Since its first launch in 2003, the Steam users keeps increasing day by day. In 2018, approximately 47 million active users access Steam daily. Seeing the number is getting more and more, it is clear that Steam is growing fast. But it doesn’t mean that Steam is a perfect platform. It still has problems that occur to gamers which one of the issues is when Steam won’t open. If you are facing the same situation now, then don’t be worried because you can figure out the solution here.
We know that it is annoying when your Steam won’t open. You can’t dive in the battle, share with your friend, and do other fun things. According to many users’ experiences, the problem doesn’t have to come from Windows. Other programs and the corrupt files from Steam might cause a similar reaction too. Even though most cases are related to the device, still, the more you know the other possibilities the better.
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All You Need to Know About Steam
Before we discuss why your Steam won’t open, it is good to know about this platform. Because we believe not all its users know what it is. So, here, we want to explain at glance about the Steam. Steam is a digital platform to distribute video games made by Valve Corporation which automatically updates their games inside. It is really convenient for gamers because they don’t have to do it manually.
Steam users can purchase the game they want through the Steam store. Counted up to 2019, Steam has over 30,000 games inside. It starts from the one-man-stand shooter games until the role-playing games. Steam covers all kinds of interests and separates them by genre. So, it is easy to find which game suits you.
More than that, Steam also has other features that allow its users to connect with each other. They can access friends list, interact, and share. Seeing a high intention of the users, four years later after Steam was released, then it launched the official community.
Furthermore, the Steam Community extends its activity to create the market. It is a place where the user can buy and sell in-game items, do trading cards, and many more. All transactions are done by using the Steam wallet. The money is made from the “sell and buy” activity.
Why Steam Won’t Open? and How to Fix It
As we mentioned at the opening, there are various possibilities cause your Steam won’t open. If the system won’t launch, just be calm. You don’t have to panic facing this situation. There are sets of problem-solving to answer this condition. See the discussion below that might help you to run this program again:
1. The Server Problem
You should know that all servers for gamers are easily crashed. So, when your Steam can’t launch, then check its servers just in case. Go to the website steamstat.us and you can check whether the servers are currently down or not.
That website also provides you another status, such as the game server condition plus the information about load capacity based on region. We advise you to bookmark the Steam Status site to do server checking faster and easier.
2. Your Device Problem
Have you ensured your devices are okay when the Steam won’t open? If you don’t really confirm it, then go check your computer as simple as by restarting your computer. Shut down your computer and your router, then unplug the power cables from them. Wait for a couple of minutes to let them refresh. After that, you can plug them back in and see what happens whether the Steam will open normally.
3. The “appcache” Issue
It is similar to the other browsers, Steam also stored cached content. The cached data will remember every detail of your activity. It is useful to ensure your next session will work a little bit faster. But, on the other hand, the cache might cause a problem like this. So, all you need to do is clearing the cache from your Steam directory. To clear the cache, follow the steps below:
- Press the “Windows” and “R” button on your keyboard together, then type “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam” on the command box.
- Copy the “appcache” folder to the desktop and then delete it. This step is to make a backup because you probably need to resume the paused game when clearing the cache.
- Launch the Steam again like normally you do. If the Steam runs well, then you can delete the backup.
4. Needs to Reinstall
Some users consider reinstalling the program when their Steam won’t open due to change in the operating system or other programs. Actually, doing reinstall is a common problem for everyone. But, one thing for sure, you must backup your games first because you will lose your games and data once this method is successfully completed.
Head on to your Steam Library folder and make a copy of “steamapps” in another location. Also, make “userdata” folder to keep other things you need. After the installation is done, simply just replace the new “steamapps” with the previous folder you have made before.
5. The Antivirus Prevents to Open
Some applications like antivirus can interfere to launch Steam because it can hook deeply to the system and affect the disk and network operation. To prove this possibility, it is better for you to disable the antivirus temporarily. Here is the way to do it:
- Press the “Windows” and “R” button on your keyboard together, then type “gpedit.msc” to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Note: You need to enable Group Policy Editor or gpedit.msc first before you can run it
- Navigate to User Configuration, choose Administrative Templates, then click the system. Right-click and choose properties “Don’t run specified Windows applications” in the right box to edit.
- Choose the “Enabled” option and click “Show” to input the antivirus you use by typing the name. Use the name of the application launching file such as “avast.exe“, “avira.exe“, etc.
- Click OK, then click “Apply”, your setting is changed here.
- Reboot your computer now so the change applied perfectly. After you turn on the computer again, make sure the Steam starts normally.
6. RAM Problem
The next thing that might cause your Steam won’t open is due to the RAM problem. This can develop a problem especially when you are in the installation process. Do the steps below to check your RAM condition:
- There is nothing to do than closing all your running programs now.
- Press the “Windows” and “R” button at the same time, then type “mdsched.exe” on the command box once it appears on your screen.
- Select the option to restart and check for problems in your computer. After that, let the computer analyze itself. It will restart so the process takes minutes to give you a result.
- After the reboot process, type “eventvwr” in the run window and navigate to the Windows Logs.
- Choose the System, then click “Filter Current Log” in the right box, click or check “Memory Diagnostics-Result” so you can get all result logs of the test.
- Double click that results to get to know the detailed information whether there is a problem in your RAM or not. If it is true that a problem persists, then you have to replace the RAM stick. This test is needed to ensure that your Steam can launch normally with another RAM.
7. Outdated Operating System
In most cases that Steam won’t open might be caused by a fault when updating the operating system. Fortunately, if this is your root cause, it is easy to solve. There are many references in order to update your operating system, moreover when you are using Windows. Below is the sample to update your operating system with Windows:
- Click the Start button on your screen, select Settings, and then scroll down to find the Update and Security option.
- Choose “Windows Update” from the list on the left, then click “Check for updates” under the Update status.
- You can see whether there are available updates or not.
- Once you are able to download, then wait again for a moment to continue for installation.
- After the installation is done, restart your computer to make the update applied properly.
- Launch again your Steam after the installation and see if it can run properly like before.
We hope that one of that advice above can fix the problem for Steam won’t open. Just believe that not only you who gets annoyed when it doesn’t work as expected. You can share those tips with your friends because probably they face the same issue. If you do it, then you save someone’s happiness to enjoy their day.
