Steam Won’t Open – How to fix? [7 Solutions]

Juned Memon

Windows

Steam is a gaming platform with its popularity increasing globally amongst young people especially. Due to its heavy and complex functioning, people often encounter many errors in it. One of such more commonly occurring error is when Steam won’t open and it becomes unresponsive. Irrespective of the reason behind this error, it can be insanely frustrating dealing with it and doing the aftermath of how to solve it.

Steam wont open

Solutions to fix “Steam won’t open”

Below we have covered a range of solutions which have proved useful to users who are complaining Steam won’t open and it might be useful to you too. Try them in the order they are for very often issue is within software only rather than in your system and/or OS.

 

End all steam tasks running in the background

To do this you must open the task manager as very often even after closing an application there are background tasks and processes still running which needs to be shut down completely to ensure a proper restart. And after applying this solution you will be able to access Steam.

  • Start task manager by right clicking on the bottom taskbar of your windows and then select the task manager option.
  • Depending on your operating system you have to go to application tab as well as process tab or one of them.
  • From there either you can select a single steam process and select the option ‘End process tree’ from the right-click menu or if it is not available then you have to manually check and end all the steam processes one by one.

Now start the steam client again and check whether it is causing any issues.

Reboot your operating system then your system

As with the other issues, often restarting your windows or doing a reboot solves this as well. While running sometimes steam processes may interfere with windows working or vice-versa which can be solved by rebooting it manually.

  • Reboot your operating system properly and see if it solved the issue.
  • If not then shut down your computer entirely and wait for 30 seconds. Now start your system again and check again.

Reset your network devices

Sometimes due to network issues, steam can cause problems or stop functioning at all. You can reset your network devices to ensure the problem is not occurring due to some conflict in your router or modem.

  • Shut down your system entirely and then your network devices as well.
  • Take out the power cables from modem and router.
  • Wait for a few minutes then put them back in.
  • Now start your modem and router and then your system.

Check to see if the problem is resolved.

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Install your Steam Client again

Sometimes during the time of original installation or meanwhile regular operation, some conflicts can happen between your steam client and windows processes. To fix this, you can re-install your steam client again which will update it as well.

  • Goto Steam official website and download its installer.
  • Now open the installer and make sure to install it again in the same location as before otherwise all your saved games and user data will be lost.

Check if this solves the Steam Won’t Open error on your PC.

Update your operating system, drivers, and steam

Outdated software or drivers can also cause issues which can be easily fixed by making sure that your steam client is up to date as well as your system files and drivers too. To check and update your windows you can use its inbuilt process.

  • To update windows, goto windows update via search bar in windows.
  • There select check for updates and after its done checking install the required updates.
  • Updating drivers is a bit time taking as you need to go to device manager via the search bar.
  • In there you need to manually right click on each of the devices and select to update it.
  • You also need to update your steam client.

After you are done doing all the above, check if steam is working fine now.

Disable your antivirus and/or firewall

As steam works via internet access, often your antivirus settings or firewall might be blocking incoming connections on account of suspicions. You can either check it in the settings or you can disable them for a temporary period of time and see if your steam client works smoothly now. You may need to install another antivirus/firewall if this solves your issue.

Recover/Restore your windows

If none of the above methods have been helpful in solving your problem then you may need to take more advanced steps such as recovering/repairing your windows or restoring it from an image or a previous system restore point.

  • Use Ctrl+C to open charms bar and then select ‘Settings’ from it.
  • Select ‘Change PC setting’ from the new side menu that comes.
  • It will take you to a full-screen interface, in there select’ Update and Recover’ which is the lowest option(above control panel).
  • You will be taken to a number of options, from there you can choose to select any of your preferred methods.
  • Once done recovering via the method you chose, try using steam again and check for issues.

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So these were a number of solutions to fix Steam Won’t Open error on your PC. If none of the methods works, then we suggest you contact Steam support and get your system thoroughly checked.

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