Steam’s game-update settings let you choose between letting the client decide when to update and postponing an update until you launch that game. Use a global default for your library, then set exceptions for individual games. The controls are intended to balance keeping regularly played games ready with avoiding an unwanted download at a bad time; Steam’s December 11, 2024 announcement described the feature as being in Beta, so labels and availability may vary by client version and platform.
Choose whether Steam decides the timing or waits for launch
Valve announced the update-timing choices in the Steam Client Beta on December 11, 2024. One option lets Steam choose when to update, taking factors such as when you last played a game and bandwidth availability into account. The other defers an update until you launch that game. Valve framed the choice around situations such as returning to a very large game, including a hypothetical 200GB example, when you may not want to download it before you are ready to play. Valve’s announcement
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Choose Steam-managed timing when prompt readiness matters for games you play regularly. Choose launch-only updates for a title you rarely open or whose download you want to defer. Deferral does not make the update optional: Steam needs to obtain an update before you can play the updated build, so launching a game with a pending update may mean waiting for its download.
Set a default and make exceptions for individual games
Set the global default
- Open Steam and select Steam > Settings > Downloads.
- Find the game update setting and choose whether Steam should manage update timing or wait until a game is launched. The precise label may differ as the client evolves.
The December 2024 announcement placed the global control in Settings > Downloads. It also marked the feature “In Beta”; the announcement and Support pages do not establish that every detail is available on every current client version or platform. Valve’s announcement
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
Change one game without changing the rest
- Open Library and select the game.
- Open its Properties. Steam Support describes the launch-only control under Updates; enable Only update this game when I launch it if you want that behavior for the title.
Valve’s Beta announcement also described per-game overrides in Properties and a Manage Exceptions view in Downloads settings. Use that view to review exceptions where it is available. Steam Support’s instructions for the launch-only option are the clearest published navigation, but the interface may change. Steam Support: Downloads and Updates Valve’s announcement
Schedule downloads and control the queue or bandwidth
Update timing is one part of Steam’s download controls. Steam Support says the Download Manager lets you track downloads, schedule updates, reorder the queue, and review completed downloads. Open it from the client’s download view; for settings, use Steam > Settings > Downloads. Scheduling is useful when you want downloads to happen during a chosen window, while queue controls let you prioritize one game over another. Steam Support: Downloads and Updates
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
If Steam should not consume as much of your connection, review the bandwidth controls in Downloads settings and set a limit that fits your connection. Steam’s support guidance covers download scheduling and related controls, while Valve’s 2020 post discussed bandwidth throttling, pausing or disabling automatic updates, and selecting auto-update windows. The exact labels can change; use the controls shown in your client rather than relying on an old screenshot. Steam Support: Downloads and Updates Valve’s March 2020 bandwidth guidance
What the settings mean for rarely played games
A launch-only exception can keep a rarely played game from downloading an update before you decide to return to it, but the download may then occur when you launch the title. If you prefer to avoid that interruption, schedule downloads for a convenient time or let Steam manage timing instead.
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
Storage is a separate library-management choice, not a requirement for update scheduling. In a March 2020 post, Valve suggested moving infrequently played games from an SSD to a storage HDD as an alternative to uninstalling them and downloading them again later. That post also described a pandemic-era policy in which only games played within the previous three days updated immediately; this was a historical policy detail, not a statement of Steam’s current algorithm. Valve’s March 2020 bandwidth guidance
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| Choice | Best suited to | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Let Steam decide when to update | Games you play often and want ready with less manual scheduling | Steam may download updates before you next launch a particular game. |
| Update a game only when launched | Games you rarely play or whose downloads you want to defer | A pending update can delay play when you launch the game. |
| Schedule or reorder downloads | Players who want updates in a preferred time window or need to prioritize downloads | Requires managing timing or the queue in the Download Manager. |
| Limit bandwidth | Players who want Steam downloads to use less of a connection | Updates may take longer; no particular reduction or completion time is established by Valve’s published guidance. |
| Move infrequently played games to HDD storage | Players managing library storage and trying to avoid uninstall/re-download cycles | This is an optional storage decision, not an update-timing control. |
Valve describes Steam’s broader approach as giving users control over download schedules and locations. Its Steamworks documentation also notes that installed players need to download an update before launching the updated game. Steamworks: Updating Your Game – Best Practices
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
