Everyone is familiar with the Steam trading platform, which allows not only to purchase all the news of the gaming industry, without waiting for their appearance in stores, but also to "store" them forever, downloading as needed. But even with such a convenient system, there are a number of problems associated with the library of games. So how to reinstall Steam?
Without conditions
If you need to completely remove and reinstall Steam, then this procedure should not cause an experienced user any problems. If you have forgotten how to erase a program, just use the following instructions.
- Go to the "Computer".
- At the top of the window that appears, click "Uninstall or change a program."
- Find Steam in the list and click "Uninstall."
After that, your computer will almost completely clear this program. It remains only to eliminate the remaining registry entries using CCleaner or any similar program.
This procedure is often neglected by inexperienced users for various reasons, but it is in the registry that the most dangerous problems are most often “hidden”. After that, you can download the new client distribution from the official site. This is the easiest way to reinstall Steam and at the same time avoid possible problems with the future performance of applications downloaded in Steam.
Lossless
However, the most common situation is when people are looking for how to reinstall Steam without deleting the game. Officially, this method does not exist. But you can try to cheat a little.
- Determine exactly where your Steam games are stored.
- By default, they are located in the folder with the client. Go there by opening the properties of the Steam tag and clicking File Location.
- We are interested in the steamapps folder and its contents. Check that the necessary games are stored in the common subfolder.
- Back up this folder and reinstall.
- Paste the previously copied folder back.
Now you know how to reinstall Steam without losing games. After starting the client, your library will be in place. After that, select the desired game and click "Install." The files will be checked for integrity, but nothing will be downloaded again. So you can save a little time on downloading content.
The only negative is that this method can lead to a number of errors. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you remove the client along with the games and then reinstall them. In most cases, the time spent copying a folder and checking files will be less than what you would spend on downloading and installing.
Example
With lags in games, in most cases it is enough to re-install the game. Let's look at how to reinstall the COP. "Steam" has a built-in function for working with purchased games. Therefore, you just need to start the client, and then do the following.
- Go to the "Library".
- Right-click on "COP".
- Select "Uninstall the game ..." at the bottom of the list.
The process does not take much time. After the complete removal of the game you can only install standard methods. Sometimes an application may disappear from your library if it is free. In this case, the game will have to be searched again through the store. To reinstall the game, go to its page and click the blue "Play" button. Even if it is written that you already have it in the library, feel free to continue the operation.
Without reinstallation
If errors occur even before the start of a game, it is still not necessary to look for how to reinstall Steam. Official support for this trading platform offers the following way to fix problems.
- Launch the Steam client.
- In the upper left corner, click Steam and select "Settings."
- Go to the "Downloads" tab.
- Next, you need to clear the bootloader cache.
As a result, you will have to re-enter the username and password when restarting the client, but this procedure will correct most errors and problems.
Now you know how to reinstall Steam and any of its components. If the problem persists after the instructions described above, it may be a conflict between the game and your computer, and not the client of the trading platform. For the future, in order to avoid such problems, try to install the games directly in the Steam folder, this will not only avoid most known errors, but will also facilitate the search for installed applications directly on the computer.