[Solved] How to Fix Steam Not Connecting Issue.

People who have used Steam must have seen the “could not connect to steam network” error as it is a very common error reported by many of its users. The simplest solution is to uninstall and reinstall Steam but we have got you some more troubleshooting solutions that are way easier than this one!

The error is displayed on the screen as shown in the following image:

Before knowing the solutions, let us tell you the possible causes of steam not connecting issues.

If you are also getting the steam connection error, then one of the causes can be a network issue. If the internet connection is not stable, this might happen. Another reason can be a software issue. It might not be updated or you may need to install it again.

This error doesn’t occur while using Steam and occurs while users are trying to login to their account. If you are also annoyed by the steam connection issues, then this article is for you!

Solutions to Resolve Steam Not Connecting Error

Method 1 – Change Internet Protocol to Solve Steam Connection Error

The first and foremost thing to do, when you get a “could not connect to steam network” issue, is to change the internet protocol which Steam uses. It usually uses UDP for the transmission of data. You can change it to TCP to fix steam connection issues.

Step 1 – Right-click on the Steam icon and select “Properties”.

Step 2 – A window as shown in the image will open. Click on “Shortcut” and then move your cursor to the “Target” option.

Step 3 – At the end of the text written in the “target” box, you have to write “-tcp” and then click on the “OK” button.

Now, launch the Steam application again on your system and see if the “steam not connecting” problem has been resolved or not. If you log in and the issue still persists, you can try the below-given methods.

Method 2 – Troubleshoot The Network To Fix Steam Connection Issues

After using the above method, if you still can’t connect to steam then you can troubleshoot your network. Your network connection may not be proper or there can be a problem with the Wi-Fi router you use which may cause steam not connecting error.

Firstly, open the browser you use and check if the internet is working properly or not. Next, see if the network adapter you use is working properly or not. You can check this by using the following process:

Step 1 – Search for “Device Manager” on your PC.

Step 2 – After opening the device manager, click on “network adapters” and see the names of the network adapters available on your system.

Step 3 – Now, right-click on the network adapter that you want to check and click on “Properties”.

Step 4 – A window showing the specifications of the network adapter will open. In a box given below, check if the message shows: “The device is working properly”.

By using this method, we checked that the working of the network adapter is proper or not. If it is proper and you still cannot connect to steam, it means that the problem is somewhere else for example, in the network driver.

To check if the steam connection error is due to the network driver, check out the below-given method.

Method 3 – Update Network Driver to Solve Steam Not Connecting Problem

Network drivers can be called as the main source of communication between the operating system and the network hardware. Hence, not having the proper update may give you steam can’t connect problem. 

Outdated, corrupted, or non-compliant versions should be removed and the network driver with the latest configuration should be installed. You can update the driver by using the following steps-

Step 1 – Search for “Device Manager” on your PC and open the first search result.

Step 2 – Select the category of Network Devices to see the names of the drivers installed.

Step 3 – Now, right-click on the name of the driver you want to update. 

Step 4 – You have to choose “Search automatically for updated driver software”.

Step 5 – Now, click on the “Update Driver” option.

In this way, your network driver will be updated and now,  you can see if can’t connect to the steam network has been fixed or not.

Method 4 – Uninstall Steam To Solve Steam Connection Issues

Important: Before using this method, you should know that all your games will also be uninstalled. Once you reinstall Steam, you will have to download the games again.

This can be one of the reasons that there are faulty files present in the Steam files and because of that, you are having the Steam not connecting problem. The steps to uninstall Steam from your system are given below:

Step 1 – Go through the folder in which you have downloaded Steam. You will see a folder named “Steamapps”.

Step 2 – Now, right-click on this folder and cut it from this folder and move it to a safe place. Now, the process of uninstallation will start from the next step.

Step 3 – Open “Programs and Features” by searching it in the search bar of your PC. You can also access this by going through the control panel.

Step 4 – In the list of programs, you will find “steam”. Right-click and select the “Uninstall” option.

Step 5 – On the next window, click on “Uninstall”.

Step 6 – Download Steam again and install it on your PC. Try to login and see whether the could not connect to the steam network has been solved or not.

Note: The folder that we moved in step 2 of this process can help you in getting back the apps that you had on steam before uninstalling it. You can do this by moving the Steamapps folder back to the Steam directory.

Conclusion

The above-given methods are found as the best fixes to solve could not connect to the steam network issue and your problem will be solved in very little time. After using the above methods, if steam not connecting persists, it can be a problem by the end of Steam. You can connect to the Steam official Customer Care to let them know about your issue.