8 Easy Ways to Fix Steam When It Won’t Open

Does Steam refuse to open on your computer? There are many reasons why this might happen.

The following guide lists eight ways to get Steam to open without any launch issues on your computer. Check these easy fixes out before you erase your computer or bid a permanent goodbye to Steam.

1. Check If Steam Is Down

If Steam opens but won’t get past the connection screen, or if it won’t load at all, there might be an issue with Steam’s servers.

The servers might be experiencing an outage, and this causes all Steam clients to stop functioning.

There are websites like Unofficial Steam Status that tell you the current status of the app’s servers. If you see any downtimes there, that’s probably why Steam is not opening on your computer.

2. End the Steam Process Using Windows Task Manager

If Steam opens but gets stuck on the initial screen, you can kill Steam’s process using Task Manager and see if that fixes the problem.

Related: How to Force Close a Program Without Task Manager

Here’s how you end the Steam process on your PC:

1. Right-click your Windows taskbar and select Task Manager.
2. Click the Processes tab in Task Manager.
3. Find Steam Client Bootstrapper in the processes list, click it, and click the End task button in the bottom-right.
4. Task Manager should force close Steam on your PC.
5. Relaunch Steam and see if it works.

3. Restart Your Computer

If your computer has any kind of minor glitch, it can actually prevent Steam from opening. If this is the case with you, a simple reboot of your computer will likely fix the problem.

Save your work, close all your open apps, and then follow these steps to reboot your PC:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Click the power icon.
3. Select Restart.

4. Run Steam as an Admin

One of the possible reasons Steam won’t open is that the app doesn’t have the required permissions. These kinds of issues are common on Windows PCs. You can fix these by running your apps with administrator privileges.

You can launch Steam as an administrator and see if that helps you open the app without any issues. Here’s how you do that:

1. Right-click the Steam shortcut on your desktop and select Open file location from the context menu.
2. Find steam.exe in the files list, right-click this file, and select Run as administrator.
3. Hit Yes in the prompt.
4. Steam should now launch with admin rights.

5. Delete the Steam Cache Files

Like other apps, Steam also creates and stores cache files on your computer. These cache files are sometimes the reason you have various issues with Steam.

Steam failing to open could be the result of a malfunctioning cache file. If this is the case, your best option is to remove all Steam cache files from your computer.

You can remove the cache files without causing any issues with the app, and the following shows how:

1. Close Steam if it’s running on your PC.
2. Right-click the Steam shortcut on your desktop and select Open file location. The Steam folder should open in File Explorer.
3. Go to the top of the folder and find the folder named appcache.
4. Copy this appcache folder to another directory on your computer. You’re making a backup of the folder.
5. Then, right-click the original appcache folder and select Delete. This removes the folder from the Steam directory.
6. Launch Steam and see if it works.

6. Flush the Steam Configuration and Refresh the App

Since Steam has many configuration files, the app actually comes with a command that lets you refresh the Steam configuration and installation on your computer. You can use this command to resolve many issues with Steam, aside from when it won’t open.

Here’s how you refresh the Steam configuration files:

1. Press the Windows Key + R keys at the same time to open Run.
2. Type the following into the Run box, and then hit Enter.

   steam://flushconfig

3. Steam says that running the above command will delete your download cache and log you out from the app. You need to click OK to continue.

If you’re interested in commands, there are some useful CMD commands that you can learn.

7. Fix Your Date and Time Settings

Many apps require that you have the correct date and time settings configured on your computer. If Steam won’t open, it might be that your date and time settings are not correct.

You can head into the Windows 10 Settings app and enable the automatic time option to fix this. Here’s how you do that on a PC:

1. Open the Settings app from the Start menu.
2. Click Time & Language.
3. Select Date & time on the left.
4. Turn the Set time automatically toggle to the ON position.
5. Enable the toggle for Set time zone automatically as well.
6. Open Steam and see if it launches.

8. Reinstall Steam on Your Computer

If nothing else works, your last resort is to uninstall and reinstall Steam on your computer. This removes Steam as well as all of its files from your machine. Afterward, you can install Steam from scratch.

Reinstalling the app will fix most issues with Steam on your computer, including the one where the app refuses to launch.

To remove Steam from your computer:

1. Launch the Settings app on your PC.
2. Click Apps.
3. Find Steam in the apps list, and click it.
4. Click the Uninstall button to remove Steam.

To reinstall Steam:

1. Head over to the Steam site using your web browser.
2. Download and launch the Steam setup on your PC.
3. Go through the installation wizard.

Learn how to uninstall apps completely if your apps often leave junk files behind.

Fixing Steam Launch Issues on Your Computer

Issues with Steam are very rare, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never encounter one at all. If you run into an issue where Steam won’t launch, you now know what to do in this situation. There are several ways to get around Steam launch problems, as outlined above.

Like Steam, Discord also sometimes experiences launch issues. Luckily, you have various ways to get around these issues as well.

Source: makeuseof.com