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Steam Won’t Open on Windows 10: How to Fix & Causes

You might need to perform a system restore to fix this

6 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Steam is a highly reliable application that allows users to access and buy various immersive games of different genres easily. However, despite being reliable, some users will complainthat Steam won’t open on Windows 10.

Thisprevents users from playing Steam games on their PC. If you are also facing this issue, this guide will show you quick ways to fix it for good.

Why is Steam not opening?

Below are some of the factors that cause the Steam client not to open on your PC:

It is worth mentioning that the solutions presented in this guide apply to a variety ofSteamerror messages:

How can I fix Steam if it won’t launch on Windows 10?

Before proceeding to the fixes in this section, below are some of the troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Use a command

The command above is used to refresh the installation of the Steam application. Therefore, it is used to fix several issues related to the gaming client, including the Steam won’t open on Windows 10 issue.

2. End Steam processes

In some cases, Steam might not open on Windows 10 because it encountered minor glitches. The easiest way to fix this is to restart all instances of Steam.

3. Update PC

The Steam client needs Windows 10 to be up-to-date to run without glitches. Hence, if your PC is outdated, you need to update it to the latest version.

4. Enter Safe Mode

Configuring your PC’s settings to start in Safe Mode is another method to solve the Steam won’t open on Windows 10 issue. Safe Mode only starts your PC with the minimum drivers and processes required to run it smoothly.

So, if there are third-party programs interfering with the starting of thesteamapplication, then Safe Mode should fix the problem.

5. Reinstall Steam

If all else fails, there is always the option of reinstalling Steam.

If you want to avoid going through the tiring process of redownloading and reinstalling all of your games, then you can move thesteamapps folder(the folder containing all of your games) from theSteamdirectory and save it in another place on your HDD.

Afterward, uninstall yourSteam softwareand completely delete the remaining location of your previous installation. After you reinstallSteamyou will want to copy thesteamapps folderback into the new location of yourSteamdirectory.

⇒GetSteam[Latest version for Windows 10]

6. Perform a system restore

If Steam still won’t open on Windows 10 after applying the troubleshooting steps above, you might need to restore your PC to a point when everything is working well.

This is because you might have made some changes that are hard to trace to your PC, causing the issue. Performing a system restore will reverse these changes and restore normalcy on your PC.

The Steam won’t open on Windows 10 issue can be frustrating, as it denies you access to your games. But with the solutions in this guide, you should be able to fix them for good.

IfSteam games won’t launch on Windows 10, check our detailed guide to fix it quickly.

Feel free to let us know the solution that helped you fix this issue in the comments below.

Steam Won’t Open on Windows 10: How to Fix & Causes#

Why is Steam not opening?#

How can I fix Steam if it won’t launch on Windows 10?#

1. Use a command#

2. End Steam processes#

3. Update PC#

4. Enter Safe Mode#

5. Reinstall Steam#

6. Perform a system restore#