Steam, without a doubt, is one of the most popular game launchers. It not only allows you to download and play some of the most famous titles, but it also lets you add friends and build a community. As of late, we have noticed that the Steam Friends list is a black box and it doesn’t display any of our friends. It is a nuisance and we would like to resolve it for you in this post.
Why can’t I see my friends on Steam?
Steam has updated its user interface to make it a little more aesthetically pleasing. The new UI comes with a few bugs, due to which users are unable to see their friends. Even though this is a very common reason, it’s not the only one, we have noticed that on some occasions, the friends list in Steam does not appear due to a glitch or slow Internet speed.
Fix Steam Friends list is a black box
If the Steam Friends list is nothing but a black box, follow the solutions mentioned below to resolve the issue.
- Restart Steam
- Check your Internet Connection
- Clear Steam Download Cache
- Clear htmlcache folder
- Delete ClientUI folder
- Enter Launch Option
Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Restart Steam
The Friends list can black out due to some glitch that didn’t allow Steam to load the files required for it. In that case, our best bet is to close Steam completely and then relaunch it. To do the same, open Task Manager, right-click on Steam, and select End Task. Finally, open Steam. It will load all the required content at once and resolve the issue.
2] Check your Internet Connection
If your Internet is slow and your bandwidth is low, Steam won’t be able to load your friend list and will show a blank screen. In that case, we need to use one of the free Internet Speed testers to know the bandwidth that you are getting. If it is low, the only thing you need to reboot your router, and if that is to no avail, contact your ISP to resolve the issue.
3] Clear Steam Download Cache
Caches are metadata stored locally on your computer that Steam can access to load some of its content quickly. If the caches are corrupted, Steam won’t be able to load them. Since Steam is pretty well acquainted with the fact that its caches are vulnerable, they have included an option to clear them. To do the same, you need to follow the steps mentioned below.
- Open Steam.
- Go to Steam > Settings.
- Now, navigate to Download and click the Clear Download Cache button.
Once the Steam cache is cleared, reboot your computer and start Steam.
4] Clear htmlcache folder
When you clear the download cache, it clears a lot of the context of htmlcache folder and some other related files. As a precautionary measure, we will clear the HTML cache folder to make sure that no corrupted file is left undelete. To do the same, open File Explorer by Win + E, navigate to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Steam\htmlcache, and clear all the content of the htmlcache folder.
Read: Steam won’t let me reset my password
5] Delete ClientUI folder
The ClientUI folder stores information about the user interface of the Steam client application. If this folder is corrupted, one will notice some weird issues in Steam’s UI. In order to fix it, we need to open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the location mentioned below.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
You then have to delete the ClientUI folder. There is no need to worry about your personal files or games as deleting the ClientUI folder will not affect them in any shape or form.
6] Enter Launch Option
There is a bug due to which the friends list is not appearing. To resolve it, we need to enter a Launch Option in Steam. For that, first of all, close Steam from the Task Manager. Now, open the properties of Steam and append -nochatui -nofriendsui. Finally, click on Apply > OK and start Steam.
Hopefully, you will easily resolve the issue.
Read: Fix Steam FRIENDS NETWORK UNREACHABLE error
How do I fix Steam friends not working?
If Steam Friends is not working, you can restart the app and see if that helps. If that is to no avail, you need to allowlist Steam and make sure Steam is allowed through your Firewall. Also, check our guide to know what to do when Steam Friends List is not working.
Also Read: Steam not signing in to Friends on Windows.
