Steam is an online gaming platform that is very popular with gamers. However, sometimes, like with every other game, you might encounter an error with it.

Many users have complained of an error that says “Steam is having trouble connecting to the Steam servers”  or “Unable to connect to Steam network”. If you are getting this error, it means your Steam client was not able to connect to Steam network and you can’t participate in online gaming.

In this post, we’ll discuss four solutions that could help resolve the issue.

Solution One- Change Steam Client’s Internet Protocol

The steam client uses the UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocol to transmit and receive data from the Steam server. You can try using TCP internet protocol which is more reliable but slower than UDP. Here are the steps to follow.

• Press Windows logo key and R simultaneously on the keyboard to launch Run command console
• In the Run command box, type taskmgr and hit Enter on the keyboard
• In the Task Manager window, go to Processes tab and select the Steam related process and click End task
• Repeat the above step to find all Steam related process like Steam Client bootstrapper (32-bit), Steam Client Webhelper (32-bit), Steam client service (32-bit) and end all tasks.
• If you have a exe shortcut on the desktop, right-click on it and select Properties

• If you don’t have a exe shortcut on the desktop, you have to create one before performing next troubleshooting steps. To create a shortcut, follow the steps given below
• Open Run command box again
• In the Run command box, type C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam and hit Enter on the keyboard
• (Note- If you have installed Steam client in a different folder, you need to navigate to the folder before performing the steps given below)
• When the Steam installation folder opens, locate the exe file and right-click on it
• Select Create Shortcut from the menu

• Once the shortcut is created in the folder, right-click Steam.exe shortcut and select Properties

• In the Steam.exe Shortcut Properties dialog box, go to Shortcut tab
• In the Target field, type –tcp at the end. After typing tcp at the end, the value in the target field should look like the image given below.

• Click Apply and then click OK
• Close all windows

Launch Steam client on your computer and see if it is able to connect to Steam servers. If the connection error persists, move to next solution.

Solution Two- Troubleshoot your Internet connection

You cannot rule out the possibility of some problem with your Internet connection. You can perform some checks to ensure the Internet connection is not the cause of the connecting issue for Steam client.

Check the modem and router and see if they are working as intended. Launch the browser and try surfing the Internet. Are you experiencing any problem visiting websites? Or Is the Internet connection too slow?

If you have made changes to network settings recently, revert the settings and see if Steam Client is able to connect to Steam servers.

If you do not find any problem with your Internet connection, perform the troubleshooting steps given below.

• Press Windows logo key and R simultaneously on the keyboard to launch Run command console
• In the Run command box, type cmd and click OK

• Right-click on command prompt from the results and select Run as administrator
• In the command prompt window, type following commands and hit Enter on the keyboard after typing each command. Wait for the command operation to complete before typing next command in the list
• ipconfig /release
• ipconfig /all
• ipconfig /flushdns
• ipconfig /renew
• netsh int ip set dns
• netsh winsock reset
• After you have executed all commands given above, close command prompt window

Launch Steam client and check whether the connection issue is resolved. If the problem persists, move to next solution.

Solution Three –Reinstall Steam client

There is a possibility some of the Steam files are corrupt that is causing a connecting problem. In such scenario, you need to uninstall the Steam program completely and then reinstall it again. But before that, you would like to backup games that you have downloaded. Here are the steps to follow

Steps to backup downloaded Steam games

• Open the Steam installation folder – C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
• In the Steam folder, locate the folder named Steamapps and move the folder contents to a safe place in your computer.

Steps to uninstall Steam program

• Click Start -> Control Panel
• In the Control Panel, click Programs and features
• In the next window, select the Steam program in the list and right-click on it
• Select Uninstall

• Follow –on screen instructions to uninstall the Steam program completely
• After the Steam program is uninstalled, reboot your computer. This is necessary as some files can be only deleted at next system restart
• After rebooting your computer, install the Steam program with recommended settings

Launch the Steam program and check whether the Steam client can connect to the Steam server. If the Steam connection problem is not resolved, move to next solution

Solution Four – Update Network Drivers

You can get this error if your network drivers are outdated. The simplest way to fix this issue is to update your drivers using a reliable and fast driver update tool.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

• You can update device drivers automatically
• The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
• The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
• Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

 

Start Download