When launching games on a Windows computer, a lot of users get Steam Error 0x4C7 that says “The operation was canceled by the user“. This issue can be a result of incomplete installation, missing files, or some corrupted fragment of the game. In this post, we are going to talk about this issue and see what you need to do if you are unable to open games on Steam.
Failed to start process for <game-name>
“The operation was canceled by the user.” (0x4C7)
What is the The operation was canceled by the user error?
The error code doesn’t means that a user manually stops the operation, instead, it means that a security program or antivirus stops the application from completing the process. One can also face this issue if the game itself is corrupted and is unable to load some of its files.
Fix Steam Error 0x4C7, The operation was canceled by the user
If you face Steam Error 0x4C7 and “The operation was canceled by the user” is what you see, follow the solutions mentioned below to resolve the issue.
- Restart Steam and then launch the game
- Run Steam with administrative privileges
- Verify the game files
- Allow the game through the firewall
- Reinstall the game
Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Restart Steam and then launch the game
If you are unable to open the game, first of all, close every single instance of the browser and then launch the game. This will get rid of temporary glitches that can conflict with the game. So, go ahead and close Steam, now open Task Manager, look for Steam and close every single instance of the application. Once you do that, open the game from the shortcut or from Steam. After doing the same, check if your issue is resolved. In case, the issue still persists, reboot your system and then try. Hopefully, this will do the job for you.
2] Run Steam with administrator privileges
Since you are unable to open the game, launch Steam with administrator privileges and then see if that works. Instead of opening the game in elevated mode, open Steam in that mode and then launch the game from there. This should do the job for you.
3] Verify the game files
As mentioned earlier, one will see the error message due to missing or corrupted game files. It is not a seldom issue, Steam or any launcher is notorious for not skipping some of the portions of the update during the installation process. That is why, they have included an option to verify and repair the game files. We are going to do the same here and resolve the issue. Follow the steps to verify the integrity of game files in order to repair the game.
- Launch the Steam Client.
- Go to Library.
- Right-click on the game and select Properties.
- Go to the Local Files tab and then click on Verify the integrity of game files.
It will take some time to scan and repair corrupted files. Wait for the process to complete itself, and once it’s done, launch the game and hopefully, it will not crash.
4] Allow the game through the firewall
Your security program can mistake the game for a virus as it constantly needs to take the assistance of the Internet and access some of the files stored on the system locally. In that case, we need to first disable the antivirus program temporarily and see if that helps.
If the issue is resolved and the game launches without any issue, allow the game through the firewall as we can clearly say that the game is failing to launch as it is getting misidentified. If you have a third-party antivirus program such as Avast or Norton, make sure to add your game to the exception in the app as well. Finally, check if the issue is resolved.
5] Reinstall the game
If nothing worked, your last resort is to uninstall the game completely and then install a fresh copy of the same. This solution will work when your game is corrupted beyond the point of repair and reinstalling is the only option left. To do the same, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Open Steam Client.
- Go to Library and look for your game.
- Right-click on your game and select Manage > Uninstall.
After uninstalling the game, open Steam and download a fresh copy of the same. Hopefully, this will do the job for you.
Read: Fix Steam needs to be online to update error on Windows PC
How do I fix error code 7 on Steam?
Steam error code 7 appears when the Steam client is unable to load a webpage. In order to resolve the issue, we should first restart the application. This can also be triggered due to the lack of a proper Internet connection. We recommend you check our guide on how to resolve Steam Error Code 7.
