How to Stop Steam from Running Automatically on Startup

How to Stop Steam From Opening at Startup on Client App

The first way you can stop Steam from opening once your computer starts is directly from the Steam settings in the client app! This way you won't have to mingle in your PC's settings at all and disable this feature only by tinkering in the Steam settings. So here's how to stop Steam from opening on startup from the client app itself:

1. Open the Steam client app
2. Click on the Steam logo on the top left corner and select the "Settings" option
3. Select the "Interface" section on the left side of the Settings Steam menu
4. Turn off the "Run Steam when my computer starts" option

Now each time you boot up your PC, the Steam app won't instantly launch! This can be very annoying to people who have slow PCs, as they must first wait for the Steam client to load up and then close it. Clearing the Steam cache files can sometimes help speed up opening the client.

How to Stop Steam From Opening at Startup on Windows

Another way to stop Steam from opening at launch is by managing the startup apps on your Windows PC. As the name suggests, Windows has a built-in way to stop or start apps that can automatically launch once you boot up your PC. So here's how to stop Steam from opening alongside other startup apps on a Windows PC:

1. Open the PC Settings by pressing the Windows Key+I on your keyboard
2. Click on the "Apps" section on the left, and then select the "Startup apps" option at the bottom
3. Find Steam, and toggle it off from the right side

You can also stop Discord from opening on startup from here if that app is annoying as well! But if you only toggle off to stop Steam from launching in the startup apps, then it shouldn't open when you're starting your Windows PC ever again.

This process can also be done through the Task Manager which can be opened by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc on your keyboard. Besides being a tool to completely close off and restart Steam, the Task Manager window also has another Startup tab where you can quickly manage apps that launch when you boot your Windows PC and stop Steam.

How to Stop Steam From Opening at Startup on Mac

Mac devices also have a built-in way to manage startup apps like Steam that may be opening when you're booting up your device. In their Settings within the startup tab, you can also stop Steam from opening and add or remove other apps to open when you start up your Mac! But if you're only here for Steam, now here's how to stop Steam from opening on Mac:

1. Click the Apple logo at the top left corner and select "System Preferences"
2. Select the "Users & Groups" option and go to the "Login Items" tab
3. Find Steam here, select it, and click on the minus symbol located under the section with all the apps

This can also be used to stop Epic Games from opening on startup if you're using other game platforms besides Steam. But once you do this process, from here on out you'll always have to manually open and run Steam unless you add it back to the list!

How to Minimize Steam Client When You Open Steam Games

Now that you're all set and done, you may try to play the best Steam games. But you'll notice the Steam client may get opened up in the background, especially for multiplayer games. Albeit you can't disable Steam from opening on these games, the whole client will launch up which is just annoying! In this situation, all you can do is make Steam minimize itself when you open those games.

To start things off you'll want to press the Windows Key+R to open the Run dialog, type in "regedit", and press Enter. This will open the Registry editor where at the very top you'll have to delete what's written, paste in "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\steam\Shell\Open\Command", and hit Enter.

Now you'll see the registry for the Steam app. So open it up on the right side by double-clicking the "(Default)" option. Then under "Value data" after "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe", leave an empty space, type in "-nochatui -nofriendsui -silent", and click on OK.

After you do this, you'll have to give the registry permission to minimize Steam. So on the left side with all other files, right-click "Command" under below the "steam" folder, select "Permissions", and then click on "Advanced".

This will open a new window with lots of options, and for now, you'll want to click on "Disable inheritance". Then select “Convert inherited permissions into explicit permissions on this object” to continue the process. 

Once you select the option, it will get you back to the previous window. Here in the section with all users, select your PC user and click on "Edit" on the right side. And to finally wrap things up - click on "Show advanced permissions", uncheck "Set Value", click on OK, and then Apply.

And that's about everything you need to know on how to stop Steam from opening on start. Autostart is a pain when it comes to apps like Steam launching on themselves when you boot up your PC. Luckily you can disable Steam and other apps with these methods, like how you can stop Battle.Net from opening on start as well!