How to stop Steam launching automatically after Windows 11/10 boot

Steam is considered one of the best gaming platforms, not only for its extensive library but also for its array of features. However, it isn’t very pleasant when Steam automatically launches as soon as the system boots. In this post, we will see how to stop Steam from launching automatically after Windows 11/10 boots.

Stop Steam from launching automatically at startup

To stop Steam from launching automatically on startup on your Windows PC, use one of the following methods.

1. Close the Steam Login box which pops up
2. Disable Steam from running at startup via its Settings
3. Disable auto startup using the Task Manager

Let us discuss them in detail.

1] Close the Steam Login box which pops up

For those who have not set Steam to sign into their account automatically, you could simply click on the close icon each time it comes up after booting into Windows.

The client will shut down fully and easily, but that’s a different story if it opens into your account.

2] Disable Steam from running at startup via its Settings

If the Steam client actually launches on your system, you should head over to its Settings and stop it from launching at startup. To do this, follow the prescribed steps.

1. Open Steam.
2. Click on the Steam icon from the top-left corner and select Settings.
3. Now, head to the Interface tab and then disable Run Steam when my computer starts.
4. Finally, click on OK.

That’s how you can prevent Steam from opening at startup.

3] Disable auto startup using the Task Manager

Another option is to disable the startup directly from the Task Manager, and from our experience, this is the easier route.

OK, so open the Task Manager by right-clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Task Manager from the menu that pops up. Once it is up and running, select the Startup tab, then look for Steam Client Bootstrapper or Steam.exe. Right-click on the name and choose Disable to forcefully stop the Steam client from running at Windows 10 startup.

I hope this helps.

Read: How to exclude Steam from Antivirus and add it to Exclusions?

How do I stop Steam from opening on startup Windows 11?

You can go to Steam’s settings and disable the Run Steam when my computer starts option. Alternatively, you can disable Steam.exe from launching at startup from the Task Manager.

Read: Steam Games not launching or opening on Windows

How do I make Steam not start automatically?

To stop Steam or any app from launching at Startup on a Windows computer, go to Task Manager > Startup. Now, look for Steam (or any other variant), right-click on it and select Disable.

Also Read: Steam Client Webhelper has stopped working.