Fix Steam Running Slow / Steam Takes Forever to Open [2024]

Is your Steam client taking 4-5 minutes to launch and lagging significantly? Tried installing and reinstalling but no outcome?

For gamers, nothing is worse than Steam lagging and taking too much time to open, and it both consumes your time, energy and creates anger and frustration.

I faced the exact same issue last October, making it impossible to open Steam and launch a game.

Fortunately, I was able to repair Steam game files and fix the issue within a matter of minutes. In this post, I will discuss every method I tried and which users have confirmed work.

But why does Steam take so long to start?

Steam takes so long to start for multiple reasons, like, the compatibility between Steam and your device, admin permission ungranted, turning Family Sharing on, and so on. Besides, two antivirus running side by side, cache, and cookies, are also why Steam took too much time to launch.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the guide.

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How to Solve Steam Running Slow?

Your Steam Client taking too long to open is not an uncommon issue at all, and there are many reasons behind it. So, if you face the same problem, don’t worry.

Jump to the solutions, read till the end and apply one by one to resolve your issue for good.

Solution 1. Run Steam as an Administrator

There are two consecutive methods to solve the issue, and you can follow either of them.

Method 1: Here’s the first method that you can quickly follow.

Press the Windows key and type Steam on your PC.
Click on Run as administrator, and you are done.

Method 2: I guess this one works the same with a little bit more precisely.

Right-click on the Steam shortcut icon and select Properties.
Move to Compatibility tab and check the Run this program as an administrator.
Click OK, and you’re good.

Also check our exclusive tutorial on how to stream Origin games over Steam.

Solution 2. Clear your Steam’s Browser Cache and Cookies

There is a fixed amount of space for the cache and cookies for Steam browser. If there isn’t much space left, this can cause your Steam to run slow. Here’s how you can clear your Steam browser’s cache and cookies:

Right-click on the Steam icon and select Run as administrator.
Click on the Steam tab and select Settings.
Go to the Web Browser and delete browser cache and cookies. A pop-up will ask you to confirm your decision for both times.
Press OK, save the changes, and exit.

Restart Steam and check if the delay starting problem resolves.

Solution 3. Clear your Steam’s Download Cache

When you download something, it stores up some files in the download cache, and too much of this data storing can cause your Steam to take a long time to open. So you need to clear the download cache. Here’s how you can remove your Steam download cache:

Open the Steam application and click on the Steam.
Click on the Settings tab and navigate to Downloads.
Press CLEAR DOWNLOAD CACHE. A pop-up will ask you to confirm.
Press OK, wait for the process to complete. It won’t take much time.
Save the changes and exit the client.

Restart Steam and log in again if Steam wants you to do so. Check whether your problem is resolved or not.

Solution 4. Disable Family Sharing

Sometimes turning family Sharing on can cause this pathetic problem. Here’s the process you can follow to turn off Family Sharing.

Launch Stream and go to the Stream.
Select Settings, navigate the Family tab and uncheck the Authorize Library Sharing on this computer.
Click OK and then exit.

Relaunch Steam and see if the steam takes forever issue is gone.

Check out the easiest way to access the Steam screenshot folder and Change its location.

Solution 5. Disable LAN Settings

A proxy generates a passage through which your internet data flow. If you have a proxy active on your computer, your Steam has to perform more to do the extra work. Here’s the method you can follow to turn off your LAN settings.

Press the Windows key, type Run, and hit Enter.
Type cpl and click OK.
Move to the Connections tab, click on LAN settings.
Click on Automatically detect settings and uncheck Use a proxy server for your LAN.
Save the settings and exit.

Relaunch Steam and see if your problem has vanished.

Also, check our exclusive tutorial on how to turn off shader pre-caching in Steam.

Solution 6. Disable Unwanted Programs

Sometimes a third-party application, say, BlueStacks is running in the background. It takes much more CPU, GPU, and DISK than the other apps. Even it can delay the opening of Steam.

To turn off unwanted programs, you need to launch the task manager, find the program and turn it off.

Press the Windows key, type Task Manager, and hit Enter.
Click the Processes tab, and you will be shown all of the applications that are currently running on the device.
Click the CPU option and check which application is pressing your CPU.
Right-click on the application which is using the CPU more and select End task.
Perform the same task for Memory and Disk.

Check the Steam if it is working perfectly alright. But as you disable some third-party applications, you may face some problems functioning appropriately. So, you have to make sure there isn’t much resource usage by the system applications. Here’s the process

you can follow:

Press Windows key+R.
Typing MSConfig in the Run dialogue box, press Enter.
Move to the Service tab, and uncheck the Hide all Microsoft Services.
Click on the Disable all It will help to prevent these services from lunching at the start.
Navigate to the Startup tab and click on the Open Task Manager.
Ensure disabling all applications from launching at startup.
Save the changes and close the windows.

Restart your computer and check if the Steam works fine. If it does, it means a faulty application that troubles your Steam opening. So, now try enabling one by one of the services and applications and check when the problem comes back.

Thus you can find out which application is troubling and make sure you disable it temporarily or permanently. This solution can be a somewhat long time to perform, but it’s a feasible solution that works for many people.

Solution 7. Change Power CFG

The issue of taking a long time to launch can be provoked due to the computer not allowing optimal power to the application. To check if this is the case for your device, you need to change the Power setting of your computer.

Press the Windows key, type Control Panel, and hit Enter.
Click on the View by option and select Large icons.
Go to the Power Options and click on the High-Performance option.
Close the window and see if any changes occurred.

Solution 8. Change Priority

Before you use a device or an application, you need to ask yourself, “Which thing do I need particularly from this program?” Whether you can answer it or not, remember, you have invested money on this, so you deserve to get the best outcome according to that.

If the Steam client itself is running slow on your computer, here’s the process you can follow and solve.

Press the Windows key, type Task Manager, and hit Enter.
Click on the Details You can view each process running on your PC.
Right-click on the .exe. If your program is lagging, navigate to Set priority and click Realtime or the High.
Click on Set Priority and select Low if you face laggy games but normal Stream client.
Close the window, check to see if any issue remains.

Solution 9. Delete HTML Cache

People solve their Steam opening problem by clearing the cache and cookies. But it can come back after some time. So, you need to find a permanent solution for fixing this issue. You can try deleting the HTML cache to solve the problem.

First, you need to clear the app files and then the Steam cache. Here’s how you can fix your Steam opening problem by deleting the HTML cache:

Press Windows key+R.
Type %temp% and hit Enter.
Press Ctrl+A which helps to select all the files and press Shift+Delete to remove them permanently.
Launch the run prompt again and type %appdata%, and press Enter.
Press Ctrl+A and then Shift+Delete.
Close the programs.
Right-click on the Steam icon and select Open file location.
Go to the Steam installation folder.
Click on the App cache folder and delete the HTTP cache.
Go to the Appdata > local > steam folder and delete the HTML cache.
Run the Steam.exe and let it download the files it wants to.

Launching Steam, see if you find any issues like before.

Solution 10. Test the compatibility Settings

The Steam client might face incompatibility issues with the OS you are using. So, you need to check if this is the case. Here’s the process you can test the compatibility settings:

Right-click on the Steam icon on your desktop and select Open file location.
Right-click on the Steam executable and choose Properties.
Navigate to the Compatibility
Check the Run this program for compatibility mode for
Click on the dropdown, try all of the OS one by one and check which one gives you better performance.
Click on the Apply after selecting an OS, and press OK.

Solution 11. Disable Third-Party Antivirus

Sometimes your antivirus can create problems with your Steam client that punishes Steam a long time to open, even crashes. So disabling your antivirus is an option you can apply, and here’s a process you can follow to disable the third-party antivirus.

Click the ^ button to open the system tray.
Right-click on the antivirus, select shields control and select Disable permanently.

I have mentioned almost every way of solving the issue. Try all of them sequentially and see which one resolves your issue permanently.

Why Does Steam Take Forever to Open

Recent October, every once in a while, I faced this issue. I asked myself, “Why does Steam take so long to launch?”

Well, Steam takes forever to open for a couple of reasons. Read till the end to know why this problem occurs on your device.

Compatibility Issue: Sometimes, Steam takes a long time to open if it is incompatible with your computer.
Administrative Problem: Steam needs permission to read and write. If it is not running as an administrator, the launch can get delayed.
Third-party Antivirus: Steam takes an eternity to open if the third-party antivirus is running in the background, sometimes.
Family Sharing Feature: The family sharing feature needs additional details that slow down the process. So, if you have family sharing enabled, Steam can take a long time to open.
Cookies and Caches: If the cache and cookies are corrupted, your Steam might slow down.
Proxy Settings: Proxy settings might slow a process down. This time, your Steam can get caught.
Faulty Background Application: If there is any faulty application running in the background of your computer, it might slow every app on your device. Steam might fall into the trap.

Why are my Steam games so laggy?

There are numerous factors that can cause Steam to be laggy. If the integrity of game files are damaged or the download data cache files are accumulating a lot of space, it could make Steam run slow. Steam requires a decent PC to run as well, so if your specs are not up to the mark, you may get a slow Steam experience.

In addition, it is possible that the Steam client is taking forever to load because of excessive download data or corrupted game files.

Similarly, if you haven’t updated your device drivers lately, it could cause multiple installed games to fail. I recommend using an automatic driver updater software like IOBit Driver Booster or Driver Reviver to fix this in 1 click. They have free editions too!

Lastly, if you have tried doing that and still can’t manage to repair the Steam error, then you can try reinstalling Steam from scratch by first uninstalling it from the system.

Conclusion

Most games nowadays need minimum powerful hardware to run the graphics. So before you do anything, make sure of the compatibility between Steam and your hardware.

If you feel like your Steam is opening after one eternity later, I suggest you apply all the above solutions and resolve your issue. If no steps can solve your case, I believe it’s your hardware problem. Furthermore, let me know if you solve your issue.