How To Fix Steam Not Opening On Windows

You click the Steam icon and absolutely nothing happens, or it just flashes on your screen and disappears. This usually happens because a background process is hung and preventing a new session from launching.

Why this happens

Steam often fails to launch because a previous session is still stuck in your system memory. Even if the window is gone, the background process blocks the application from starting again.

What you'll need

You will need administrative access to your computer to kill tasks and uninstall software. If you have to reinstall, ensure you have your Steam login credentials ready.

Steps

1. 01
   Look at the system tray in the bottom right corner of your taskbar, right-click the Steam icon, and select Exit Steam.
2. 02
   If that does not work, right-click the Windows Start button and select Task Manager.
3. 03
   Type Steam into the Task Manager search bar, right-click every listed process, and select End task.
4. 04
   Attempt to launch Steam again to see if it starts correctly.
5. 05
   If it still refuses to open, navigate to C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam in File Explorer.
6. 06
   Move the steamapps folder to your desktop to keep your installed games safe.
7. 07
   Uninstall Steam through Windows Settings.
8. 08
   Download a fresh installer from steampowered.com and run it to reinstall the client.
9. 09
   Move your steamapps folder back into the new C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam directory and restart your computer.