No Man's Sky how to save - Save Points and saving explained
Every way to save the game in No Man's Sky.
How to save in No Man's Sky is weirdly unclear at first, but actually it's a pretty simple one to do.
There are a few ways to do it, including building a portable object called a Save Point, so here in this guide we'll explain everything you need to know about every way to save the game.
Please note that our No Man's Sky guides are in the process of being updated after the launch of No Man's Sky BEYOND - for now, this page may still have plenty of useful info, but bear in mind it's due a refresh! If you're looking for more on that big update though, our guide to what's new in the No Man's Sky BEYOND update and its release time on Xbox One, PC, PS4, our big list of No Man's Sky patch notes, or our guide to the new No Man's Sky multiplayer and Nexus hub are the best places to start!
How to save the game in No Man's Sky
There are now three ways to save your progress in No Man's Sky:
Exit your starship - Every time you exit your starship, be that in a space station or on a planetary surface, the game will save. Even if you've literally just hopped out of your ship and back in again, you'll get another save added right away when you exit once more.
Activate a Beacon at any planetary structure - Just about every planetary structure - aside from ancient ruins, monoliths, and other ancient alien oddities - will have a Beacon just to the side of it. Head over to that and activate it to save your game on the spot, even if your ship's nowhere nearby.
Use a portable Save Point - Construct one of these and then pick it up after using, and you can then just place it from your inventory and use it again whenever you need to save - handy if you're on a planet but away from your ship!
Cycle back to our main hub for what's new in what's new in No Man's Sky Beyond and more basic info on the big update, otherwise take a look at our deep dive on No Man's Sky multiplayer explained for more on teaming up, our guide to base building, an introduction into electrical wiring and powering your base, to how to expand your Exosuit, Ship and Multi-tool inventory space, and Freighters and Frigates explained. Plus other handy stuff like how to repair your ship and get the Hermetic Seal, Pure Ferrite, Metal Plating and Di-Hydrogen Jelly, locations of theAtlas Pass v1, v2 and v3, a guide to No Man's Sky money and how to earn Units fast, plushow to get Antimatter and the Antimatter recipe, and even how to save the game in No Man's Sky, too. Finally, we have pages on how to reach the centre of the galaxy, how to get Chromatic Metal, and a Journey Milestones list, too.
How to build a portable Save Point and get the Save Point Blueprint
Thankfully, you can get access to the Save Point Blueprint pretty early on - as soon as you go through the 'tutorial' for getting and using Blueprints, in fact.
After you've been asked to build the Blueprint Analyser for the first time, you'll then be encourage to go hunting for buried items called Buried Technology.
After scanning and digging for Buried Technology you'll uncover a resource called Salvaged Technology Modules - normally two or three for each Buried Technology capsule you open - and when you've done that at least twice you'll be sent back to the Blueprint Analyser.
From there, you can interact with it to select Blueprint Research, and purchase Blueprints for constructable items, including the portable Save Point, which costs 2x Salvage Modules. Purchasing it will unlock the recipe for you, which we've popped just below for ease.
Save Point recipe
- Metal Plating x2
- Di-hydrogen Jelly x1
These are nice and easy to get hold of - Metal Plating is crafted from 50x Ferrite Dust, and Di-hydrogen Jelly from Di-hydrogen, the blue chrystals you can find dotted around on planet surfaces.
To build the portable Save Point, do the same thing that you would for a portable Refiner: on consoles that's by pressing Up on the D-pad, selecting Equipment, then Portable Technology, and then the Save Point from there.
Simply interact with it to save, and pick it up when you're done, keeping it in your Exosuit inventory so you've always got a Save Point to hand!