Steam Download Slow? Here's How To Make It Faster

if your steam download is slow, chances are, you might need to upgrade your internet speed. Or, if your ping is always high, change your Internet Service Provider altogether. But, that’s not always so straightforward nor is it possible to change ISPs right away.

There are a couple of things you can try on your PC before deciding on an upgrade. Try the following solutions and see if it helps speed up steam downloads.

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Why Is My Download Speed on Steam is Slow?

A steam download can be slow for several reasons. Some of them are mentioned below.

Other applications are hogging up all networks. Your PC may be running simultaneous network operations. This causes your system to throttle download speeds for Steam.
Your auto-update settings may be turned on. Auto-update service for Windows and other anti-virus programs run in the background. This increases the network usage on your PC. Thus it prevents your Steam from downloading at the maximum possible speeds.
Your default download region may be too far from you. This means it takes a long time for a file to download from the remote server. Having said that, choosing the nearest server location is not always the best choice. It’s not going to guarantee the fastest speed for you. If you select a popular server, it may be too overcrowded with other users. Thus you won’t get optimal download rates if many clients overload the same download server. This is why choosing a less busy server farther from you may speed up your downloads. For reference, consult Steam’s website to see which server is best suited for you. A server region in the morning and afternoon hours is typically less busy than a server in the evening and night hours, as that’s when the peak number of people play games.
If you use a wireless connection, your connection is limited to radio waves. If the PC is not near the router, the communication may frequently drop out of range. In contrast, wired connections have far better connection quality. They provide a dedicated connection with next to no lags. You will notice significant speed improvement if you switch from Wi-Fi to ethernet.
Other devices in your home network are using up the traffic. Some bandwidth-heavy networking activities include Streaming content, watching youtube, downloading, and playing games. Another device in your home network may be doing one or more of these things. This means they are crowding up the router with their internet traffic. Thus, you will experience slow downloads.
If you store your Steam media content on a traditional hard drive, your downloads may be slower. Conventional hard drives have slower read-write speeds that only decrease over time. Compared to that, SSDs are much faster and reliable. While downloading, you should save straight to SSDs. Steam stores your files much faster, and you will see faster downloads in the process.
If you use VPN services, you will experience slower downloads. VPN connections provide a dedicated private connection for your PC. This does not guarantee the best network speeds. All your traffic passes through the VPN server first before reaching your PC. So, it adds to the delay in download speeds. For faster download speeds, It is typically best to turn VPN off when downloading from Steam.

How to Make Steam Download Faster

Kill Off Other Networking Processes Using Task Manager

Right-click on the Start Menu and select the Task Manager.
Select More details.
Under the Processes tab, double click on the Network column to arrange by use of Network in descending order.
Look for any unnecessary processes that you don’t need.
Do a right-click on it and select End Task.
Repeat for any other processes.

Change Service Priority Level Using Task Manager

Right-click on the Start Menu and select the Task Manager.
Select More details.
Click on the Details tab.
Scroll down to SteamService.exe.
Right-click on it and select High under Set priority.
Repeat the above steps after each system reboot.

Change Download Server Location Using the Steam Client

Open Steam client.
Go to the Settings menu.
Go to the Downloads tab.
Under the Download region, click on the picklist.
Select the download server closest to you.
Click on OK.
If you feel the downloads aren’t speeding up, select the second nearest location.
Repeat until you feel download speeds are increased.

Switch to Wired From Wireless in Your PC

Get an ethernet cable long enough from your router to your PC.
Plug one end to your router and the other end to your PC’s ethernet port.
Turn off Wi-Fi on the PC.
If you have enabled the MAC filter, make sure you allow connections from the ethernet adapter.
Continue Steam download over the wired connection.

Pause Auto-updates on Your Windows PC

Right-click on the Start Menu and select Settings.
Select Update & Security option.
Under Windows Update, select Pause updates for 7 days.
Resume downloading on Steam.
Once the download completes, select Resume updates to revert the update settings.

Disable Antivirus and Firewall in Your Windows PC

Right-click on the Start Menu and select Settings.
Select Update & Security option.
On the left navigation pane, select Windows Security.
Select Open Windows Security.
On the left navigation pane, select Firewall & network protection.
Select Domain network.
Toggle Microsoft Defender Firewall to turn it off.
Go back to Firewall & network protection option.
Select Private network.
Toggle Microsoft Defender Firewall to turn it off.
Go to your installed antivirus and turn off any other active protection as needed.

Remove Bandwidth Limitation in the Steam Client

Open Steam client.
Go to the Settings menu.
Go to the Downloads tab.
Under the Download Restrictions, look for the limit bandwidth option.
Click on the picklist and select No limit.
Turn off Throttle downloads while streaming option.
Turn on Allow downloads during the gameplay option.

Prioritize Your PC on the Router Config Page

Visit your router config page using the PC browser. Generally, it’s on 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1.
Login using your credentials.
Under Advanced Settings look for something called QoS(Quality of Service) or Device Priority.
Make sure your Steam-installed PC gets the highest priority.

Turn Vpn Software Off on PC

Go to Start Menu and search for VPN settings.
Select VPN settings to open a new window.
Turn off the options for Allow VPN over metered networks and Allow VPN while roaming.

Download to SSD in Steam Client

Press Windows key and R together to open Run Window.
Type dfrgui and press Enter.
Under the provided list of drives, make note of all drive letters with Media type as Solid-state drive.