Steam is one of the most popular gaming launchers in the world. It’s used and loved by a huge chunk of the gaming industry. So, when they complain about an issue, you know it’s serious. As of late, many users have complained that Steam says the game is running – but it is not showing! This happens when they close the game and Steam is unable to register your action. In this article, we are going to see how you can resolve the issue with some very simple solutions.
Why does Steam say the Game is running when it’s not?
A very simple reason why your Steam is saying that the game is running is that it’s not registering that your game is closed. There might be some glitch that’s stopping your game from closing or there is some process related to the game that’s still running on your system. Also, you should check if there are some corrupted files. Your game or Steam can be corrupted and as a result, you are seeing the error message in question and the game is crashing.
Steam says Game is running but it is not showing
If your Steam says that the Game is running but it is not showing on your Windows 11/10 PC, then one of these suggestions is sure to resolve the issue.
- Check Task Manager
- Restart Steam
- Reboot your computer
- Verify Game Integrity
- Reinstall the Game
Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Check Task Manager
Sometimes, when you close a program, its instances are not closed and can be found in Task Manager. From there, we can identify the process and close it.
Follow the given steps to do the same.
- Open Task Manager either by searching it out of the Start Menu or by keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Then in the Processes tab, look for your game or any task related to it.
- Right-click on it and select End Task.
Then try reopening the game and see if that works.
2] Restart Steam
If closing task related to your game is to no avail or if you can’t find anything related, then you should try to restart Steam. You can click on the close button on your Steam window to close it. But a better option is to close it from the Task Manager. So, open Task Manager, right-click on Steam, and then click End Task. It’s quite simple, you can then restart your Steam and see if that works. Hopefully, your issue will be resolved.
3] Reboot your computer
If you can’t identify what’s causing the issue or if closing the task is to avail then you should try the good old restart. It has a similar effect as it closes all the processes that are running on your computer. So, go ahead and restart your system. Then reopen the game and check if the issue persists. Hopefully, it will be resolved.
4] Verify Game Integrity
Before executing this solution, you should check if this issue only appears when you try to open a particular game or is it present in all the games. If there is any particular game that’s giving you trouble, then go ahead and fix your game. Follow the given steps to do the same.
- Open Steam.
- Go to LIBRARY.
- Right-click on your game and click Properties.
- Then go to LOCAL FILES and click VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES.
Wait for the process to complete and check if the issue persists.
5] Reinstall the game
If the previous solution doesn’t work, then I am afraid, we need to reinstall your game. Many users wouldn’t want to do that because most games are big and they end up taking a lot of time and data. But if nothing is working, then we have to uninstall the game and reinstall it. Follow the given steps to do the same.
- Open Steam and go to your game library.
- Right-click on your game and click Uninstall.
- Also, click Delete Game Files? to delete your game.
Then reinstall your game and check if the issue persists.
Hopefully, your issue will be resolved.
Related: Program is running but can’t see or is not visible in Windows
How do I close a game that won’t close?
If a game is not closing then the best you can do is to end its task. You can do that from Task Manager. Just open Task Manager, right-click on the game, and click End Task. In case, your game is frozen, then hit Ctrl + Shift + Esc or Ctrl+ Alt + Del and then Open Task Manager.
That’s it!
Also read: Fix Steam black screen or not loading on Windows PC.
