How Do I Uninstall A Steam Game Without Losing Data?

Unless you've been living nether a rock these last few years, you likely know what Steam is. But for those of yous who don't, the Steam platform is a pioneer in modernistic day digital game distribution, that makes ownership and installing video games easier than it has ever been. Steam has allowed gamers to buy the latest gaming titles and store them in a library located on the platform for easy access.

How To Uninstall a Steam Game

For the longest fourth dimension, Steam has had niggling to no competition in this detail market. That is until Ballsy Games decided to arrive on the activity, creating the new Epic Games store. The newest platform seeks to dethrone Steam with its own library of digital titles and has many long-standing Steam users jumping send.

Whether you lot fall into this group or not, PC storage is generally finite which means an overabundance of games will take up a lot of your difficult bulldoze space. Then long every bit each championship sees consistent hours played, this is probable not an outcome. Nonetheless, Steam sales tend to be too good to turn down and you lot may find yourself overburdened by newer games that you desire versus those you have even so to play. It may be imperative that y'all articulate upwardly a scrap of room by uninstalling a few of those games yous don't plan on getting to whatever time soon.

Uninstalling Games From the Steam Platform

Steam makes information technology relatively easy to both uninstall and reinstall any game that y'all've purchased. Fifty-fifty after you uninstall a game from your PC, the championship will withal prove up in your Steam library only in case you want to reinstall it later. Purchased games are permanently tied your account and then you lot won't have to worry about them disappearing.

The procedure for uninstalling a game on Steam is almost as easy every bit information technology is installing i. At that place are a few ways in which to uninstall a game from Steam. You can do so directly on the platform itself, through your windows add/remove program feature, or via the Steamapps binder located in the File Explorer.

Removing it on the platform itself is the recommended method as it happens to be both the easiest and quickest of the iii. You will have to know your Steam password, so brand sure you take information technology handy before moving alee.

This article will provide you a step-by-step guide on how to uninstall Steam games, saving much-needed space on your computer and ridding yourself of games you cannot or no longer want to play. Allow'south get started.

Uninstall A Steam Game in Steam

We'll begin with what is the easiest and quickest method for game removal – direct through Steam itself.

What y'all demand to do get-go is:

Launch the Steam customer and l ogin using your credentials.
Next, click the Library tab in the elevation navigation carte du jour.
Correct-click the game you want to uninstall in your library, and click Uninstall from the drop-down menu .
- You'll receive a confirmation window prior to deletion. Steam will confirm with yous whether you desire to completely delete the game.
Click the Delete push once y'all're ready to uninstall the game.

The title of the uninstalled game will now appear grayed out in your Steam library.

Removal Through Windows Apps and Features

You tin't technically bypass the need for logging into your Steam account using this method. If that was your intention, I'k sorry but it will not work. This method is designed for someone who would rather not deal with Steam directly during the deletion process. But like any other Windows application you've installed or uninstalled, yous can practise the same with your Steam games through Windows' own Programs and Features menu.

Information technology's a good way to delete Steam games from your PC while simultaneously cleaning out a few other things taking up space. So, if this is your plan, you'll demand to:

Become to the Programs and Features window.
Side by side, roll to the game you desire to uninstall and l eft-click on it to expand the menu.
Click the Uninstall button to begin the procedure.
At this time, y'all'll be taken to the Steam login screen. Log in with the appropriate credentials.
- Yous will be presented with the concluding confirmation box.
Click Delete to finalize the uninstall.

Delete Games From the Steamapps Folder

Although the methods already discussed are improve options, you tin can choose to delete the game manually by heading into File Explorer. This is the best way to ensure that the game has been removed from your system entirely. That doesn't mean the game will exist removed from the Steam library but information technology will definitely disappear from your machine in its entirety.

If this is the approach you wish to take then:

Navigate to your Steam installation folder, due west hen running Windows x , the default installation location is C:\Programme Files (x86)\Steam.
Once in the Steam folder, locate and open the steamapps folder.
Follow this up by heading into the Common binder, i t is here that you lot'll be able to see a full listing of the currently installed games.
Find the game you want to remove, then highlight the binder (left-click it) and press your keyboard's Delete key.
- You tin also choose to right-click the folder and select Delete from the options shown in the menu.

The game will now exist removed from your computer. When you head dorsum into the Steam app, the recently uninstalled game will yet be in the Library but should announced grayed out. To further remove all existence of the game always being installed, you may need to delete all configuration and save files likewise. You can usually find these files in either the Saved Games binder, Documents folder, or AppData folder.

Reinstalling Your Steam Games

It's been a while and you lot're set to run through a few of the games you purchased just never got effectually to playing. However, you decided you needed the space and uninstalled these titles. No worries. Yous can reinstall any game from your Steam library that you've previously purchased. It's one of the best things about the Steam platform. All yous demand to practise is remember your username and password to log in, a strong cyberspace connection, and enough infinite on your hard drive for the titles you desire to install.

Unlike the power to uninstall, at that place is no way to reinstall a game purchased on Steam without using the Steam interface. If you lot want to reinstall the game at a later engagement:

Launch and log in to Steam.
Click on the Library tab to get a list of your purchased games.
From that list, left-click on the game you want to reinstall.
- Yous have a couple of options to reinstall at this betoken:
  1. Click the INSTALL button located just below the title of the game in the middle window. This window volition have all of the available information on the game.
  2. Double-click the title of the game.
  3. Correct-click the championship and select Install from the drop-downwardly carte.
- Y'all'll receive a pop-up dialog box that will provide installation information (deejay space required, disk infinite bachelor on your auto, estimated download time).
Choose if y'all'd like to have a shortcut for the game created on your desktop or start menu, and then click Side by side .
Yous'll be taken to the End User License Agreement (EULA) which you'll take to click on I Agree in order to keep.

The screen later on will exist the game downloading the necessary files for the installation, followed by the actual installation.

Removing Steam From Your Calculator

Have you decided that the Epic Games shop offers more than what you can become on Steam? You're not alone and if you don't desire to use Steam anymore, I recommend that you completely uninstall it instead of removing private games.

To remove Steam from your reckoner:

Ensure that Steam is not currently running on your estimator.
Navigate to your Steam directory.
- The default location is either C:\Programme Files\Steam or C:\Plan Files\Valve\Steam
- I would also recommend that if y'all wish to salvage your game files for a time to come installation of Steam, just in example Epic Games doesn't work out, copy your Steamapps binder to a place exterior of your Steam directory. I hateful, you lot already spent money on the games, do you really want to just throw it all abroad?
Delete all of the contents of your Steam directory by highlighting everything and pressing the Delete fundamental on your keyboard.
Adjacent, simultaneously printing Win+R to pull up the Run function, t ype " regedit" into the box and press Enter.
The adjacent steps to have are determined past which chip Os y'all're running.
In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Steam .
Right-click on Valve select Delete .
Close your Registry Editor.

All traces of Steam have now been removed from your computer.

Uninstalling Games on Steam

Every bit yous tin run into, there several ways to uninstall games from steam, some more straight forrad than others. Whichever method you prefer, they should all work the same.

Did any of the methods work for you? Let us know in the comments below.