Here's How to Uninstall Steam Games [Complete Guide]

How to Uninstall Steam Games from Client App

The first and best way to uninstall Steam games is directly from the client app itself. That's where you've got them in the first place, and that's where you'll get rid of them! So here's how you can uninstall Steam games directly from the client app:

1. Open the Steam client
2. Select the Steam "Library" tab above
3. Find the Steam game you wish to uninstall
4. Right-click the Steam game, go under the "Manage" options, and select "Uninstall"
5. Click on "Uninstall" again when asked, and wait until the process is finished

If you have tons of paid or free Steam games in the library on your Steam account, you can also filter the games by clicking the filter button on the right side of the Search tab above the games and selecting "Installed locally". This will show you all your installed games making it easier to find and remove games in your Steam library

How to Uninstall Steam Games on Windows

Windows also has a built-in way of removing any games, including ones from Steam. This way you won't have to go through the hassle of opening the Steam app, albeit the client will open briefly only to confirm the deletion of a game. Knowing that here's how to delete Steam games on Windows:

1. Press the Windows Key+I to open Settings
2. Click the "Apps" tab on the left side
3. Select the "Installed Apps" option at the top
4. Find the Steam game you want to uninstall
5. Click on the triple dots at the right side of the game, and select "Uninstall"
6. The Steam client will be opened, click on "Uninstall" again to proceed with the process

You should use this way of uninstalling Steam games on Windows to have a better size overview of the game files. Just make sure to not delete the best Steam games by accident!

How to Uninstall Steam Games on Mac

Mac devices also have a very easy built-in way to uninstall games. But even doing it within the Steam app or the operating system can sometimes leave traces of the games, like empty shortcuts in the Launchpad which we'll check out below! So here's how you can uninstall Steam games on Mac devices:

1. Open up the Mac Finder by clicking it on the bottom left corner
2. On the left side, select the "Applications" tab
3. Find the game you wish to uninstall, then click and drag it to the Trash Bin at the bottom
4. If Steam opens up to confirm the process, click on "Uninstall" again
5. The game icons might be left over in the Launchpad, to delete them open the Macintosh HD folder
6. Head to the 'Users > "Your Mac User" > Applications' folder
7. Move the game icons you uninstalled to the Trash Bin

You can also uninstall Steam this way if you're done entirely with playing games! But if you're only here to delete Steam games, just know it's better to let the Steam app handle the uninstallation, as this way the chances of empty shortcuts and left-over game files appearing is higher. 

How to Uninstall Steam Games on Linux

For Linux, I'd recommend you only use the client app to uninstall a Steam game. There's also a way to do it from the Ubuntu Software app if you can locate the game over there. However, if you're going with a system uninstall of a game on Linux, you can do it by using the Terminal. With that in mind, here's how to uninstall a Steam game on Linux:

1. Open the Terminal
2. Type in "dpkg --list" and hit Enter
3. Press the down arrow on your keyboard and find the game package you want to uninstall
4. Type in "sudo apt-get remove <PACKAGE_NAME>", and when prompted, press Y and Enter

If you wish to try and uninstall Steam games from the Ubuntu Software app, you'll have to open it and select the "Installed" section on top. Then you can try to find the game from there and uninstall it!

How to Back Up Files Save Files Before Uninstalling Steam Game

Whenever you uninstall Steam games, you may want to return to it in the future. Fortunately if enabled, the Steam Cloud will keep your game save files and other important stuff if the game supports it! Although sometimes there can be a Steam Cloud error, here's how you can enable it to save files for games that support it:

1. Open the Steam app
2. Click the Steam logo located in the top left corner and select "Settings"
3. Select the "Cloud" tab on the left, and toggle on the "Enable Steam Cloud" option

As for games that don't support this cloud feature for your Steam account, you'll have to find and copy the game save files somewhere else and move them back to the same place once you download the game back. Now this is tricky because each game can store files in a different location! So here are the different ways and folders where you can locate a game's save files:

• Right-click a game in the Steam library and go to "Properties > Installed Files > Browse"
• Open your PC's File Manager and go to the folder path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Userdata"
• Go to the folder path "C:\Users\<PC_USERNAME>\AppData\Local" and search for the game and data save files
• Find the saved games folder and data in "C:\Users\<PC_USERNAME>\AppData\Locallow" 
• Use PCGamingWiki to find your game's save files folder path

And that settles everything you need to know on how to uninstall and delete Steam games! If you're looking forward to deleting every game alongside Steam, then definitely consider the best Steam alternatives to download new ones!