How to Fix Steam Games Crashing on Startup (Full Guide)

Games on Steam will run on any platform that Steam supports. The games will have their own minimum system requirements which a system must meet. If a system fails to meet the minimum hardware requirements, the game will either not run, or it will run at its lowest possible settings and it may still lag.

Fix Steam Games Crashing at Startup

While it is rare, a Steam game may close when you run it. If it fails to run at all, or if it was running fine and suddenly stopped working, you can try the fixes below.

Update Steam

Steam updates regularly and this happens each time you open the app. If you don’t shut your system down, or quit Steam regularly, it may not be able to install updates. If Steam has not been updated for a long time, your games may eventually run into problems.

1. Quit the Steam client.
2. Open the Steam client again.
3. Allow it download and install updates.
4. Try running the game.

Update the game

Steam games tend to update before they’re launched. Even if you’ve never quit Steam, games will still update before you open them. That said, a slow internet connection or a download that’s still in progress will keep the game from running or close it immediately. 

1. Open Steam.
2. Go to your library. 
3. Select the game from the column on the left.
4. Click the Update button.
5. Go to Downloads and make sure the update completes. 
6. Launch the game and it should work.

Note: Some games block users from playing if they aren’t up to date so you should try to always keep your games up to date. This often holds true for online games.

Verify game files

A Steam game’s files may become corrupt. This can happen if you’ve recently moved a backup of the game or the game itself from one drive to another. In this case, you should verify the game’s files.

1. Open Steam and go to your library.
2. In the column on the left, right-click the game that’s causing problems and select Properties.
3. Go to the Local files tab.
4. Click the Verify integrity of files button.
5. Steam will verify the files and fix and problems that it finds.

Uninstall and reinstall the game

If Steam is unable to fix problems with the game files, you will have to uninstall and reinstall the game. Make sure to back the game up first. There is no guarantee that the game files will be saved.

1. Open Steam and go to your library.
2. Right-click the game and select Manage>Uninstall.
3. Download the game again.

Note: Uninstalling the game will not ‘refund’ it. You still own the game and can download it without having to purchase it again.

Flush Steam DNS

The Steam client incorporates a web browser that can display Steam game pages. This browser isn’t the smartest and can cause problems with games. Flushing the Steam DNS can resolve them.

1. Open your browser.
2. Enter this steam://flushconfig/ in the URL bar and tap Enter.
3. Close and reopen Steam.

Quit other apps

If your system barely meets the minimum hardware requirements for a game, it will struggle to run if other apps are running on your system. Quit all apps and then try to run the game.

Conclusion

Steam games are normally very stable. Even if the game is many years old, so long as it’s available on Steam, it will run on any system that you can install Steam on. A few basic troubleshooting steps should fix the problem you’re having. 

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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