How to backup flash savegames

Flash games store their save data in ".SOL files". Their location is strictly determined and platform-dependent:

1. On MS Windows, the root folder for .SOL files is
%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\(...)\

2. On Mac OS X, the root folder for .SOL files is
~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects////
and
~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/sys/

3. On Linux and UNIX, the root folder for .SOL files is
~/.macromedia/Flash_Player/#SharedObjects////.swf/


Example folder structure

For example, the game "Elona Shooter" played on kongregate will store its data in the following folder under Windows:

C:\Documents and Settings\811072\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\ABZFMR4J\chat.kongregate.com\gamez\0006\1112\live\shootem.swf
Please note that the name of the web site is listed as "chat.kongregate.com" as that is the context of the site where the Flash object is included.

On Mac OS X, the same game stores its save data under the following folder:
Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects/AJB5SPXU/chat.kongregate.com/gamez/0006/1112/live/shootem.swf


What to do to back up a save game

If the game just stores all its data into one file (i.e. one save game slot), then you just need to copy that file to a different folder and keep for later recovery.

If, on the other hand, the game supports multiple slots, then there is usually one index file (.idx) and several .sol files which need to be copied.

The following screenshot illustrates this once again for Elona Shooter on Windows:



Here, you need to copy both the .idx file and the .sol files to a different folder for later retrieval. I assume that you know how to copy files and folders to a different location on the file system. If not, then please leave me comment here and I will add this info.