After attending to school homework, house chores, or a busy day, one wishes leisure time to go as smoothly as possible, and It’s always a pain when an application does not work when you want it to work. Don’t worry. You have come to the right place. We’ve taken care of this problem after carrying out careful research on the best fixes out there for it.
How to Fix Connect To Steam Network Fix
Steam is a platform used worldwide for gaming, with a huge audience, and an even bigger reputation. That is why its creators keep an eye on such bugs and issues to keep them to a minimum. However, errors are quite unavoidable and common in any software or application.
A pop-up, “Could Not Connect To Steam Network,” might appear on your screen out of nowhere during the Steam startup, and under that, a message, “Either check your connection and click ‘Retry’ or start Steam in ‘Offline Mode,'” can be seen.
This might be the first hint towards the problem that you might be facing. So, check your internet connection, and see if other devices connected to your internet can access it or not. Then, reset your internet and try and click the ‘Retry’ button after a while.
If the Error window does not disappear, then follow the Step-by-Step, easy-to-follow solutions given below to solve your problem. One of them will definitely work, and you’ll be running Steam in no time.
Fix 1: Restart The Bootstrapper Server for Steam Client
Sometimes, restarting is the easiest solution to the problem. This usually fixes the bug that you’re facing, and doesn’t require much work:
- Step 1: Open Task Manager by right-clicking on the Taskbar, or by searching for Task Manager at Search in the Start Menu.
- Step 2: Find Steam Launcher and Shut it down, by clicking the ‘End Task’ button.
- Step 3: From the Task Manager, Restart the Steam Client Bootstrapper.
Check if the problem is fixed after this. You should be able to access Steam normally now, but if the problem still prevails, then read the next fix below.
Fix 2: Steam App Target Address Might Need Modification
This isn’t as complicated as it sounds; sometimes, adding a protocol to the mix solves this problem.
- Step 1: Go to Desktop and Right-Click on Steam App.
- Step 2: Click on “Properties” and locate the “Shortcut” Tab.
- Step 3: Locate “Target” and click the box next to it. Move the cursor all the way to the end of it and add “-tcp.”
- Step 4: Click “Apply” and see if the problem is fixed.
If you’ve got your Steam running properly, then congratulations! However, don’t worry if the error doesn’t disappear; follow the next solution below.
Fix 3: Reset Your IP Using CMD
Sometimes, leftover IP Addresses might cluster up and need clearing and registering of new DNS. This has been the solution for many users, and it might just work for you as well.
- Step 1: From the Start Menu, search for “Command Prompt” and run it as an administrator.
- Step 2: Type in “Ipconfig /flushdns” and hit the “Enter” key.
- Step 3: When the step is completed, the “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache” message appears. Type out the next instruction as “Ipconfig /registerdns” and hit the “Enter” key. This instruction might take a while during execution, so wait for a while.
- Step 4: Next, type in the instruction “Ipconfig /renew” and wait for it to execute. See if the problem is fixed or not.
If the problem still prevails, don’t worry and follow the next solution.
Fix 4: Reinstall The Steam Client
Reinstalling the Steam Client after deleting its files is another fix that has worked for many users, and yes, you do not have to worry about losing your gaming data of any kind. So follow the easy-to-follow steps below:
Step 1: Go to Desktop and Right-Click the Steam App.
Step 2: Click on “Open File Location,” which will take you to the root directory.
Step 3: Delete some of the files named app cache, config, and bin that you see in the root directory, but make sure not to delete the following ones:
- Steamapps
- Userdata
- Skins
- Steam.exe
- Ssfn files
Step 4: After you’ve deleted the files mentioned above, launch the Steam.exe, and Steam itself will start downloading some files and updating itself. After completion of the reinstallation process, see if the connection error still persists or not by running Steam.
Congratulations to you if you’ve got your problem solved! However, if you’re still unsure if the problem still prevails, make sure to go over the solutions once again to see if you’ve misread a step or not, and continue your gaming experience. We wish you all the best!