Swapping SSD - what happens to saved information?

When swapping the stock 64GB drive with a new SSD, I know that it requires setting up the Deck again as if it were brand new. Does this mean all the information you’ve saved, such as performance settings for each game and save data that does not support cloud saves, will be gone? Or can all that stuff be saved to the microSD so it isn’t affected by the SSD swap?