To speed up your Steam downloads, make sure your Internet connection is fast enough, turn off Steam’s download limiter, turn off download limiting in the app, change the app’s download region, close other apps that use your bandwidth, turn off metered connections in Windows, turn off your VPN, or clear your Steam download cache.
Is Steam downloading games at a slow speed on your computer? If so, here are some simple Steam app and computer tweaks to help speed up your downloads. Spend less time waiting for your games to arrive and more time playing.
Check the speed of your internet connection
When your downloads are slow, the first thing to check is your internet connection. Your connection itself might be slow, making all file downloads slow as well.
Check your connection speed using a site like Fast or Speedtest. If these sites show slow download speed, your internet connection is to blame. In this case, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and ask how you can speed up your connection.
In some cases, you may need to upgrade to a higher speed plan to enjoy faster downloads. If you download files too often, it might be a good idea to do so.
Disable Steam Limited Speed Download Option
The Steam app offers an option that allows you to limit the download speed. You or someone else may have enabled this option, which causes the app to download your files slowly. In this case, disable that option in the app and your problem will be resolved.
To do that, open Steam on your computer. From the app menu bar, select Steam > Settings.
In the left sidebar, click “Downloads.” In the right panel, disable the “Limit download speed” option.
That’s all. Try downloading your content again with speed restriction turned off.
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Disable download throttling on Steam
Steam offers an option that allows you to throttle your download speeds when you are streaming. This option may be enabled, causing your Steam files to download at a slow speed. In this case, disable that option and your problem will be solved.
To do that, open Steam and head to the Steam menu > Settings > Downloads. In the panel on the right, uncheck the “Accelerate downloads while streaming” option.
And that is.
RELATED: How to test if your ISP is throttling your Internet connection
Change Steam Download Region
Steam automatically chooses the most suitable server for your file downloads. However, that right server is not always the fastest server. In this case, manually change your Steam download server for faster download speeds.
First, find out which server is closest to you and has less congestion. To do that, head over to Steam’s download stats site which shows you a map of the platform’s servers. Here, find the server that is not too far from you and has fewer users.
Once you’ve found a good server region, open your Steam app and select Steam > Settings > Downloads. In the right pane, click the “Download Region” dropdown menu and choose the server you found on the site above.
Steam will open a prompt. Here, click “Restart Now” to restart Steam, which will make the changes take effect.
When Steam reopens, start downloading your file and it will be faster than before.
RELATED: 3 Ways to Make Steam Even Faster
Close other Internet-enabled applications
Your Windows or Mac machine may have other applications running in the background, consuming your Internet bandwidth. This may be the reason why Steam downloads your files at a slow speed.
In this case, please pause or stop file downloads in your other apps to speed up Steam downloads. If you don’t know which apps are using your internet connection, use Windows Task Manager or Mac Activity Monitor to find out which apps are consuming your internet data.
In the Windows Task Manager, you will find the data usage of each application in the “Network” column.
On a Mac, in the “Network” tab of Activity Monitor, you’ll find the apps that are using your Internet bandwidth.
Close applications that use a significant amount of your Internet data to increase the speed of your Steam downloads.
Disable metered connection on your Windows PC
Windows 11 and Windows 10 offer a metered connection feature, which helps you conserve your data usage by limiting how your apps access the Internet. It is worth disabling this feature when you are faced with slow download speeds on Steam.
If you have Windows 11, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi. Select your network from the list and uncheck the “Metered connection” option.
If you’re on Windows 10, head over to Settings > Network & Internet. Select “Properties” for your connection and uncheck “Set as metered connection”.
And that is.
RELATED: How, when and why to configure a connection as metered in Windows 10
Disable your VPN
If you are using a VPN on your Windows or Mac machine, the servers for that app might be slow, making your Steam downloads slow as well. In this case, turn off your VPN service and see if that speeds up your downloads.
If your files download faster after disabling the VPN, keep your VPN turned off when downloading content. Another thing you can try is changing your location in your VPN app to see if it offers faster download speeds.
Clear Steam Download Cache
Steam recommends that you clear your download cache when you are having trouble downloading or launching games. Since you’re having trouble downloading content, clear your current Steam download cache and see if that resolves your issue. Note that you do not lose any data when you do this.
To get started, launch Steam and select Steam > Settings > Downloads. In the right pane, next to “Clear download cache”, click “Clear cache”.
In the open prompt, select “Confirm” to delete the cache. Then restart Steam and start your download.
And those are some ways to fix Steam slow download issue and increase your download speed. Enjoy!
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