If your Steam download speed is slow, it can be a real pain to deal with. Waiting around to play the newest update to your favorite game, or trying to get your hands on a new game as soon as possible can feel like an eternity. If you’re paying for above-average internet speeds and have hit a road block when downloading on Steam, this is our handy troubleshooting guide to figure out what’s going wrong.

Even though the general quality of your internet can be a big problem when it comes to downloading games, there are plenty of additional reasons which could be causing your download speed to grind to a halt. Whether you’re downloading on a gaming PC, or even a Steam Deck, we hope that our guide solves the problem as soon as possible.

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Urgency is key if you’re sick of waiting around, so let’s jump into the quickest and easiest fixes available to you right now. We’ll be taking a look at both Steam and non-Steam solutions to increasing internet speed, plus some extra tips and tricks.

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How to fix slow Steam download speed

There are a number of methods to get your Steam downloads back to full speed, of which we will run through in-depth below.

Start off by opening up Steam
Once open, click the ‘Steam’ button from the top navigation bar, and select ‘Settings’ from the drop-down menu
Inside settings, locate and select the ‘Downloads’ tab from the available options
Under ‘Download restrictions’ click on the ‘Limit bandwidth to’ drop-down menu and make sure it’s set to no limit
Confirm the action by clicking OK and restart Steam for good measure

Start by opening Steam
Click on the ‘Steam’ tab from the top navigation bar
From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Settings’ tab
Inside, select the ‘Downloads’ tab from the list of available options
Inside downloads, click the ‘Clear Download Cache’, found near the bottom of the tab
When prompted to continue, simply click OK and allow Steam to remove all temporary files found in the cache
Once completed, Steam will restart. Simply log back in and check your download speeds

Start by opening up Steam
Once open, select the ‘Steam’ tab from the navigation bar at the top of the home page
From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Settings’ tab from the available options
Inside settings, find and select the ‘Downloads’ tab
Once inside, under ‘Download Region’, click the drop-down menu and select a different server that is still near to your current location
Once you’ve chosen a new server, simply click ‘OK’ at the bottom of the page and restart your download

Remove Steam download bandwidth limits

If your game downloads and updates are running particularly slowly, one factor that might be slowing you down is Steam’s download bandwidth. If you’ve set yourself a bandwidth restriction, Steam will only have access to a small percentage of your internet speed. Removing this will almost certainly increase your game’s downloading speed. Here’s how to change it:

Start off by opening up Steam
Once open, click the ‘Steam’ button from the top navigation bar, and select ‘Settings’ from the drop-down menu
Inside settings, locate and select the ‘Downloads’ tab from the available options
Under ‘Download restrictions’ click on the ‘Limit bandwidth to’ drop-down menu and make sure it’s set to no limit
Confirm the action by clicking OK and restart Steam for good measure

Clear download cache

Clearing your Steam cache can resolve a whole bunch of bugs and issues that you might be having – one of which is a slow downloading speed. Just as your internet browser can benefit from clearing its cache, the same can be said for Steam and the download speeds you receive. Here’s the method:

Start by opening Steam
Click on the ‘Steam’ tab from the top navigation bar
From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Settings’ tab
Inside, select the ‘Downloads’ tab from the list of available options
Inside downloads, click the ‘Clear Download Cache’, found near the bottom of the tab
When prompted to continue, simply click OK and allow Steam to remove all temporary files found in the cache
Once completed, Steam will restart. Simply log back in and check your download speeds

Change Steam server download region

Like any good online service, Steam has a ton of servers scattered all over the globe to ensure that no matter where you are, Steam can provide you with the highest levels of download quality.

Whilst this is great for people across the globe, and mostly beneficial if not set to a relevant region, it can act negatively on your download speeds.

If you are experiencing slower than usual download speeds, we recommend trialing some of the available download regions that are close to your location. This has been known to increase download speeds in the past and is always worth a go. Here’s how to change it:

Start by opening up Steam
Once open, select the ‘Steam’ tab from the navigation bar at the top of the home page
From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Settings’ tab from the available options
Inside settings, find and select the ‘Downloads’ tab
Once inside, under ‘Download Region’, click the drop-down menu and select a different server that is still near to your current location
Once you’ve chosen a new server, simply click ‘OK’ at the bottom of the page and restart your download

Quit internet-sapping applications

If truth be told, slow download speeds within Steam are rarely caused by Steam itself. Usually, it’s caused by outside factors that are taking valuable bandwidth away from Steam. If this is the case, you should really look for any background applications that are using the internet in large chunks. So, it could be anything from a Windows update, Torrent clients, other game platforms, Netflix, or just streaming music.

Either way, these can dramatically slow down your Steam download speed. Simply close down these applications while Steam updates, then resume them once they’re finished.

Use wired connection to stop slow Steam download

For wireless users, a sure way to increase internet speed is to simply go hard wired into your internet router. Whilst a wireless connection is great for several reasons, they aren’t the most efficient way of connecting to the internet – especially if you’re looking for the fastest possible speeds. Wireless connections have to fight with other connections for internet bandwidth and also battle physical factors (like walls) when providing a connection to your device.

So, that being said, you should absolutely try to go wired if you’re struggling for download speeds. Simply plugging an ethernet into your PC that attaches to the router could double (if not more) the speed you are receiving.

Turn off VPN

Finally, one of the simplest ways to stop download speeds running slowly on Steam is to turn off any VPN service you might have running in the background. Whilst a VPN doesn’t necessarily take anything away from your PC in terms of internet speed, it does add another hurdle to the long list of action steps your internet has to take when download from Steam. Turn your VPN off and you might get a subtle boost in internet speeds.

Improve your Steam download speed

Everything we’ve been suggesting so far is related to making your download speed as focused as possible on Steam and making the most of what you’ve got. Minimizing outsider factors interfering with your connection or optimizing Steam are the best ways of avoiding a slow download speed on Steam. As much as these factors all play a part in boosting speed, you are obviously limited by your internet service provider. If you want a more consistently faster overall internet connection, you’ll have to see if an upgrade is viable with your provider.

Like any good games platform, Steam comes with a bunch of annoying bugs and issues that can water down the enjoyment factor of your gaming experience. For that reason, we’ve created a bunch of ‘how-to’ pages on the most common bug fixes. Below, we have listed some that may be of interest.

Final word

So, there you have it, our full guide on how to stop download speeds running slowly on Steam. We hope this guide has aided in your quest for better speeds, with most of the methods we’ve recommended having a high success rate.

If you’re still experiencing annoying Steam download speeds, why not drop us a comment in the section below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Better still, why not head on over to our Community Hub where you can discuss everything Steam related with like-minded individuals.

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