How to Fix It When You Can't Connect to Steam

If you can’t connect to Steam and you're getting annoying network errors, there are several troubleshooting steps you can try. Check out some tips and tricks below to get back online and playing your favorite Steam games.

Causes of Steam Network Errors

If you see the error message below, you're most likely dealing with a network or software issue. It could be anything from a Steam update to a network outage, to even corrupt Winsock entries.

A bad password is the least likely cause of not being able to connect to Steam. The Steam application provides a different error for an incorrect password as shown below:

How to Fix Steam Network Connection Errors

Most network issues are universal. Whether you’re using Windows 10, Windows Vista, Windows 8, or Windows 7, many of these tricks should apply.

1. Restart your Steam connection. If you receive a network connection error, you may need to restart Steam. To do this, select Steam > Go Online > Connect to the Internet > Restart Steam. When you receive the Can’t connect to Steam error, you have the option to Retry Connection or Start in Offline Mode. If you select Start in Offline Mode, you can see your Steam interface and verify any settings before trying to reconnect.

2. Check the Steam server status. Steam provides customers with a handy website that monitors server traffic. By checking the Steam Status page, you can see if Steam has any network or server outages.

3. Troubleshoot your internet connection. One of the first things you can look at is your internet connection. Windows provides a quick visual if you're disconnected from the network. The quickest way to check connection status is by looking in your taskbar for a disconnected network symbol or a message that the network cable is unplugged. The symbol looks slightly different depending on your version of Windows, but the same basic idea shows an alert, exclamation point, or even a red circle with a line drawn through. All of these indicate you're not connected to the internet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide much more information than that, so you need to look at further network troubleshooting steps to get it resolved. 

4. Restart your PC. Although it may seem like an unlikely solution, rebooting your PC can clear up any driver issues, software crashes, or frozen applications. It’s also a simple way to reset your network settings.

5. Close or turn off background apps. According to Steam, some applications such as anti-virus, anti-spyware, P2P apps, and even some VPN applications can interfere with your network connection. To test this possibility, temporarily turn off Windows Defender and other security applications and try to connect with Steam again.

6. Run Steam as an admin. Running as an admin might sound like an odd fix, but on many occasions, an application requires elevated privileges to run properly. While you may have run Steam hundreds of times before normally, many users say this simple solution fixed their network errors.

7. Troubleshoot your router and modem. We’ve all experienced when our internet service seems to be flaking out or simply not working. Router or modem issues, whether it’s merely frozen or hasn’t refreshed its DHCP lease, can be quickly resolved by rebooting the router and modem.

8. Turn off your Windows Firewall. While a great way to protect your PC and network from malware and potential hackers, Windows Firewall could be the culprit to your Steam connection error. Its purpose is to block out or prevent any threats from reaching your system. However, it isn’t smart enough to detect good traffic versus bad traffic. The firewall could be blocking the port Steam needs to run on.

9. Check the physical network connection. A quick and easy troubleshooting step for Steam network issues is to check the physical Ethernet connection. Make sure it's plugged in firmly to your PC and your modem (or router).

10. Check your ISP. Another factor related to your internet is if your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is experiencing technical difficulties. Most providers have a status page on their website you can check on your smartphone.

11. Download a new driver. Updates and patches are a fact of life. This applies to your network card as well. If you're experiencing Steam connection errors, you may need to update your network card driver. Most manufacturers provide updated drivers on their websites.

    If there isn’t an updated driver, you may need to reinstall the current driver.

12. Update the Steam client. Another common cause and solution to network connection errors is updating your Steam client. Typically, Steam checks for updates after logging in, but in case it doesn’t, manually updating is quick and easy. You can do this by selecting Steam > Check for Steam Client Updates.

13. Try another protocol. Steam typically runs via the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). For troubleshooting, you can switch the Steam client to use TCP instead. It’s a great way to eliminate any issues with protocols. To do this, right-click on the Steam shortcut on your desktop and select Properties. In the Target field, add -tcp to the end of the path and select OK or Apply. This flag forces Steam to utilize TCP instead. 

    Using TCP could trigger some latency issues in Steam.

14. Fix Winsock.dll. Winsock allows software to access the network. If you find Steam isn't connecting properly, you may have a corrupt Winsock. You can try some third-party apps to resolve it or go through some other troubleshooting steps to fix Winsock.dll.

15. Reset your TCP/IP stack. If resetting your Winsock settings doesn’t help, you may also want to reset your TCP/IP stack. Often resetting both can clear up any network issues you may be having.

16. Check the required ports for Steam. Steam requires several ports on your router and/or firewall. Confirm the ports are open. If they aren’t, open the network ports and restart the app.

17. Reinstall Steam. If all else fails, reinstalling the Steam app could help fix any corrupted files that are preventing you from connecting. It’s important to note that any games installed in the Steamapps folder will be deleted as well. So, if you don’t want to lose your games and progress, you need to move the Steamapps folder elsewhere. You can find this folder in C:\Program Files\Steam. Just copy the folder to another location, then uninstall and reinstall the Steam application.