How To Fix Steam Is Frozen Or Not Responding In Windows

Sometimes Steam just freezes on itself. And you can’t do anything but stare at your screen, hoping it will start working normally.

While there isn’t an exact explanation why this happens, user reports say that it mainly occurs when they are trying to log in or download a new game. 

Well, whatever the case, if you are here because your Steam keeps freezing or not responding, then worry not! We have all the fixes related to this problem. 

How to Fix Steam Not Responding or Keeps Freezing

Programs generally start freezing when your processor doesn’t have enough memory. So a simple reboot of your PC should be enough to fix this issue. 

However, if your Steam still keeps freezing even after the system reboot, you can take a look at these methods that have fixed this issue for many users.

Restart Your Steam Client App

Apps keep crashing and freezing in Windows all the time. And you shouldn’t take it as a big deal. If you are facing this issue, simply restarting your Steam Client does the trick most of the time.

To do that:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the list of options.
2. From the Processes tab, find all the processes related to Steam.
   
3. Select them and click on the End task button, one by one, to end their process. This will close Steam from your system completely.
   
4. Wait for some time and relaunch Steam.

See if the problem is fixed, and you can use Steam normally without any issue. If it doesn’t work, you can move on to the next method.

Clear Download Cache and Web-Browser Cache from Steam Client

These annoying freezing and not responding issues can also be fixed by deleting web browser cache and download.

But, the problem arises when you can’t click any button. If that is the case for you, skip this method and try the next method instead.

However, if your Steam only stops responding randomly and you can still interact with it, you can follow these steps: 

1. Launch Steam on your desktop.
2. From the list of menus located at the top of the app, click on Steam.
3. Select Settings.
4. Now, select Downloads from the list of options.
5. On the Downloads window, click on the CLEAR DOWNLOAD CACHE.
6. Click Ok in the next popup.
   
7. Next, select Web Browser from the list of options again.
8. Click on DELETE WEB BROWSER DATA button.
   
9. Click Ok in the next popup.
10. After it is completed, click on Ok to close the settings window.

Now, close the Steam client and relaunch it. See if your problem is gone now. If it is still the same, you can try the next method.

Run Steam Flush Command

Broken or corrupted files on your Steam directory can also cause this issue. You can use this method to fix the broken or corrupted files on your Steam Directory.

To use this method:

1. Press Windows key + R together to open Run Command Box.
2. Type steam://flushconfig command in the search box and hit Enter.
   
3. Press OK in the next popup window to continue.
   

When this process is completed, it opens a brand new Steam login window. Now, log in to your Steam account by using your Username and Password. See if you can run Steam without any freezes or lags. If it’s still freezing, you can try this next method.

Check for Windows Updates

If your PC is missing some major or important updates, it can result in some rare cases where the programs stop responding and freeze randomly. So checking if you have some missing updates is always a good idea.

Follow these steps to update Windows:

1. Press Windows key to bring up the Start menu.
2. Click on the settings icon.
3. Select Windows Update from the list of options on the left side of your screen.
4. Click on Check for updates button to check if you have some missing updates.
   

If you have missing updates, it will automatically download and install them. After it is successfully installed, you can restart your PC and launch Steam to see if your issue is fixed.

Update Your Graphics Driver

Your outdated driver might be the cause of this problem too. Outdated or corrupted drivers are known to cause many problems for Windows users. So updating your graphics driver can fix this problem as well.

To update your graphics driver: 

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Select Device Manager from the list of options.
3. Expand Display adapters option by clicking on the small arrow icon.
   
4. Now, select your driver and double-click on it.
5. Go to the Driver tab and then click on the Update Driver.
   
6. Now, you’ll be presented with two options. Select Search automatically for drivers and let windows find the best driver for your graphics card.

After your driver has been updated, restart your PC and launch Steam. Check if your problem is fixed. If not, you can move on to the next step.

Prevent Auto-Launching of Apps on Windows Startup

Some apps are launched automatically when you start your Windows. When you have a lot of these apps, they can rack up quite a bit of memory and resources, which causes other apps to freeze randomly. To prevent this issue, you can disable them from auto-launching in Task Manager.

To do that: 

1. Right-click on your taskbar.
2. Select Task Manager from the list of options.
3. On Task Manager window, click on the Startup tab.
4. Find all the programs that you don’t need at the startup. Now, select them and click on the Disable button, one by one.
   
5. Close Task Manager and restart your device.

After the restart, launch Steam and see if it runs normally without any issue.

Delete Temp Files

Temp files are basically temporary files that your PC no longer needs. These files are created by Windows and programs you use, and can sometimes take up a lot of space on your PC. Cleaning the temp files regularly ensures that your PC is running smoothly.

To delete your temp files: 

1. Open Run Command Box by pressing Windows key + R together.
2. Type this command on the search box:
   %temp% and hit Enter.
   
3. Now, you’ll see a folder named Temp open in File Explorer. This folder contains all the temporary files accumulated on your PC.
4. Press Ctrl + A keys together to select all files at once. 
5. Press Shift + Del keys together to delete these files from your PC permanently.
6. Click Yes in the next popup.

After this, close the File Explorer and launch Steam from the desktop. Check if the freezing problem is gone. If not, you can move on to the next method.

Repair Your Steam Services

You might face this problem when you have corrupted files in your Steam directory. You can fix this issue by repairing your SteamService.exe file. But before running this troubleshooting method, make sure you’ve closed your Steam Client app.

Here’re the steps:

1. Press Windows key + R together to open Run Command Box on your PC. 
2. Copy and paste this command on the search bar and press Enter:
   "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe" /repair

Running this command will open up the terminal on your PC and run some scripts. The terminal closes by itself when this process is completed, so you don’t have to do anything. Just sit back and let it do its thing. 

Now, launch Steam from your desktop. Your problem should be fixed by now. If it’s still lagging and freezing, you can try the next method.

Reinstall Your Steam

If none of the methods worked and you’re still having the same issue, you can try reinstalling Steam as a last resort. To proceed with this method, you can follow these methods:

1. Open Run Command Box by pressing Windows key + R together.
2. Type control in the search bar and hit Enter.
3. This will bring up your Control Panel. Now, click on Uninstall a program option under Programs.
4. Locate Steam from the list of programs and select it by clicking on it. Now, right-click on it and select Uninstall to remove Steam from your PC.
   
5. Wait for it to uninstall, then close the Control Panel when it is completed.
6. Next, visit Steam’s official page and click on Install Steam button to download the latest Steam installer file.
   
7. Now, open the file you’ve just downloaded to install the latest version of Steam.

After the installation process is complete, log in to your account using your Username and Password. Check if it runs normally and there are no freezing issues.

These methods are usually enough to solve the freezing issues in Steam. However, if you’re still having the problem even after you’ve tried all of these methods, you can try updating your date & time, and disabling your VPN and antivirus programs.