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How to fully uninstall games from Steam
Steam has a massive library of games, with many great ones and some not-so-great ones. If you’re a serious gamer, your Steam library can quickly fill up and start to become cluttered. You also give up on precious storage space if you keep a game on your PC that you don’t play anymore. If you’re looking to free up some space, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to fully uninstall a game from Steam. Additionally, if you’re considering not just removing but also returning games, you might find our complete guide on how to return a game on Steam quite useful.
QUICK ANSWER
To uninstall a game from Steam, open your Steam library and click the game. Click the gear icon on the game listing in the right pane, click Manage, and click Uninstall. To permanently remove a game from your Steam library, you can use Steam Support, found in the Help menu on the top menu bar.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
How to uninstall Steam games
The best way to uninstall Steam games is through Steam itself. You can go through the Apps and Features menu in Windows settings to uninstall a Steam game, but it opens up Steam anyway.
- Open Steam and click LIBRARY in the upper navigation bar. Your games will be listed in the left pane.
- Select the game you want to uninstall.
- In the right pane, click the gear icon located at the right end of the Play button and game stats, right below the game banner.
- Choose Manage in the drop-down menu, and click Uninstall.
- Steam will show a confirmation prompt about uninstalling the game. Click the Uninstall button to proceed.
That should uninstall the game from your computer. The game will still show up in your library for future installations.
How to completely remove a game from Steam
As mentioned earlier, the game stays in your library even after uninstallation. However, there’s a way to remove the game completely from your Steam library. This method will also remove the game from your purchases, though, which means if it’s a paid game, you will need to purchase it again to play it.
If you’re eligible for a refund, you can request one instead of following this method. If you don’t want to remove the game from your library permanently, you can choose to hide the game from your Steam instead. If you’re sure about it, follow these steps to remove a game from Steam completely.
- Open Steam.
- Go to LIBRARY.
- Right-click on the game you want to remove, and on the drop-down menu, move your mouse to Manage.
- Select Remove from account. You’ll get a confirmation screen next.
That’s it. Steam will let you know that the game has been removed from your library permanently.
FAQs
Yes, uninstalling Steam will delete your game save files. You will need to manually back up the game save files to preserve your progress.
Yes, we have listed the method to completely remove a game from your Steam library above.
Yes, you can uninstall a game on Steam and reinstall it later. You will get the option to install it if you open the game’s Steam page from your Steam library.
Removing a game from Steam by uninstalling means deleting it from your device without impacting your ownership. You won’t need to buy the game again; you can reinstall it at any time using the same account. On the other hand, returning a game involves a refund process, allowing you to get your money back for a limited time after purchase.