After installing the Steam client on your computer, it is automatically set to launch on startup by default.
Most users are not fond of this feature simply because it makes your PC spend more CPU power loading the Steam client immediately after booting up, unnecessarily slowing down every other process as a result.
If you find this irritating and want to modify it, this guide contains all the details you need to know about doing it correctly.
Let’s dive into it.
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Method 1: Disable Steam Startup Launch From The App (Client)
If you already have the Steam client open and want to do this quickly, follow these steps, and you should be done in less than a minute.
- Open Steam (skip if you are already in the app).
- Navigate to “Steam” in the top left corner and click on it, then on “Settings.”
- Once you open the settings menu, click on “Interface” to find the option you’re looking for.
- The final step is to uncheck the box that says “Run Steam when my computer starts,” then click “OK” at the bottom.
Method 2: Disable Steam Startup Launch Using Windows Task Manager
This technique involves using the Task Manager on Windows and deactivating Steam from the “startup” area. Here’s how:
- Right-click on the taskbar and select “Task Manager.”
- Select the “Startup” tab in your Task Manager window.
- Find the Steam app and right-click it. Choose “Disable.”
Restart your PC and Steam will no longer run automatically when your system boots up.
Now that you know how to turn this feature off, we’ll look at reasons that you might want to leave it on instead.
Pros and Cons of Leaving This Setting On/Off
Some individuals use their computer exclusively for gaming activities. This is particularly common among individuals who have distinct computers for work and leisure, like streamers, for instance, who frequently possess a separate computer for gaming.
These types of users can save time by allowing the Steam client to load itself on startup instead of manually launching it every time they want to play a game. If this applies to you, you might want to leave it enabled.
However, if you sometimes play video games, it can be bothersome to manually close Steam when you want to allocate all your computer’s processing power to work. Furthermore, if you start other programs than Steam when your PC starts, performance will be significantly slower if Steam is utilizing the resources in the background.
If this is applicable to you, it’s worth disabling Steam from launching on startup.
Conclusion
Steam is automatically set to “load on startup” upon installation. Many users are unsure how to disable it when looking to achieve quicker startup times on their systems.
This guide contains two different methods, both of which are easy to apply and don’t take much time, even if you are unfamiliar with Steam.
