Steam downloads slow down for specific reasons you can fix right now
Steam downloads crawl because of four things: your connection is being shared with other devices, Steam's server is far from you, your router needs a restart, or Steam itself is misconfigured. Most of the time it is one of the first two. You can test your actual speed, move to a closer server, and free up bandwidth without paying for faster internet.
The steps below work whether you are on Wi-Fi or wired. Start with the quickest fixes — restarting your router and checking what else is using your connection — because those take two minutes and solve the problem half the time.
Key Takeaways
- Restart your router first, because a stuck connection recovers speed immediately and takes 30 seconds.
- Check what other devices and programs are using your internet right now, because one video call or background update can cut your download speed in half.
- Switch to a Steam download server closer to your location in Steam settings, which often doubles your speed with no other changes.
- Run a speed test on speedtest.net to see your actual connection speed and confirm whether Steam is the problem or your internet is.
- Disable hardware acceleration in Steam if your CPU is old, because it can bottleneck downloads even when your connection is fast.
Restart your router to clear a stuck connection
A router that has been running for weeks without a restart accumulates connection problems that slow everything down. Restarting it clears these problems and takes 30 seconds.
Unplug the power cable from the back of your router. Wait 10 seconds. Plug it back in and wait 30 seconds for all the lights to stop blinking. Your internet is now reset. Start a Steam download and check whether the speed improved.
If your speed jumps back to normal, you are done. If it stays slow, move to the next step. Routers need a restart roughly once a month to stay fast — set a calendar reminder to do this on the first of each month.
Check what else is using your internet right now
One video call, one person streaming video, or one background update on another device can cut your download speed by half or more. Before you change anything in Steam, find out what is actually using your connection.
On Windows, open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Click the Performance tab, then click Network. You will see a graph showing how much of your connection is in use right now. If the graph shows 50% or higher, something else is using your bandwidth.
Look at the list of programs below the graph. Click the Network column header to sort by usage. Close any program using significant bandwidth — streaming apps, video calls, cloud backup, Windows Update. On Mac, open Activity Monitor, click the Network tab, and look for programs with high Send or Receive numbers.
Ask anyone else in your home to pause their downloads, video calls, or streaming. Even one person watching Netflix can slow Steam downloads from 50 Mbps to 20 Mbps. Once you have freed up bandwidth, start your Steam download again and check the speed.
Switch to a Steam download server closer to you
Steam has servers in different regions. If you are connected to a server far from you, your download speed suffers even when your connection is fast. Switching to a closer server often doubles your speed immediately.
Open Steam. Click Steam in the top menu, then Settings. Click Downloads on the left. Under Download Region, click the dropdown that shows your current region. A list of regions appears. Pick the one closest to your physical location — if you are in Texas, pick a US region; if you are in Europe, pick a European region.
Click OK. Steam will restart the download using the new server. Your speed should improve within 30 seconds. If it does not, try a different region — sometimes the closest region is overloaded and a nearby one is faster.
Run a speed test to see your actual connection speed
Before you make more changes, confirm whether your internet connection itself is slow or whether Steam is the problem. A speed test takes two minutes and tells you exactly what you are working with.
Go to speedtest.net in your web browser. Click the big blue Start button. Wait 60 seconds while the test runs. You will see three numbers: Download Speed, Upload Speed, and Ping. The Download Speed number is what matters for Steam.
Compare your result to what you are paying for. If you pay for 100 Mbps and the test shows 80 Mbps or higher, your connection is fine — Steam's slowness is a server or configuration problem. If the test shows 20 Mbps and you pay for 100 Mbps, your internet provider is the bottleneck and you need to contact them.
If your speed test is normal but Steam is still slow, the problem is Steam's server or your router. Go back and try a different download region, or restart your router again.
Disable hardware acceleration if your CPU is old
Hardware acceleration tells Steam to use your graphics card instead of your CPU for certain tasks. On old computers, this can actually slow things down because the graphics card is slower than the CPU at these tasks, creating a bottleneck.
Open Steam. Click Steam in the top menu, then Settings. Click Interface on the left. Scroll down and uncheck the box next to Enable GPU accelerated networking. Click OK.
Restart Steam completely — close it and open it again. Start a download and check whether your speed improved. If you have a computer from the last five years, this step usually does not help, but it takes 30 seconds and solves the problem on older machines.
Move your computer closer to your router or switch to wired connection
Wi-Fi speed drops as you move away from your router. If you are downloading in a room far from your router, moving closer or using an ethernet cable can double your speed.
If you can, plug an ethernet cable directly from your router into your computer. Ethernet is always faster than Wi-Fi for downloads. If you cannot use ethernet, move your computer closer to the router — even moving from another room to the same room as the router makes a difference.
If you are already close to the router and using ethernet, this step will not help. Move on to the next section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my Steam download speed different from my speed test result?
Steam's servers may be slower than your internet connection, or your router may be throttling the connection. Speed tests connect to servers designed to be fast; Steam connects to game servers that may be farther away or more congested. If your speed test shows 100 Mbps but Steam shows 30 Mbps, try switching to a different download region first.
Does closing other programs help if they are not using much bandwidth?
No. If Task Manager shows a program is using less than 5% of your connection, closing it will not noticeably speed up Steam. Focus on the programs using 20% or higher — video calls, streaming, cloud backup, and Windows Update.
Can I download from multiple games at once to go faster?
No. Downloading multiple games at once splits your bandwidth between them, so each one goes slower. Queue your downloads and let them finish one at a time.
What if I tried everything and Steam is still slow?
Contact your internet provider and ask them to check your line. Slow speeds that persist after restarting your router, switching servers, and freeing up bandwidth usually mean a problem with your connection itself, not Steam or your computer.