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 annoying and want to change it, this guide contains everything you need to know about doing it right.
Let’s get 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 method requires accessing the Task Manager on Windows and disabling Steam from the “startup” section. 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 people use their PC purely for gaming purposes. This is especially common in people who have separate computers for work and for play, such as streamers, for example, who often have a separate PC 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.
On the other hand, if you occasionally play video games, needing to manually close Steam when you want to dedicate all your PC’s processing power to work can be annoying. Also, if you launch programs other than Steam when your computer boots up, everything will be much slower if Steam is using the resources in the background.
If this applies 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.
