You might feel confused and even frustrated when your games fails to launch on Steam. Don’t worry;this tutorial is here to help you fix your problem. You can be able to fix it with this guide by yourself before you ask a local technician to help you.
Fixes for ‘Steam games not launching’
Here’re 4 methods you can try to fix this problem. Try the next method if the previous one doesn’t work. Note: The screens shown below are from Windows 10, but all the fixes also apply to other versions of Windows.
- Make sure your Windows 10 is up-to-date
- Update your video card driver
- Verify your game cache files
- Close unnecessary programs
- Check for damaged system files
Method 1: Make sure your Windows 10 is up-to-date
It requires a latest Windows 10 system to ensure everything work properly on your computer. This problem could be happened when there is available update for your Windows 10 and you don’t install yet.
Check for Windows update on your Windows 10:
- Type update in your search box from Start. Then click Check for updates from the result.
- Click Check for updates.
- Install the available updates.
- Reboot your Windows and try to run your game on Steam to see if it works.
Note: If Windows tells you Your device is up to date after checking, please try our next method.
Method 2: Update your video card driver
This problem could be also due to an old or corrupted driver, particularly your video card driver. You could solve it through updating your device driver.
You can choose to download a latest video card driver from your computer manufacturer’s website or your video card manufacturer’s website, like NVIDIA, AMD, Intel. Then install the new driver on your Windows 10.
Or if you are not confident working with drivers manually or you don’t have enough time, we recommend you do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to be troubled by the wrong driver you would be downloading, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy handles it all.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the 7 days free trial or the Pro version of Driver Easy. It takes just 2 clicks, and you get full support and a 30-day money-back guarantee with the Pro version:
- Download and install Driver Easy.
- Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
- Click the Activate & Update button next to the flagged device to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver.
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (You’ll need the Pro version for this – when you select Update All, you’ll get a prompt to upgrade. If you’re not prepared to purchase the Pro version yet, Driver Easy provides a 7-day trial at no cost, granting access to all Pro features like fast downloads and easy installation. No charges will occur until after your 7-day trial period ends.) - Restart your computer for the change to take effect.
Method 3: Verify your game cache files
An corrupted game cache file can also prevent your games from launching properly.
Follow these to verify your game cache files:
- Reboot your Windows and run Steam.
- Right-click on your game in the LIBRARY section. Then click Properties.
- Click VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES… in LOCAL FILES.
- It should then begin validating your Steam files and you will see this small window after several minutes:
- Reboot your Windows and try to run your game on Steam to see if it works.
Method 4: Close unnecessary programs
Some programs running on your Windows 10 may interfere the performance of Steam. Try to close those unnecessary programs. Then reboot your Windows and try to run your game on Steam to see if it works.
If you’re not sure about which programs you should close, you can take Programs Which May Interfere with Steam from official Steam website as a reference.
Hopefull this post helped you solved the Steam games not launching issue. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.