How to disable automatic Steam updates | The simplest methods

There are a number of reasons why you may want to disable Steam’s automatic game updates. I always hated when my ping went through the roof when I played a competitive game from CS: GO. Other people just don’t have the internet capacity to download GBs of files every few weeks. Whatever the reason, we understand how annoying Steam auto updates can be.

While Steam doesn’t have an official button to disable auto-update, there are several ways to prevent games from being updated randomly at the worst times.

With that in mind, here’s a quick guide on how to disable Steam updates. Although we cannot stop the updates completely, we can determine how and when the updates occur.

Let’s jump in

Force Steam to update games on launch

While this does not prevent your game from being updated, it does ensure that it is not updated during the game. How to force Steam to update games on launch:

1. Start by opening Steam
2. Once opened, navigate to your game library, which you can find in the menu at the top of the Steam hub
3. Find the game you want to change, right click on it and select “propertiesFrom the dropdown menu
4. In the pop-up window, choose “Update”From the tabs above
5. Next under the “automatic updatesFrom the drop-down menu, choose “Only update this game when I start it“
6. Close the properties window and the method is complete

Set time limits for automatic updates

The next thing you can do to help with annoying game updates is to manually set time limits on when Steam can update the games. Here is the simple step-by-step guide to setting time limits for updates:

1. Start opening Steam again
2. Next, navigate to “viewTab in the horizontal menu at the top of Steam
3. Simply select the “the settings” Possibility
4. Search in the settings and click on “DownloadsTab in the left menu
5. Inside there should be a “Download restrictionsSection under the options shown. Cross the “only automatic update games between” Possibility
6. In the two drop-down lists below you can enter the exact times to which you want to limit the updates
7. You can also set the bandwidth that download consumers also need

If you want to almost completely prevent the occurrence of updates, we recommend using an extremely unclear time (when your PC is switched off) and setting the bandwidth to the lowest possible setting.

Disable Steam Starting On Startup

While this does not prevent Steam from being updated, it does stop Steam from loading when Windows starts, saving you valuable Internet usage. How to stop Steam on startup:

1. As always, start loading Steam
2. Navigate to “the settingsMenu thatviewTab in the top menu of Steam
3. On the Settings tab, search for “interfaceAnd choose it from the options available
4. There should be a checkmark in the user interface labeled “Run Steam when my computer starts up“
5. Simply uncheck this box and close the settings window

Related pages

While Steam is one of the most popular gaming platforms, there are still a number of bugs and issues that can drive gamers crazy. Here are some of our most popular troubleshooting pages:

Conclusion

So there you have it, our comprehensive guide to disabling (restricting) Steam’s automatic game updates. Although you can’t turn off automatic updates completely, we’ve found some good ways to prevent them from interrupting your gaming experience. Whatever happens, your games will need to be updated at some point. However, if there is a game that you rarely play and you’d prefer to update it on your own terms, these are great ways to do it.

If you have any questions about the article, please feel free to leave us a comment in the following section. We will answer all questions as soon as possible. Even better, you can now go to our Community Hub, where you can discuss everything related to PC and games with like-minded people.