Steam is a famous online platform for gaming and has millions of users. The application has many uncountable games which can be bought at an excellent rating and played instantly. It is not so simple, though, as you need to download the games on the application, which can be a little frustrating sometimes as the games are not downloaded so fast, and you need to fix slow steam downloads.
There is a requirement of good storage space if you wish to download any game, but it still takes a long time to download as the games are of larger size, but the downloading speed on your PC also plays an important part.
So, if you are also wondering why my steam download is so slow, do not worry, as we will tell you some common reasons why this may be happening and what you can do to speed up the downloading process.
6 Major Reasons and Solutions to Fix Slow Steam Downloads Process
Even if your Steam downloads are slow, you should not worry, as the different techniques that we are telling you here will help you speed the downloading process of the games that you wish to download on steam.
- Terminate Unnecessary Processes
A significant reason Steam downloads are so slow on your PC could be the too many applications and services that are opened up on your computer. If you wish to speed up the downloading speed, you have to close the other unused processes opened in the CPU and RAM. You can do this from the Task Manager of the Computer and then click on the End Task tab to close the programs.
- Give Priority to the Games on Steam
There could be some other function running on your computer that the computer may prioritize, interfering with the downloading speed and forcing you to wonder why steam downloads are so slow. It would help if you used the Task Manager to prioritize the steam download processes.
Also, Read – Is Your Steam Download Slow? Here’s the Fix!
Open the Task Manager and then proceed to the details of the Steam server. After that, you need to set up the priority to High, which will make the Steam games start downloading very quickly.
- Check the Download Region and Bandwidth
Another reason your steam download is slow could be the download region set in our Steam application. The downloading speed of the games is affected by the region, so it is crucial to select a good region from the Settings of the app, which will increase the downloading speed and help you.
Also, ensure that the bandwidth limit box in the app’s settings is not ticked off, as it also prevents the games from downloading very speedily. You can also choose a region that is not very populated as the downloading speed will be affected by the region’s traffic.
- Disable the Antivirus Program on the Computer
Wondering why steam downloads so slow then, the Antivirus or the firewall of your PC can be a huge reason for it. The computer’s antivirus system affects the download speed of the Steam games, so we recommend that you try to disable the Antivirus system from your computer to see if this is the reason behind it. You can disable the firewall or the Antivirus from the settings or the search box quickly.
- Clear Your Download Cache
If you are using windows you can use the following command to clear your download cache for faster steam download!
- Open Steam and go to Steam > Settings to open the Settings window
- Click on the ‘Downloads’ tab
- Click the ‘Clear Download Cache’ button
- Restart Steam
- Go to your Library and click ‘Downloads’ at the bottom
- Select the game you want to download, right click on it, then select ‘Delete Local Content…’
- Restart Steam again
- Go back to your Library and click ‘Downloads’ at the bottom again, then select the game you want to download, right click on it, then select ‘Install…’, select a download location and wait for it to finish downloading (this time it will download faster).
- Updating a Network driver
If you are experiencing slow steam downloading speed, then it is time to update your network driver. The following steps will guide you in updating your network driver:
- Go to your network adapter in Device Manager, right click and click “Update Driver”.
- Select the “Browse my computer for driver software” option.
- Select the “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer” option.
- Select the “Microsoft” driver from the list. (The name will vary depending on what is installed)
- Click Next, then wait while Windows installs the driver.
- Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
I hope you have understood the significant reasons why Steam downloads are slow and what can you do to prevent it on your computer. All the methods are very effective and will help you if you struggle with your Steam games’ downloading problem.