How is the download speed in other game clients, and web browsers in general ? Can you properly download other files/apps from the internet ? First off, try changing the hard drive/SSD storage location for your games. You can try installing STEAM games on some other HDD/SSD and check whether this helps or not.
If not, then there might be other issues. Are you using a VPN by any chance. If yes, then try without VPN. You can also use one of the numerous speed testing sites available online such as
Speedtest or
DSLReports to test your connection speed.
If need be, disabling your antivirus and Windows Defender may also sometimes help improve your internet speed, though not always. I would recommend trying the following workarounds.
Clear the Download Cache in Steam.
Like many apps, Steam keeps temporary download data in a download cache. If it gets clogged up, it can affect Steam performance, block the app from running properly, and slow down your downloads. Thus, clearing it might speed up your downloads again.
However, be careful; if you've downloaded any mods, performing this step will erase them. As such, you might want to skip this if you've downloaded mods recently.
To clear Steam's download cache, follow the steps below:
- Launch Steam.
- In the top-left corner, click on the Steam tab and select Settings.
- From the left-sidebar, select Downloads.
- On the right-hand pane, click Clear Download Cache
- Upon completion of the process, relaunch the app.
Next up, ensure Steam isn't limiting its own bandwidth.
Steam allows users to limit its bandwidth to give more room for other apps to use the internet. Although it's convenient, you should turn off this limit if you want to speed up the download.
Follow the below steps to remove Steam's bandwidth limit:
- Launch Steam.
- In the top-left corner, click on the Steam tab and select Settings.
- From the left-sidebar, select Downloads.
- In the right-pane, untick the box for Limit bandwidth to.
Ensure Steam Has Adequate Bandwidth.
To begin with, you should allocate as much bandwidth as possible to the Steam app. You can do that by temporarily closing other downloads running in parallel, closing resource-hogging browsers, double-check that you're not streaming any content, and shutting down any apps that use the internet.
You can use the Task Manager (
CTRL + Shift + Esc) to identify which processes are taking up the most network resources. Look in the
Network column and close any non-essential apps that are taking up a lot of data. Furthermore, ensure that
Efficiency mode isn't enabled for Steam, which makes it a less-priority process.
Another issue with bandwidth that causes slower downloads is too many open tabs, browsers, and apps on your computer. Closing unnecessary apps and browsers can speed up your download.
Disable download throttling.
The Steam app throttles downloads if you've set it to do so when streaming, allowing you to stream at the best speed. This means you'll get good performance at the expense of slow download speeds. If your downloads are getting too slow, this might explain the problem.
To disable download throttling, follow the below steps:
- Launch Steam.
- In the top-left corner, click on the Steam tab and select Settings.
- From the left-sidebar, select Downloads.
- Untick the box for Throttle downloads while streaming.
If need be, try to disable Windows' metered connection.
Windows offers a metered connection option for users to limit their own bandwidth usage. Even though it helps save data if you're under a data cap, it can limit how apps use the available bandwidth. As such, a metered connection might slow down your downloads on Steam.
To ensure it is not enabled, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the Windows Start button and go to Settings.
- In the left-sidebar, select Network & internet.
- Click on Wi-Fi.
- Click on your Wi-Fi connection.
- Turn off the toggle next to Metered connection.
Change the Download Server Location.
The speed of Steam's downloads is greatly affected by the location of the server that you get them from. By default, Steam connects you to the nearest server to provide you with a better connection, but if it's cluttered with traffic, it may not offer the best speed rate.
With the help of a global traffic map on the
Steam download stats website, you can see which servers are closest, have less traffic, and offer good download speeds. Once you've decided on a server, follow the below steps to switch the region in Steam:
- Launch Steam.
- In the top-left corner, click on the Steam tab and select Settings.
- From the left-sidebar, select Downloads.
- In the Download Region dropdown, select your preferred region.
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