Is Your Steam Downloading Slowly? Here’s the Easy Fix!

Downloading a new game title over Steam is always exciting, but sometimes it happens that Steam downloading slowly than usual can cause frustration. Because you just spent your hard-earned money on an exciting-looking game, but it is not downloading as you want.

In case of slow downloading over Steam client, you may double-check the download speed on the browser and spend hours determining the real issue of the low downloading speeds. It gets even more frustrating if you spend extra for an above-average internet speed.

Besides the quality of internet speed, several other reasons can cause a slow download inside the steam client. We have compiled the whole list of the possible causes and presented their solution for your ease.

You can go through each solution and figure out the real reason behind your slow downloading speed on the Steam application. These handy tricks can increase the Steam downloading speeds and can also boost regular internet usage. Or you may check this guide if you are facing Steam download stopping problem.

Let’s have a breakdown of each method one by one.

Method #1: Clear the Download Cache

Download cache is the first thing that you need to observe when looking for the solution of Steam downloading slowly. As the cache builds up inside the Steam client, it can decrease the internet speed and cause issues with the downloading game over the client.

Clearing the cache from Steam settings can resolve many bugs and issues related to its performance, including slow downloading speeds. It works the same as clearing the cache of the internet browser. Steam has different steps to clear the cache. Follow these easy steps:

steam downloading slow fix
  • A drop-down menu will open; click on the “Settings” tab.
  • Inside the settings tab, choose “Downloads” from the set of available options.
  • Once you get inside the downloads tab, find “Clear Download Cache” and click on it.
steam downloading slow clear cache
  • It will ask you to confirm the action. Allow it by pressing OK.
  • Now all the temporary files in the Steam cache will get removed.
  • Once done with the process, restart the Steam client and check the download speed.
  • If the issue persists, go to the next method.

Related guides:

Method #2: Remove Steam Bandwidth Limits

Steam has the option to set the download bandwidth limits to restrain the internet across the application. If you are receiving slow download speed on your Steam client, then the download limit is turned on.

But the good news is that setting up and removing the download bandwidth limit is an easy task. You can remove it any time within the Steam application. To change the download bandwidth to unlimited, follow these easy steps:

  • Open the Steam client.
  • On the main interface, click on the “Steam” button to open the drop-down menu.
steam downloading slow fix
  • Inside the menu, click on “Settings” to open the Steam configurations.
  • From the list of options inside the settings, open the “Downloads” section.
  • Inside the download section, look for “Download restrictions” and look if it has “Limit bandwidth” selected. Change it to no limit.
steam remove bandwidth limit
  • Now it will ask for confirmation, press OK to confirm the action.
  • Restart the Steam client and recheck the download speed.

Method #3: Change Steam Server Download Region

Steam is a globally popular client for downloading games; therefore, they have servers at different locations to facilitate faster downloads. You can download the games anywhere globally and get seamless speed without interruption due to scattered servers.

For most people, servers remain global at an excellent speed. However, changing the location to the local region can drastically increase or decrease the download bandwidth.

If you are in a similar situation where the download speed is not enough to download GBs of game files, you can change the download server region. Changing the download servers to the nearest possible location can improve the slow downloading issue on Steam. Here are the easy steps to change it:

Start the Steam client by opening it.

Now go straight to the “Steam” option on the top navigation bar of the main page.

steam downloading slow fix

In the drop-down menu, go to the “Settings” tab.

Inside the settings, choose the “Downloads” tab.

Now go to the “Download Region” options and click on the drop-down menu.

Select the nearest possible server to your location from the menu.

change steam server region

Once selected from the server, press OK to confirm the action.

In the end, restart the Steam client and test the download speed again.

If still you are getting slow speed, proceed to the next solution.

Steam not opening on PC? Follow this guide

Method #4: Check your network connection status

Sometimes, there are no issues from the Steam side, and it’s your internet connection that gives the slow downloading speeds. To eliminate this issue, it becomes essential to test whether the network connection is working properly. To get started with this, follow these checkpoints:

Check whether the wired or wireless internet on your computer is working. Make sure that the network status is OK and there are no issues from the network end.

You can check the internet connectivity by opening any browser on your computer and browsing any video on YouTube to check the bandwidth.

Restart all the devices, including computer and network router and modem. Connect the internet again after the restart and run Steam to check and verify the bandwidth.

If the problem is from the network side, contact your ISP and resolve internet connectivity issues.

Method #5: Lowering the Disk usage

Any program using the disk at a high rate can also negatively influence the network speed. To get rid of this issue, detect the programs using disk at higher rates and close them to impact the download speed positively. To get started with this:

Press combination of “Windows Key + R.”

Inside the run box, type “CMD” and press Enter to open the command prompt.

Once it opens, type in the following command

WPR -cancel

Alternatively, you can disable the “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” by entering the following commands inside CMD.

Stop-service diagtrack

You can disable its startup process by running

set-service diagtrack -startuptype disabled

For many users, this solution has resolved the Steam slow download issues because the WPR items running in the background sometimes cause these issues.

Method #6: Temporarily disable your firewall

Windows firewall is excellent protection from the unwanted access of the external elements to the computer. But sometimes, firewalls interfere with the programs and limit their functionality. A similar thing can happen to Steam, and an Antivirus or firewall can limit the download speeds.

To get things working again, temporarily disable the firewall to check whether the problem persists or gets resolved. If the issue gets resolved by disabling the firewall or Antivirus, they are most likely interrupting the internet speed to the Steam client.

You can consult the instruction manual of the firewall and Antivirus to add the exception of the Steam client to them. If you have no clue how to do this even after reading the manual, you can contact your firewall support team to get things resolved.

Method #7: Close Applications using Internet Bandwidth

Other applications are another reason that affects the Steam download speeds. Sometimes the programs running in the background are using the internet resources, and Steam gets a smaller part of the total bandwidth.

You can check manually for the application using the internet bandwidth and close them to save the bandwidth. However, if you are not sure which application is draining the internet bandwidth, follow these easy steps.

Open the task manager by pressing “Windows Key” and searching “Task Manager.”

close applications using steam bandwidth

Inside the task manager, open the “Performance” tab

close applications causing low steam bandwidth

At the bottom of the tab, click on “Open Resource Monitor.”

close applications causing low steam bandwidth 1

Then go to the “Network” tab and look for the internet draining app and close it.

Now resume the Steam download to see if Steam downloading slow or not.

Method #8: Disable VPN

VPNs are great to browse anonymously, and they help to mask your online identity. However, they can limit the download speed to due many possible reasons. If you have an active VPN on your computer while downloading games on Steam, then it is possible to observe slow downloads.

To getting maximum downloading speed on your internet connection, turn off the VPN or proxy services. You can re-enable them after the download completion.

If you are looking for a long-term solution, buying a premium VPN service is the best bet. While buying VPN services, make sure to purchase service with the latest protocols available.

Method #9: Use Wired Connection

Wireless internet connections are good for connecting the internet anywhere at your place. But these networks are less stable, and internet bandwidth usually gets lost during travel. If your wireless connection is not efficient, then you can observe Steam Downloading slow games.

You can try placing the computer near the router to get maximum signals and bandwidth. If it does not increase the speed for some reason, find yourself a wired connection for better connectivity and speed.

Put Ethernet cable to the PC and enjoy getting a faster and stable wired connection. Compare the Steam downloading speed over the wireless and wired network to see if the problem is resolved.

Conclusion

This is all about our guide on Steam downloading slowly on your computer. We tried to compile a brief guide to help you resolve the connectivity and slower download speed issues on Steam. All these methods have a success rate and can help you resolve your issue.

If you are unable to get your issue resolved for some reason, contact us by dropping a comment in the section below. We will get back to you and help you address your issue.

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Muhammad Kashif

M. Kashif is a published author at Gaming Expert.net. He is a tech enthusiast, a passionate gamer and loves to try new gadgets and writing about games and technology events.