To start Escape the Backrooms from where you last left, use the existing saved run offered by your current game mode instead of starting a new story. Multiplayer progress saving is supported, but returning to saved progression should not be confused with resuming at the exact spot where your character stood. Check the save and session you are reopening before assuming that a different spawn means everything was lost.
The exact current menu labels can vary with the edition and mode. Choose the option that loads existing progress, and read the save information shown there; do not overwrite an older run simply to test a new one.
Check the run you are reopening
Begin with three details: the mode, the difficulty and the existing save you intended to continue. In multiplayer, have the player who hosted the earlier run check that session's available progress first. Rejoining a different host's game is not the same action as reopening the previous group's session.
If several saves or lobby choices are visible, compare their names and progression before launching. A new run, an existing story and a Hub visit serve different purposes. Selecting the wrong one can look like a reset even when the original progress remains elsewhere in the menu.
Use the Hub for a return visit
The Hub connects discovered level routes. Once the relevant connections are available, it lets you revisit places without treating each return as a fresh walk through the original story sequence.
A locked Hub door does not prove that a save was deleted. Some connections need to be discovered or opened through the level itself. Identify which connection you previously reached and which side of the door you are using.
The post-story M.E.G. base and Bunker also provide routes for additional exploration after the Wrong Door ending. Reaching those areas is progression within the game, rather than a general command to resume any unfinished checkpoint.
Distinguish a difficulty reset from a missing save
Nightmare is designed around a much harsher failure condition: a single death can restart the run from Level 0. Loading an existing run does not turn that mode into ordinary checkpoint recovery. Hard also makes one player's death a group failure, while Normal allows surviving players to continue.
If the group returned to an earlier point immediately after a death, check the selected difficulty before trying to repair the save. If you intentionally started a new session, return to the menu and inspect the existing entries rather than assuming the old one was replaced.
Avoid importing a stranger's completed save as the first response. That changes the progress you are trying to recover and can obscure whether your original run still exists. Preserve the original files and menu entries while identifying the mode, save and host associated with the session you actually want to continue.