What is the solution to the problem of Steam not opening? Sometimes some problems may occur on the game platform, which is used by most of the players all over the world. To eliminate this problem, you can follow the methods below.,
Despite Epic Games and Microsoft’s efforts to expand territory in the PC gaming world, Steam still remains the largest platform, with a share of up to 70 percent of the entire global desktop gaming market. For those serious about PC gaming, Valve has no choice but to install the Steam app. However, from time to time, Steam does not work and may occurs errors.
Steam may not be running, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fix it. If Steam stops working properly, you won’t be able to get games, you won’t be able to access your library. Although it is very annoying but the problems can be solved quite easily. Before you panic about losing access to the world’s largest library of PC games, there are a number of Steam fixes that can help fix the problem. Especially “Steam not opening” issue.
How To Fix Steam Not Opening Issue?
- Checking the Steam server
- Running Steam as administrator
- Check if Steam is running in the background
- Update the graphics card
- Clearing the Steam cache
- Do not scan for viruses
- Deleting and reinstalling Steam
1. Check the Server
When things go wrong, your instincts can cause you to tear your hair out, curse your luck, and even start looking for tough solutions to what you believe to be a dreaded, potentially fatal problem with your PC or the software you’re running.
The first thing you should do is checking Steam servers status. This issue can occur when there is a maintenance or some kind of problem causing an outage. Steamstats.us is the best site for providing Steam server control. Here you can see the status of the server. If the servers are down or under maintenance, you don’t need to bang your head saying “Steam not opening”, because neither you nor your computer are the cause.
2. Run as Administrator
One of the other solution to the “Steam Not Running” problem is to run Steam as a system administrator. This will ensure that there are no security or permission issues preventing Steam from opening or certain Steam games from working properly. The easiest way to do this is to right-click the Steam shortcut on your desktop and click “Run as administrator”.
- Right-click the Steam icon on the desktop.
- Select the “Run as administrator” option.
If you want Steam to run as administrator all the time, right click on the icon on the desktop and go to properties. If you don’t have a desktop icon, you can go to your Steam installation directory (default folder: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam”), then right click on the Steam executable and create it with the “Create Shortcut” command.
Then right click on the shortcut you created and open Properties. Click on the shortcut tab at the top. From there, go to the advanced part. Next, check the box that says “Run as administrator” and click OK. Steam will now always run in administrator mode until you go back and uncheck the box.
3. How to Check if Steam is Running in the Background
- Right click on the Taskbar.
- Select Task Manager.
- Check if Steam is running in the background via the “Processes” tab.
Sometimes the Steam client continues to run in the background even if the user closes it. The computer user encounters a big problem when you try to open Steam again later. Therefore, it should be checked whether the client is running in the background.
4. Updating the Graphics Card
One of the known reasons of Steam crashes on startup has to do with GPU drivers. Over the years, there have been several GPU updates from both AMD and NVIDIA that caused Steam to not work properly. Updating your GPU drivers is a simple process done via GeForce Experience (NVIDIA) or Radeon Settings (AMD). In both apps, go to “Check for updates” and download the latest driver.
To roll back a GPU driver, you need to go to the official NVIDIA driver or AMD driver pages, then find and download the version of a driver that is only one or two behind the driver you are currently using.
5. Clearing the Steam Cache
The “appcache” folder in your Steam directory stores various data about your Steam applications and installation. Essentially, it remembers all small details every time you open Steam, making things run a little faster the next time you open Steam. But sometimes things can go wrong with the cache.
It may “misremember” things, which can again cause you to alert “Steam not opening”. To fix this try deleting the “appcache” folder. (Don’t worry – this will regenerate the next time you open Steam.)
First go to your Steam directory (“C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam” by default), then copy and paste the appcache folder to a safe place (just in case). Then delete. After that, you can delete the “appcache” folder in your Steam directory and then try restarting Steam.
If it’s working properly, you can delete the original backed up appcache folder because a healthy new one will be created in its place.
Also, you can cleanup system cache with Disk Cleanup utility.
- Press the Windows logo key and R on your keyboard at the same time
- Type “cleanmgr.exe” and press Enter
- Click Clean up system files
- Click Yes
- Check all items, then click OK
- Click Delete Files
6. Scan for Viruses
Viruses, which have become the nightmare of everyone who uses computers, benefit from the development of technology at the highest level. They are working to fend off a virus attack that can be experienced with minimum casualties by preparing even more advanced antivirus software to protect against this threat, which has existed for years and has reached serious levels recently.
Every year around the world, especially organizations, they make serious investments in computer defense technologies. They do it because the seriousness of the incident poses an unquestionably great risk. Apart from large organizations, small businesses and home users are also getting their share of the same threat. Newly released viruses spread instantly all over the world via the internet, e-mail and many other ways.
A number of problems occur on systems infected with malware. So your computer may be infected with malware. To eliminate this possibility, scan the system with an antivirus program.
7. Deleting and Reinstalling
If none of the above methods solved your problem, you can try deleting and reinstalling the Steam program as a last resort. This method may help resolve the issue you are facing.
Steam Error Codes
Steam error codes allow us to find the problem and fix it faster. Below you will find some of the important ones and their solutions.
Fix Error Code: -107
You may not be aware, but the Steam desktop client actually uses the open source version of Chromium, which works the same as Google Chrome. This means that Steam can suffer the same errors as a regular web browser, including Error Code: -107, which is an SSL protocol error.
The solutions to this are pretty simple. First, make sure you’re using the latest version of Windows. Next, go to “Date & Time” in the Windows Settings and turn “Set time automatically” off and back on.
Another possible solution for this is to delete the beta client file.
If you are running a beta version of Steam then there is always a risk that Steam will not work. After all, beta versions are less stable than full ‘stable’ builds; this is the price you pay to play with the latest features. If you are in this situation and Steam not opening, you need to disable the beta client before actually entering Steam.
To do, go to the package folder in your Steam directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\package by default) and delete the file named “beta”.
Steam is not opening? Error messages
“Failed to Load SteamUI.dll”
One of the most common problems with Steam is the error Steamui.dll, where Steam cannot find the DLL file it needs to open. There are several possible solutions to this. By reversing our previous tip, you can trick Steam into thinking the current version of Steam you’re running is a beta.
To do this, go to your Steam installation folder (“C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam” by default) and then find the “Steam.exe” file. Right-click, then click Create Shortcut. Right-click the shortcut, click Properties, and then in the Target box add -clientbeta client_candidate to the end of the target directory. It should look like this:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe” -clientbeta client_candidate
Nothing Happens When I Try To Open
Steam is divided into several separate processes on your computer and this helps it run smoothly. Sometimes when you try to open Steam, it can cause a minor error that the process starts on your computer, but Steam does not appear on your desktop or notification area. You try to turn it back on but literally nothing happens.
This could be because the Steam process has started, but the part that deals with showing the Steam UI is not. If this happens to you, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. In Task Manager, click “More details” in the bottom left if it’s not already selected, then “Steam – Steam Bootloader, Client Service, WebHelper” etc.
Scroll down the Processes list until you reach it. Right click on all Steam processes you see here and click “End task”. Steam doesn’t really work anymore. You have erased all traces of it on your computer.
When there are no more open Steam processes, try opening Steam again and it should work.
If it is not working, do the fast reload trick
Have you followed all the Steam error codes and solutions we provided and still “Steam not opening”? Then there is a quick way to reinstall the app while keeping all your preferences and games.
Delete everything in your Steam installation folder except Steam.exe, steamapps and user data. Next, double-click on “Steam.exe” and let it reinstall. (If you want your new Steam folder to be installed elsewhere on your PC, you can move Steam.exe, steamapps and user data to another location before doing so.)
If you still say “Steam not opening”, we have no solution. You have write to the Steam Support forums and hope they can help with a solution.
