be treated as another copy of the save, not as proof that the local folder is disposable. Before a manual restore, let synchronization finish, make an offline backup, and avoid starting the game while files are being replaced.
What the files represent
The standard PC profile uses one DS30000.sl2 container under the account-ID folder. Multiple characters are stored inside that container rather than as separate files. The current filename/folder evidence is DS30000.sl2. File-extension context: .sl2 A location guide does not claim that every file in the directory is safe to edit or that files from another storefront are automatically interchangeable.
If the save is not where expected
If a migrated file is ignored, restore the original and confirm the account folder and game version before attempting identity edits or third-party conversions. Also check redirected Documents folders, Steam Play prefixes, account IDs, and launcher-specific containers where applicable. Preserve every candidate copy before testing a restore so troubleshooting does not destroy the only surviving version.
Verification context: The AppData account-folder location was reviewed against current PCGamingWiki coverage. DS30000.sl2 naming and the practical lack of dependable Steam Cloud backup are corroborated by long-running PC community documentation.