Uninstalling Steam from any device is quite a simple process. Users can follow these steps and free some disk space in their devices easily. Following the methods highlighted in this process will help them in the creation of a backup so that in case they choose to reinstall, they don’t have to go over everything from the start.

Steam is a popular gaming website that allows users to download and install a variety of video games from its platform. All users need is a registered account and a password. While installing Steam is as easy as a breeze, uninstalling it without losing any data requires a little effort. Apart from the fear of losing personal data, some players might want to keep Steam’s system files so that if they ever wish to reinstall it, they may be able to do so without any problem. Before moving on to the process of uninstalling Steam, let’s first explore some of the many reasons why players may want to uninstall steam.

Reasons of Uninstalling Steam & Creating Backup

Installing too many games on your PC can cause it to slow down and crash eventually. Many apps start malfunctioning if they do not get enough disk space which facilitates them in launching and running their operations smoothly. Delayed processing time and congested disk space, can lead to heating up of the hardware too, thus causing the device to either crash completely or malfunction repeatedly.

In addition to this, playing video games for a larger part of the day wastes time and constant staring on the screen may lead to impaired vision. Keeping in mind all of the above-mentioned reasons, players might want to uninstall Steam.

The first step of uninstalling Steam is to first create a backup of its files so, that just in case one day you plan on reinstalling it, you can find access to all your files. For creating a backup on your device follow these steps:

  • Go to C Drive and search for the ‘Steam’ folder.
  • Within this folder, locate the ‘Steam Apps’ folder.
  • Move this folder to your ‘Desktop’ or ‘My Documents’.

There! You have just successfully created a backup of your Steam Apps. Once done with the backup, it is now time to uninstall the Steam software.

Uninstalling Steam from Windows & Mac

There are two ways to uninstall Steam from a device running on Windows. One is to simply uninstall it from the device and the other is to visit the Steam website and uninstall it from there. This section covers both these methods.

In order to uninstall Steam from Windows, make sure you exit the game if you are in the middle of playing it or have it opened in any of your tabs. Once you have checked whether the game is running or not and exit it in case it was, now perform the following steps.

  • Uninstalling Steam from Your Device for Windows:
  1. The first step of uninstalling Steam from your computer is to locate your device’s ‘Control Panel’. Different versions of Windows have their Control Panels located at different pathways. For instance, in some versions of Windows, the Control Panel folder is located right inside the ‘Start’ button. For others, it is located in folders within a folder inside the Start button such as Programs and Files or Windows System. No matter which version of Windows you are the reason, get a hang of your Control Panel’s location and click to enter it.
  2. Go to ‘Add or Remove Programs’ or simply ‘Programs’ option.
  3. As per your version of Windows you’ll be presented with variously named folders. Either ‘Currently installed programs’ or ‘Programs and Features’, click on them then select ‘Steam’ and click the remove button.
  4. A smaller window pane appears which asks you to confirm your deletion command.
  5. Once you press ‘Ok’, the computer uninstalls Steam from your device.
  6. In order to remove Steam completely from your device’s memory, go back to your Steam folder. Delete all files inside it.
  7. After that, go to the Start menu and click on the ‘Run’ button. A window opens, type Regedit and press OK.
  8. Either of the two options labeled ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Valve\’ for 32 bit and ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Steam’ for 64 bit appears, click on it.
  9. Right-click on the Valve directory and delete the entire folder.
  10. Viola! Steam is now out of your system completely.
  • Uninstalling Steam from Your Device for Mac:
  1. The process of removing Steam from Mac is quite similar to removing from Windows. Post backup creation and exiting Steam App if it is running, go to ‘Finder’ then click on ‘Applications’ folder.
  2. Find the file ‘Steam.app’ and move it to the trash can.
  3. Go back to the ‘Finder’ folder and press and hold Shift+G.
  4. This will open a ‘Go to Folder’ window pane.
  5. Paste ‘Library/Application Support/directory’.
  6. Search for the ‘Steam’ folder.
  7. Move the ‘Steam Apps’ folder to another path for creating a backup in case you plan to install Steam again in the future.
  8. Once done with moving the ‘Steam App’ folder, delete all other contents of this folder.
  9. Go back to the main ‘Finder folder. Once again press and hold Shift+G command.
  10. Again the ‘Go to Folder’ windowpane appears.
  11. Search for ‘Steam’ related files in directories and folders named logs, caches, preferences, cookies, saved application state and launch agents.
  12. If you find anything related to Steam, delete it.
  13. Detailed uninstalling of Steam and its residual files has been completed successfully.

Uninstalling Steam from Linux (Ubuntu)

Uninstalling Steam from a Linux powered device can be a bit challenging. Follow the steps listed below for a complete clean up of this gaming software from your system.

  1. Press and hold: Ctrl+Alt+T
  2. This opens a ‘Terminal’ Window.
  3. This Window consists of an already written command ending in a $ sign.
  4. In front of the dollar sign, type this command: Sudo apt-get remove steam.
  5. Press Enter.
  6. Another window appears.
  7. It consists of a lot of commands written on it.
  8. On the bottom of the page, a command ending in a $ sign is written.
  9. In front of the dollar sign, type the command: Sudo apt-game purge steam
  10. Press Enter.
  11. A third command ending in a $ sign appears.
  12. Type the following command in front of it: rm –rf ~/.local/share/Steam && rm –rf ~/.steam
  13. Hit Enter
  14. One last time, a command with a $ sign at the end of it appears.
  15. Type: exit
  16. Hit Enter
  17. You have successfully uninstalled Steam from your Linux powered device.

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