FH6 Cross-Save Guide — Does Progress Carry Between Xbox, PS5 & PC?
This is the question everyone asks before buying Forza Horizon 6: if I start on Xbox, can I keep my cars on PC? If I buy it on Steam, is my Microsoft Store progress wasted? FH5 burned a lot of people on this — they bought the Steam version on sale, logged in with their Microsoft account, and discovered their Xbox garage was empty. FH6 follows the same save structure, so let me spell out exactly what carries over and what doesn't, so you don't get burned the same way.
The short version: cross-save exists between Xbox and PC (Microsoft Store / Game Pass), but not between Xbox and Steam, and not to or from PS5. If you want your progress to follow you across devices, you buy the Microsoft Store version. If you buy Steam, you're starting fresh. Here's the full breakdown.
FH6 Cross-Save Matrix — What Syncs to What
| From → To | Cross-Save? | Cross-Play? | How It Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox ↔ Microsoft Store PC | Yes | Yes | Xbox Play Anywhere — one purchase, synced save via Microsoft account |
| Xbox ↔ Steam | No | Yes | Separate save files; you can play together but not share progress |
| Xbox ↔ PS5 | No | Yes | Completely separate ecosystems; no save transfer mechanism |
| Microsoft Store PC ↔ Steam | No | Yes | Two separate PC versions, two separate saves |
| PS5 ↔ PC (any) | No | Yes | Separate save; cross-play is available but not cross-save |
The one that catches people: cross-play is everywhere — you can race against players on any platform — but cross-save is locked to the Microsoft ecosystem. The two are completely independent. Don't assume that because you can play with someone on Steam that you can also share your save with your Steam copy. You can't.
Xbox Play Anywhere — The Only Real Cross-Save
Xbox Play Anywhere is the feature that makes cross-save work. When a game is part of the Play Anywhere program, one digital purchase gives you both the Xbox and Windows PC (Microsoft Store / Xbox app) versions, and your save data syncs between them automatically through your Microsoft account. Forza Horizon has been a Play Anywhere title since FH3, and FH6 continues that.
How it works in practice: you buy FH6 digitally once — either on your Xbox or in the Microsoft Store on PC. Install it on both. Your save lives in the cloud under your Microsoft account, not on the device. Play three hours on Xbox, switch to your PC, launch the game, and everything is exactly where you left it — cars, credits, Festival Playlist progress, achievements, everything. The only things that don't sync are platform-specific DLC entitlements, which are tied to the storefront you bought them on.
Game Pass subscribers get this automatically. FH6 launches day one on Game Pass, and if you play via Game Pass on both Xbox and PC, your save syncs between them because it's the same Microsoft account and the same (Microsoft Store) version of the game.
Why Steam Is the Trap
Steam's version of FH6 is a separate build with its own save file. Here's the thing that makes this confusing: even on Steam, you sign in with your Microsoft account when you launch the game. So it feels like your progress should carry over — you're using the same Microsoft login, after all. But the save is stored in Steam's cloud under your Steam profile, not in Microsoft's cloud under your Xbox profile. Same login screen, different save.
This is exactly what burned FH5 players. They'd played hundreds of hours on Xbox or Game Pass, seen FH5 on a Steam sale for $30, grabbed it, signed in with their Microsoft account, and opened a completely empty garage. Their cars were still on their Xbox save. The Steam copy was a brand-new game.
If you only play on Steam and never touch Xbox or Game Pass, this doesn't matter — Steam's save works fine within Steam. The problem only arises when you switch between the Microsoft ecosystem and Steam. So before you buy, decide where your primary save is going to live. If you want flexibility to play on both PC and console, buy the Microsoft Store version, not Steam.
PS5 Is Its Own Island
FH6 is the first Forza game on PlayStation, and it's a big deal for the series. But being on PS5 doesn't mean it connects to the Xbox/PC save system. PlayStation uses PSN for saves and accounts, Xbox uses Microsoft, and there is no bridge between them. No cross-save, no save transfer, no way to bring your Xbox garage to PS5 or vice versa.
This means the PS5 version is a hard commitment: if you start on PS5, that save stays on PS5 forever. You can race cross-platform against Xbox and PC players (cross-play is confirmed), but your car collection is trapped in the PlayStation ecosystem. If you're a PlayStation player who also has a PC and wants to play on both, you have to choose one save to be your main — there's no syncing.
The same logic applies to the cross-platform question in general: cross-play connects the playerbases, but cross-save only exists inside the Microsoft ecosystem. The two concepts get conflated constantly, so double-check which one someone means when they say "cross-platform."
What Actually Carries Over (And What Doesn't)
When cross-save does work (Xbox ↔ Microsoft Store PC), here's the full list of what syncs:
- Car collection — every car you own, including rare and exclusive cars, barn finds, and seasonal rewards.
- Credits and wheelspins — your CR balance and any unspent wheelspins and super wheelspins.
- Game progress — campaign story progression, Accolades, skill points, XP and prestige level.
- Seasonal progress — Festival Playlist point totals, seasonal reward unlocks, and Forzathon Shop purchase history.
- Achievements — tied to your Microsoft account, so they unlock once and count across both platforms.
- Tunes and liveries — your saved tuning setups and livery designs, as long as they're shared to your profile.
What does NOT carry over:
- DLC purchases — expansion passes and car packs are tied to the storefront. A car pack bought on Xbox does not transfer to the Steam version, and vice versa. Within Play Anywhere (Xbox + Microsoft Store), most DLC does sync because it's the same Microsoft purchase.
- Platform-specific perks — anything tied to Game Pass perks, PlayStation Plus bonuses, or Steam-exclusive items stays on that platform.
- Manual backup files — if you back up your save to a USB drive or cloud manually, it won't sync back automatically. FH6 uses cloud saves, not local files, on all platforms.
Should You Buy Steam or Microsoft Store? The Decision
This is the real question underneath the cross-save question. Here's the decision framework:
Buy Microsoft Store (or use Game Pass) if: you own an Xbox or plan to, you want your save synced across PC and console, or you already play other Forza games on the Microsoft ecosystem. This is the only way to get cross-save.
Buy Steam if: you only play on PC, you prefer Steam's ecosystem (Steam Workshop, friends list, Steam Deck), or you're waiting for a Steam sale. Just know that your save is locked to Steam — if you later buy an Xbox and the Microsoft Store version, you'll start over.
Buy PS5 if: PlayStation is your only console and you don't care about syncing with PC or Xbox. This is a fine choice — FH6 plays great on PS5 — just understand that the save stays on PlayStation.
My honest advice: if there's any chance you'll ever touch a console, go Microsoft Store. The ability to move your garage between PC and Xbox is worth more than a Steam sale discount. I learned this the expensive way in FH5 and I'd rather you not repeat it.