The save file wasn’t the same. Neither was I.
If you are on Steam, your save is likely already backed up to the cloud.
Unlike older titles that stored saves in simple "Documents" folders, Forza Horizon 5 utilizes cloud saving through the Microsoft Store and Steam, making the process slightly more complex.
But when the game started again, and the intro played, and the DJ said “Welcome back to Horizon Mexico,” I felt my tires touch familiar gravel.
Saves are encrypted to specific Steam or Xbox IDs. Simply dropping a stranger's file into your folder will often result in an "Incompatible Save" error. Syncing Between PC and Xbox
The Last Autosave Type: Short Fiction / In-Game Journal Entry
C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.SunriseBaseGame_8wekyb3d8bbwe\SystemAppData\wgs
Inside the wgs folder, you will see folders with long, random strings of numbers and letters (GUIDs). Inside those folders are the actual save files. They do not have readable names like "SaveGame1.sav". They are usually numbered files or container files.