How to fix Steam not opening on Windows 10

Steam is an application that allows users to access and purchase games. However, despite Steam being stable, some users will still have errors. For instance, the common ‘steam won’t open’ error on Windows 10. A while back, this was an issue from the developer’s side because the games were not optimized to open on the latest Windows.

However, it is not clear what causes this problem but there are some possibilities. Other programs may interfere with your Steam experience or you may have corrupted file(s).

A user cannot be able to play games in Steam Library. This can be really frustrating when you cannot open or launch Steam, but do not worry! You can fix it! In this article, we have put together some solid solutions to assist you to launch Steam on Windows 10 without any problem. You may not have to try them all; just choose the most convenient for you.

First: Do System Backup

It is always a great idea to perform a system backup to avoid any data loss when performing system repair.

Step 1

Press Windows key + i on your keyboard to open settings.

Another way to access settings is by going to the taskbar, click the Windows icon and press settings.

Also, you can click the search button on the taskbar, type settings and enter the first match.

Step 2

The windows tab appears, press Update & Security. Then choose Backup from the left pane as shown below:

Step 3

Connect an external drive to your machine where you want to back up your files. Click the + button next to Add a drive and select the external drive you connected.

Remove any unnecessary external devices before opening Steam. For example, a USB drive, printers, hard drive, extra mouse, extra keyboard, extra monitor, etc. Such unnecessary external devices may interfere with Steam launching.

Method #1: End the Process and Restart

Sometimes your Steam has not shut down entirely, and its processes are still running in the background. So when you open Steam afterward, your operating system thinks that the same task is already running and do not launch the Steam. You need all the processes of Steam in Task Manager before opening it again. To do so:

Step 1

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del on your keyboard to run Task Manager.

An alternative way is simply searching for Task Manager in your search box. Go to your taskbar, click the search icon, type Task Manager and select the first match.

The Task Manager tab opens. Select the Processes tab and scroll down to find the Steam Processes running. Click on a Steam Process then right-click and select End Task.

Make sure to end all the Steam Processes that are running in the background. If you do not find any Steam processes running, go to the next method.

Method #2: Clear Cached Data

Steam contains cached data (mostly cached download data) just like a browser. Unfortunately, the cached data is undesirable or corrupted files that may interfere with your Steam launch. Getting rid of the Steam cached data might fix the ‘steam won’t open’ error.

Step 1

To clear this cache, simply press Windows Key + R to open run or search for run in your search box.

Step 2

Type the following command line into the run dialog box and press OK:

Steam://flushconfig

The above command refreshes the installation of Steam program. Before clearing the cache, make sure you do not have unfinished game downloads because you will have to re-download them again.

Step 3

A Steam dialog box appears showing you a message. Press OK to continue.

If Steam does not launch, proceed to the next procedure.

Method #3: Using Advanced System Repair Tool to resolve steam won’t open.

Advanced System Repair (ASR) Tool is a program that brings you all the tools you need to clean, fix, optimize, protect and boost the performance of your machine. It is compatible with several Windows operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 10.

It has a multi-scan feature which intelligently scans and analyzes your machine within a few minutes then gives you a well-organized detailed output or results. Moreover, ASR is proven to resolve the steam won’t open error and many other issues in your Windows 1.

The following steps will show you how to download, install and implement Advanced System Repair in your computer:

Step 1

Downloading and installing Advanced System Repair Pro. Click on the button below to download automatically download ASP:

After the download is completed, double-click on the downloaded setup located in download files under the program folder.

Step 2

The Advanced System Repair Pro tab appears. Click on continue to go to the next screen. In the next screen, accept the license terms by checking the I Accept the EULA and Privacy Policy. After checking, click Install and Scan Now. The installation process starts.

After installation, the application immediately starts gathering crucial data about your PC such as memory and CPU performance.

It also checks for junk files and continues scanning deeper into the system files. The tool has the following options at the bottom of the wizard: Skip Current Scan, Pause Scan and Stop Scan. You may use the options as you desire. Advanced System Repair scans all the different groups of items and shows every problem found. After scanning is completed, you are shown the critical issues to fix, items to clean and the amount of disk space to free up.

Step 3

Click the Complete Scan Details tab to see the details of the scan. You choose what action to take by expanding the Recommendation tab and choosing either to fix, clean, optimize or ignore.

Step 4

Click Fix, Clean & Optimize Now to initiate the cleaning process. This might take a few minutes. To fix all the issues that Advanced System Repair found on your PC, consider upgrading to the paid version for a fair price.

The free version of the tool will only resolve the following problems: Privacy Traces, Junk files, and Registry Entries while the paid version will resolve ALL the problems found on your PC. The pro version comes with Real Time Protection which provides your system with ultimate secure and healthy.

This method is 100% proven to fix all your computer problem. However, we have a few more proven fixes below.

Method #4: Restart Your Computer

In some cases, Steam Client may not open because of a simple malfunction within the application. Shockingly, some of the small malfunctions on Steam can be fixed by rebooting your machine.

Step 1

You need to the taskbar, click on the Windows icon, press the power icon and then select the Restart option.

Once your machine has restarted, try launching the Steam. If it does not launch, proceed to the next procedure.

Method #5: Upgrade Operating System

When many users face the same problem, Windows launch a new version to resolve all the existing bugs. Occasionally, updating Windows is a fast and simple way to resolve Steam launching issues. You should try updating to see if this resolves your issues using the steps below.

Step 1

Go to the taskbar, click the Windows icon and select settings.

An alternative way, go to the taskbar, click the search icon, type settings and select the first match.

Step 2

When Windows Settings tab appears, select Update & Security.

Step 3

Select Windows Update from the left pane, then click Install Now to manually check for updates and install them.

Step 4

After Windows installation, restart your computer to enforce the updates. To do so, follow the steps on the illustration below:

Most users should have fixed their issue by now. However, if the method above doesn’t work, proceed to the next method

Method #6: Restart Your Network Devices

If you have a bad network status, your Steam may refuse to open. Your network devices such as modem and routers may have issues. These issues can hinder your Steam from launching. You can restart your network devices by simply doing the following:

Step 1

First, shutdown your machine, modem and router.

Step 2

Unplug the power cables from your modem and router. Wait for a few minutes before you plug back.

Step 3

Plug all your cables back to modem and router.

Step 4

Start your modem and router. Once your modem and router are completely on, turn on your computer. Check if your Steam is resolved, if not continue to the next method.

Method #7: Reinstall Steam

There is always the option of reinstalling Steam which can assist you to resolve Steam files or Windows compatibility issues. This process is tiring since you have to download and install all your games again. Luckily, you will not have to purchase the games again because they are part of your Steam account.

To avoid losing data, you should back up your game files before reinstalling Steam.

Step 1

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del on your keyboard to run Task Manager.

An alternative way is simply searching for Task Manager in your search box. Go to your taskbar, click the search icon, type Task Manager and select the first match.

Step 2

The Task Manager tab opens. You now need to select the Processes tab then scroll down to find the Steam Processes running. Click on the Steam Process then right-click and select End Task.

Step 3

In order to back up your games, you need to go to the Steam Library folder and then locate the steamapps folder. Right-click on the steamapps folder and select Copy. Then make a copy of the steamapps folder in another location.

Step 4

Open Control Panel. To do so, go to the taskbar, click the search icon, type control panel and select the first match.

Step 5

Select Uninstall a program as shown in the image below.

Step 6

Scroll down the list of programs and select Steam. Click Uninstall.

After uninstalling Steam, restart your computer to enforce the changes.

Step 7

Go to Steam official site and download a new Steam installer. To do so, use the below link to go to its official site: www.store.steampowered.com

Once the Steam homepage open, click Install Steam button on the top-right side of the homepage.

Proceed to the next screen and click Install Steam.

Step 8

Finally, open the Steam installer you have just downloaded. Follow the instructions of the wizard carefully to re-install Steam. After installation, copy the steamapps file back into the Steam directory. Check if your Steam is fixed, if not continue to the next method.

Method #8: Correcting Your Time and Date Settings

Occasionally, after making changes to your operating system, your time and date settings does not match accordingly. This interferes with Steam because it collects real-time data from your PC. To upgrade your time and date settings and fix the ‘steam won’t stream’ error, follow the steps below:

Step 1

Open Control Panel. Go to the taskbar, click the search icon, type control panel then select the first match.

Step 2

From the list of computer’s settings, select Clock and Region.

Step 3

On the next screen, select Date and Time from the right pane.

Step 4

In the Date and Time window, expand Internet Time then click Change settings.

Step 5

In the pop-up window, make sure to check the box next to Synchronize with an internet time server then click Update now. After the update is complete, click OK. Restart your Steam, if it does not launch then you can proceed to the next procedure.

Method #9: Upgrade Your Drivers to fix the ‘Steam won’t open’ error

In most cases, outdated drivers might interfere with Steam launching. In fact, updating them and launching Steam again is a good way to solve Steam not opening on Windows 10. To do so, follow the procedure below:

Step 1

You now need to go to the toolbar, click the search icon, type device manager then select the first match.

Step 2

In the Device Manager window, select the device you want to upgrade. Right-click on the name of the device then choose Properties. Navigate the top bar to Driver then hit ‘Update Driver’ as shown below.

Step 3

In the next screen, you will see two options. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

Step 4

Your computer will search for updates.

If you have the latest driver version, you will see the page resembling the one below. Otherwise, your PC should perform an automatic update of the driver.

Step 5

Repeat the above steps to update other outdated drivers. Once you finish updating all the drivers, restart your machine. To do so, go to the taskbar, click the Windows icon, press the power icon and select Restart.

Check to see if Steam launches then you should continue to the next method if you Steam does not open.

Method #10: System Restore

System restore feature has the ability to restores your computer to a previous state. If Steam was launching in the previous state, then system restore can fix the issue. To do so, follow the steps below.

Step 1

Go to the taskbar, click the Windows icon then select settings.

An alternative way, go to the taskbar, click the search icon, type settings then select the first match.

Step 2

When the Windows Settings tab appears, select Update & Security.

Step 3

Select Recovery from the left pane. On the right, you will see Advanced startup. Click Restart now.

Step 4

After your computer restarts, you will Choose an option window. Select Troubleshoot.

Step 5

Select Advanced options.

Step 6

Select System Restore.

Step 7

Your PC will allow you to select the restore point that you desire to use on your computer. Once you complete, open Steam and see if it works fine.

Conclusion

Steam not opening has become a common problem for Windows 10 users. This can be really frustrating when you cannot be able to play your favorite games in Steam Library.  The above procedures have been tried and tested to counter this issue.

If you have any issue, suggestion or query regarding this topic, you can simply comment below. Hope we have assisted you with what you wanted.