Is the Validating Steam Files process forever stuck in a loop for you? Here is a complete guide to fixing the issue. Steam provides a dedicated feature to verify and repair the corrupted game files. It is a very useful feature and it helps users to fix a lot of game errors on Steam. However, a lot of Steam users have complained that the verification process gets stuck at a certain percentage forever. And, the verification takes forever to complete. The issue could be caused due to several reasons. However, it could also be caused if your internet connection is unstable. So, make sure there is no internet connectivity issue.
If you are getting the same issue on Steam even with proper internet, this article is your stop. In this post, we are going to share different fixes that will help you get rid of the problem at hand. So, let us check out.
Why is Validating Steam Files stuck?
Here are the potential causes why the Validating Steam Files might get stuck:
- It could be caused due to some temporary app or system glitch. Hence, try restarting your app and PC to fix the issue.
- The problem might be caused if the Steam client or the game is missing the due administrator rights. So, if the scenario is applicable, you can try running the Steam client and the game as an administrator to fix the issue.
- If the download cache on your Steam app is corrupted, you are likely to face this issue. Hence, you can try clearing the download cache in Steam to resolve the problem.
- The problem might also be caused due to corrupted installation of the Steam app itself. In that case, uninstalling and reinstalling the app should fix the problem for you.
Now that you know the scenarios triggering the issue at hand, let us get straight to the fixes.
Validating Steam files is Stuck or Takes forever
If the Validating Steam cache files process on the Steam client is stuck at 0% or takes forever to complete, follow these suggestions to resolve this issue:
- Relaunch Steam and PC.
- Run Steam and the game as an administrator.
- Clear Download Cache in Steam.
- Change Steam’s Download Region.
- Repair your Steam Library Folder.
- Reinstall Steam.
Let us discuss the above fixes in detail.
1] Relaunch Steam and PC
The first thing you should try to fix the issue is to restart your Steam client and check if the issue is resolved or not. Before doing that, make sure no process related to Steam is running in the background. So, open Task Manager using Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkey and then close all the Steam processes. If that doesn’t work, reboot your system and check if the problem is resolved or not.
In case restarting the app or system doesn’t work for you, try the next potential fix to resolve the problem.
Read: An error occurred while installing or updating the Steam game.
2] Run Steam and the game as an administrator
The Validating Steam Files process might be stuck in the loop because of missing administrator rights. If the scenario is applicable, you can try running the Steam app and the affected game with administrator privilege to fix the issue. Here is how to do that:
- Firstly, press the Win+E hotkey to open File Explorer and move to the Steam installation directory. You are most likely to find it at the following location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\
- Now, select the Steam application.exe file and press the right-click on it.
- Next, click on the Properties option from the appeared context menu.
- In the Properties window, navigate to the Compatibility tab and enable the Run this program as an administrator checkbox, and press the Apply > OK button.
- Then, go to the location where the affected game is installed. You will find the game at this location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common
- Next, right-click on the game’s application file and choose the Properties option.
- After that, repeat step (4) for the game also.
- Finally, relaunch Steam and check if the issue is resolved or not.
In case the problem remains the same, you can go ahead and try the next potential fix to resolve it.
Read: How to repair Steam Client on Windows PC.
3] Clear Download Cache in Steam
If the download cache and download files in Steam are corrupted, you might face the issue at hand. So, if the scenario is applicable, you can try relating the download cache on Steam to get rid of the problem. You can follow the below steps to do that:
- Firstly, open your Steam client and click on the Steam menu which is present at the top toolbar.
- Next, tap on the Settings option.
- After that, in the Settings window, go to the Downloads tab.
- Now, click on the Clear Download Cache option present in the right-side panel.
- Once the process is complete, close the Steam app and restart it to see if the problem is fixed or not.
If this method doesn’t work for you, try the next potential fix to get rid of the issue at hand.
See: Fix Steam stuck on Allocating disk space on Windows.
4] Change Steam’s Download Region
You can also try changing the Download Region in Steam to fix the issue. It is a kind of workaround that might fix the problem. This has proven to be effective for a lot of affected users and might just work for you as well.
Here is how to change the Download Region on Steam:
- Firstly, open the Steam Client and navigate to the Steam > Settings option from the top of the screen.
- Now, navigate to the Downloads tab from the left side pane.
- Next, tap on the Download Region drop-down menu and select a different region. You can play around with the location and see which one works for you.
- Finally, press the OK button to save the changes and restart your Steam client. Check if the problem is now resolved or not.
In case changing the download region doesn’t work for you, try the next potential fix to resolve the issue.
Read: Fix Steam Corrupt Update Files error on Windows PC.
5] Repair your Steam Library Folder
If the problem is caused because of the corruption in the Steam Library folder, you can try repairing your Steam Library folder (where your game is installed) to fix the problem. Steam provides a dedicated option using which you can repair the Steam library folder. Here is how to repair Steam Library Folder:
- First, go to your Steam client and click on the Steam > Settings option.
- Now, simply navigate to the Downloads tab.
- In the Downloads tab, select Steam Library Folders.
- Next, press the right-click on your Steam Library Folder, and from the appeared context menu, click on the Repair Library Folder option.
- Steam will scan and repair problems with the selected folder.
- Once the repair process is done, relaunch the Steam app and see if the “Validating Steam Files process is stuck” issue is resolved or not.
If you still face the same issue, we got one more fix for you. So, move on to the next potential fix.
Tip: How to Install Steam and Manage Steam Games.
6] Reinstall Steam
If none of the above solutions worked for you, the last resort is to reinstall Steam. The problem might be caused due to corrupted installation files of Steam. Hence, uninstalling and reinstalling the Steam app should work to fix the problem.
However, before uninstalling the Steam app, take a backup for all library folders and game data that you don’t want to lose. Then, you can uninstall the Steam app via the Settings app or a free third-party uninstaller. Once done, get the latest version of Steam from its official website and install the client on your system.
Launch the Steam app and check if the problem is now resolved.
That’s it.
Why does Steam take forever to validate?
Steam might take forever to validate files if the Steam and the game lack the administrator rights to run. Apart from that, it could also be caused due to corrupted download cache or because of the corrupted installation of the app. If you are encountering this issue, you can follow this guide to resolve it.
Does validating Steam files need internet?
Yes, validating the Steam files needs an active internet connection. This is because the Steam client analyzes the game files and compares them with the ones available on the Steam servers. If it finds that the games’ files are corrupted or if there is a game file missing, it replaces such files with the new fresh & updated ones. So, before you go ahead with the below fixes, make sure you are connected to an active stable internet connection.
Read: Fix Not enough disk space – Steam error on Windows.
Does uninstalling Steam delete games?
Yes, uninstalling Steam from your system will delete your games as well downloadable content and save files. You might need to uninstall the Steam app and then reinstall it to fix the corruption associated with its installation. But, before you uninstall the Steam app, make sure to take a backup of all the important data including games and save files.
Now read: Fix New Steam library folder must be writable error.
