Steam download stuck, not showing progress or keeps restarting

Steam is one of the popular gaming platforms where you can download and install both free and paid games. While downloading games on Steam, if your download gets stuck, not showing progress, or keeps restarting, you can use the solutions provided in this article to resolve the issue. The major cause of these problems is the network issue. If your network is not working fine, you will face many problems while downloading games from Steam. Apart from that, corrupted cache files can also trigger such types of errors.

Steam download stuck, not showing progress or keeps restarting

If the Steam download gets stuck, not showing progress or keeps restarting, the following fixes will help you resolve the issue.

Use the ethernet cable
Let Steam complete the patching process
Close Steam completely and launch it again
Pause the download and start it again
Delete Download cache
Change your download region
Disable and re-enable your network adapter
Change the bandwidth limit or turn it off
Check your storage space
Allow the game through the Firewall
Verify the integrity of the game files
Switch to the Steam Beta

Let’s see all these fixes in detail.

1] Use the ethernet cable

Wired internet connections are always better than wireless ones because of less packet loss. Also, you will get a better speed with wired internet connections. Connect your computer to WiFi via an ethernet cable and see if you can download your games or not.

2] Let Steam complete the patching process

After downloading the games, Steam patches them. Sometimes, it seems that downloading is stuck at 100% but actually Steam is doing post-processing (patching the game files). Patching the game files sometimes can take a long time. Some affected users reported that Steam was actually patching the game files but showing the downloading status 100%. Wait for some time and see if the downloading gets completed or not. If not, move on to the next fix.

3] Close Steam completely and launch it again

Close Steam completely and launch it again. Sometimes problems occur due to a glitch. In such cases, closing Steam and then opening it again helps. The steps for the same are explained below:

Close Steam by clicking on the cross on the top right side. Steam will be minimized to your System Tray.
Now, right-click on the Steam icon in your System Tray and select Exit.
Open the Task Manager.
Look for Steam processes under the Processes tab.
Right-click on the Steam processes (if any) and select End Task.

The above steps will completely close the Steam Client. Now open it again and see if you can download your games or not.

4] Pause the download and start it again

This is a simple fix. Pause the download, wait for some time and then start it again. This simple trick worked for some users. Maybe it will work for you too.

5] Delete Download cache

Clearing the download cache refreshes the Steam files. This action is helpful if you are experiencing issues with the Steam Client. Because you are experiencing download-related issues on Steam, clearing the Download cache files may help. The steps for the same are written below:

Open the Steam Client.
Go to “Steam > Settings > Downloads.”
Click CLEAR DOWNLOAD CACHE.
Click OK in the confirmation box.

After deleting the download cache files, you will be logged out of Steam and you have to log in to Steam again.

6] Change your download region

It is also possible that the server in your region or country is currently experiencing some issues. Change the Download region and see if it works. You may have to change more than one Download region in order to fix the issue. According to the reports, switching to the Singapore region delivered full bandwidth to most users.

The steps to change the download region in Steam are as follows:

Open the Steam Client.
Go to “Steam > Settings > Downloads.”
Click on the Download region drop-down and select another download region.

7] Disable and re-enable your network adapter

Disabling the network adapter on Windows 11/10 disconnects the user’s system from the internet. You cannot use the internet until you enable it again. It is one of the methods to refresh the internet connection on your Windows 11/10 device. Follow the steps written below:

Open the Control Panel.
Switch the View by mode to Category.
Go to “Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.”
Click Change adapter settings on the left side.
Right-click on your WiFi and select Disable.
Wait for a few minutes, right-click on WiFi and select Enable.

8] Change the bandwidth limit or turn it off

Steam has a feature that lets users limit the bandwidth for Steam. After setting a limit, Steam will not go over the set limit while downloading the games. Sometimes, downloading large games slows down the internet speed. This feature is helpful in such cases. If you have set a bandwidth limit in Steam, either increase it or disable this option. The steps for the same are written below:

Launch the Steam Client.
Go to “Steam > Settings > Downloads.”
Uncheck the “Limit bandwidth to” checkbox or enter a higher value than what you entered before.
Click APPLY.
Click OK to save the changes.

9] Check your storage space

One possible reason why your downloads get stuck or restart again is the lack of disk space. You should have enough disk space required by the game to get installed. Check your storage space. Delete unnecessary files to free up space on your disk. Apart from deleting the files, there are several other tweaks that you can do to free up space on your disk.

10] Allow the game through the Firewall

If you are facing issues while downloading the updates for a game, make sure that your Firewall is not blocking that game. Moreover, a Firewall may also prevent Steam from accessing the internet due to which you may face network issues with Steam.

Allow the exe of the problematic game(s) and Steam through Firewall and see if it helps. If you are using a third-party antivirus or firewall, contact their support to know how to do that.

11] Verify the integrity of the game files

Verifying the integrity of the game files fixes the issues occurring due to the corrupted game files on Steam. If the problem still persists, we suggest you verify the integrity of your game files. The steps to do that are as follows:

Open Steam.
Go to the Library and right-click on your game.
Select Properties.
Select LOCAL FILES.
Click Verify integrity of game files.

12] Switch to the Steam Beta

If none of the above fixes resolved your issue, switching to Steam Beta will surely resolve the problem. Steam Beta is for users who want to test the latest features in Steam before they are released officially. After participating in Steam Beta, you can opt out of the Beta program at any time.

The steps to joining Steam Beta are written below:

Open Steam.
Go to “Steam > Settings > Account.”
Click CHANGE under the Beta participation section.
Select Steam Beta Update in the drop-down and click OK.
Restart Steam.

Read: Unable to locate a running instance of Steam Dayz.

Why do my Steam Downloads keep restarting?

If the Steam downloads keep restarting, you need to check our internet connection first. Then you need to let Steam finish all the patchy downloads and processes automatically. Following that, delete the download cache of Steam that often causes the aforementioned issue.

Download speed limit is not working in Steam

In Steam, you can throttle the downloads while streaming. It means when you are streaming, Steam will limit the download speed automatically. Sometimes it does not work. In such cases, you can limit the bandwidth to a certain value to resolve the issue.