How to Uninstall Steam (Step-by-Step With Pictures)

 

Steam is a computer-based gaming platform that allows users to acquire and update video games and, of course, to keep purchases safe in their accounts.

Games are tied to user accounts, so if you uninstall a game (or the entire Steam client), you don't have to worry about losing access to your game. You can just log into Steam and download your games all over again at some point in the future.

Steam (and all your Steam games) can take up quite a bit of space on your computer. If you just need a little bit of space, I recommend uninstalling some of your games instead of removing Steam, especially if you do plan on using Steam again in the future (it's just faster and easier.)

You may find yourself spending a lot of time gaming and not doing the things you're supposed to be doing. Also, uninstalling and reinstalling is one way to fix any issues with the Steam app.

Whether you're performing some computer clean-up, aiming to spend less time gaming, or need to reinstall Steam, knowing how to uninstall Steam effectively can help you achieve that. This step-by-step guide was designed to show you how to remove Steam from your computer.

How to uninstall Steam in Windows 10 or Later

Saving & Uninstalling Steam Games

Before we get into how to uninstall Steam, let's first learn how to save your games. If you're going to be reinstalling Steam in the near future, you might want to back up your Steam games so you don't have to download them again. Because let's face it, some games take forever to download!

To back up your Steam games: 

1. Navigate to your Steam folder (usually C:\Program Files\Steam.)
2. Locate the steamapps folder and move it out of the Steam folder (moving it to your My Documents or Desktop will work fine.

If you want to back up a specific game, open the steamapps folder, find the folder associated with the game you wish to keep, and move it somewhere safe (like Dropbox or USB drive.)

Before uninstalling Steam, I highly recommend uninstalling any games. This ensures that you do not leave behind any unnecessary files or data on your system. There's no reason to have the games installed, anyway, because you need to have Steam in order to play them.

How to Remove Steam from Windows

If you have Steam running, you'll want to exit it so that you can get started with the uninstall process (otherwise, the uninstallation will fail.)

On the lower right-hand side of your screen, you should see a Steam icon (as pictured right.) If it's not there, click the "Show hidden icons" arrow. Right-click on the Steam icon and select "Exit." Now you're ready to uninstall.

1. Click the "Start" button and select "Control Panel"
2. Click "Add or Remove Programs"
3. Select Steam from the list of "Currently installed programs" and click the "Remove" button.
4. A dialog, "Are you sure you want to remove Steam from your computer?" will show. Click "Yes.

Manually Removing Steam from Windows 11 (and earlier)

If you encounter problems while trying to uninstall Steam or you want to ensure complete removal of Steam after following the above steps, you'll need to manually remove Steam from your computer's registry.

Note: This is entirely optional. Only make changes to your registry if you're comfortable with the registry. If you're not sure what you're doing, don't make any changes to the registry.

To remove Steam manually:

1. Click "Start" then click "Run"
2. Type in "Regedit" (without quotes) and hit OK
3. Now follow the instructions for a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system, depending on which you have.

If you have a 32-bit operating system (like me):

1. Click the + by HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
2. Click the + by SOFTWARE
3. Page down to Valve.
4. Right-click "Valve" and select "delete"

If you have a 64-bit operating system:

1. Click the + by HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
2. Click the + by SOFTWARE
3. Click the + by Wow6432Node.
4. Page down to Valve.
5. Right-click "Valve" and select "delete"

Exit the Registry Editor. Congratulations! Steam should now be fully uninstalled!

Removing Steam from MacOS

Here's how to uninstall Steam on a Mac:

1. Navigate to Library/Application Support/Steam.
2. If you don't want to delete your saved game data, locate your SteamApps folder and move it to somewhere safe (like your Desktop or Dropbox.)
3. Locate the Steam folder and delete it. At this point, Steam is in your trash. To get space back on your computer, select Finder and then Empty Trash.
4. You can also use a tool like App Cleaner and Uninstaller to completely remove Steam from your Mac.