What is steam.exe?

steam.exe is an executable file that belongs to the Steam Client Bootstrapper. This is a software component of Steam, a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation. The file is typically located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam directory.

Steam is primarily used for the distribution of video games and related media. It provides automatic updates for games, community features such as friend lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. It also offers a platform for digital rights management (DRM), video streaming, and social networking services. One of the games that can be played through Steam is Terraria.

steam.exe is needed to launch the Steam client on your computer. Without it, you would not be able to access the features and services provided by Steam, including playing games like Terraria. It is also responsible for updating the Steam client and installed games.

You should not remove steam.exe if you are actively using Steam. If you no longer use Steam, or if the file is causing problems (such as using too much CPU or causing system crashes), you may choose to uninstall Steam, which will remove the steam.exe file. If steam.exe is located outside of the Steam directory, it could be a virus or malware disguised as the Steam executable, and should be removed immediately.

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Steam.exe file information

Windows Task Manager with steam — Steam.exe process in Windows Task Manager

The process known as Steam Client Bootstrapper or Steam Client Bootstrapper (buildbot_winslave04_steam_steam_rel_client_win32@winslave04)

belongs to software Steam Client Bootstrapper or Terraria or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Dota 2 or Apex Legends or Counter-Strike (version 2) or Cyberpunk (version 2077) or Destiny (version 2) or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (version 2) or Arma 3 or Call of Duty: World at War or Fallout (version 3 - Game of the Year Edition, 4, 76, 2) or Project Zomboid or Warframe or Path of Exile or Baldur's Gate (version 3) or Empire: Total War or Rocket League or RISK: Global Domination or PAYDAY 2 or Neverwinter or Sid Meier's Civilization V or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or XCOM: Enemy Unknown or Bastion or Age of Empires II: HD Edition or ARK: Survival Evolved or ELDEN RING or The Jackbox Party Pack (version 6) or Grand Theft Auto V or Crusader Kings II or Age of Empires® III: Complete Collection or Torchlight II or The Witcher (version 3: Wild Hunt, 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced) or The Sims (version 4) or Call of Duty: Black Ops II or Alan Wake or The Binding of Isaac or Paladins or People Playground or Max Payne (version 3) or War Thunder or Insurgency or Orcs Must Die or Kerbal Space Program or Dota Underlords or PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS or Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam or Team Fortress (version 2) or The Walking Dead or Wolfenstein: The New Order or Battlefield (version 4™, 2042) or The Forest or PlanetSide (version 2) or A Game of Thrones: The Board Game or STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order or Total War: EMPIRE - Definitive Edition or Counter-Strike: Source or Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege or Unturned or Microsoft Flight Simulator or Sid Meier's Civilization VI or Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning or Grim Dawn or APB Reloaded or Killing Floor or Are You Ready for Valve Index or L.A. Noire or Unrailed or RuneScape or Sid Meier's Civilization V SDK or Red Dead Redemption (version 2) or Brawlhalla or Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Multiplayer or Fallout: New Vegas or Starbound or Breeders of the Nephelym: Alpha or No Man's Sky or Defense Grid: The Awakening or Half-Life (version 2) or Kenshi or METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN or My Island or PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS or Inscryption or OVR Advanced Settings or 3DMark or VRChat or Garry's Mod or Batman: Arkham City GOTY or Euro Truck Simulator (version 2) or Realm of the Mad God or Black Squad or The Long Drive or Wallpaper Engine or Castle Crashers or HITMAN (version 2) or Crysis 2 Maximum Edition or ORION: Prelude or Eternal Return: Black Survival or March of Empires or Don't Starve Together or Batman™: Arkham Knight or FTL: Faster Than Light or TrackMania Nations Forever or Call of Duty or Steamworks SDK Redist or Fleet Command or RaceRoom Racing Experience or VTube Studio or NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM or Timberborn or XCOM 2 or Source SDK Base (version 2007, 2013 Dedicated Server) or Horizon Zero Dawn or Loadout or Ready or Not or H1Z1: King of the Kill or Citadels or Dishonored or The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind or Cook, Serve, Delicious (version 3?!) or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or Super Monday Night Combat or Tomb Raider or Train Simulator (version 2014) or Need for Speed™ Heat or Tom Clancy's The Division or Tropico (version 4, 5) or Vainglory or Saints Row IV or Banished or Palworld or 7 Days to Die or Automation Empire or Prototype or Fractured Space

by Valve (www.valvesoftware.com).

Description: Steam.exe is not essential for the Windows OS and causes relatively few problems. Steam.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files (x86)" or sometimes in a subfolder of the user's "Documents" folder—for instance C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\. Known file sizes on Windows 10/11/7 are 4,087,528 bytes (2% of all occurrences), 3,111,712 bytes and 175 more variants.
The steam.exe file is not a Windows core file. The software starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: Run, TaskScheduler, User Shell Folders, MACHINE\Run, DEFAULT\Run). It is digitally signed. The program has no visible window. The program listens for or sends data on open ports to a LAN or the Internet. Steam.exe is able to monitor applications. Therefore the technical security rating is 53% dangerous; but you should also compare this rating with the user reviews.

Uninstalling this variant: In the event of any problems with steam.exe, you could ask for help from Support, update to a possibly bug-fixed version or uninstall the associated program (Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program > Counter-Strike or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare).

Recommended: Identify steam.exe related errors

If steam.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\, the security rating is 52% dangerous. The file size is 3,111,712 bytes (4% of all occurrences), 3,019,552 bytes and 118 more variants. The file is not a Windows core file. The steam.exe file is certified by a trustworthy company. The program is not visible. The process uses ports to connect to or from a LAN or the Internet. The software starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: Run, TaskScheduler, User Shell Folders, DEFAULT\Run, MACHINE\Run). Steam.exe is able to monitor applications.
If steam.exe is located in a subfolder of the user's profile folder, the security rating is 75% dangerous. The file size is 1,469,549 bytes (13% of all occurrences), 1,074,111 bytes and 32 more variants. Steam.exe is not a Windows core file. The program is not visible. There is no description of the program. Steam.exe is able to monitor applications.

External information from Paul Collins:
There are different files with the same name:

"Steam" is not required to run at start up. Valve Software's STEAM broadband game client. Steam is Valve's new way of getting games into your hands ASAP. Games like Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero are all being made available through Steam. Steam games are automatically kept up-to-date with the latest content and revisions. Steam also includes an instant-message client which even works while you're in-game
"Winlogin.exe" definitely not required. Added by a variant of the AGENT.AH TROJAN!

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as steam.exe, particularly when located in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder, for example Artemis!1F30A912C2BE or Artemis!B26A17EAF23E (detected by McAfee), and Win32:Malware-gen or Multi:BitCoinMiner-B [PUP] (detected by Avast). Therefore, you should check the steam.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

It's for games! XD
Penguin (further information)

Steam.exe belongs to the OnlineDistributionCenter Steam by Valve. Steam Is the New Way to buy Programmes,and to Overwatch you.If you use this,you are in Big Brothers Hands,so choose wisely
Mr.Paranoid

Have never installed steam or games that use steam on my computer.. computer fan was running really loud so checked it out, steam.exe was running from user AppData Roaming Identities CODExi had a .bin file inside that was called x11 modGeForce GTX 660...... (my card).. As repeated I have never installed steam or any games recently so this appears to be cloaked malware.. Zone alarm didn't pick it up but I deleted the crap out of it anyway.
botnetssuck

Steam.exe is fine, however, if you spot a process named steam.exe (lowercase) it's a bitcoin miner which you should remove immediately!

Steam is a gaming client created by Valve Corporation. Valve is well known and has made many hit games.
chris (further information)

It is a part of the Steam, which is a store for games. Steam manages all games you purchased from it automatically.
Alison (further information)

really dangerous!! it gives your credit card info to gabenz
Challenger-2 (further information)

Good if installed properly but it is a resource hogger

More comments can be found here:
(further information)

Summary: Average user rating of steam.exe: based on 135 votes with 9 user comments. 84 users think steam.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. 10 users think it's probably harmless. 15 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 9 users suspect danger. 17 users think steam.exe is dangerous and recommend removing it. 6 users don't grade steam.exe ("not sure about it").

Best practices for resolving steam issues

A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with steam. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1cleanmgr and 2sfc /scannow, 3uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4msconfig) and enabling Windows' 5Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.

Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the 6resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off repairing of your installation or executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.

To get your computer running as fast as it did on day one, you can 8reset your PC. Your personal files will remain intact, but any programs you installed will need to be reinstalled.

To help you analyze the steam.exe process on your computer, the following programs have proven to be helpful: ASecurity Task Manager displays all running Windows tasks, including embedded hidden processes, such as keyboard and browser monitoring or Autostart entries. A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware or a Trojan. A good Bantivirus software detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, malware and trackers from your hard drive.

Other processes

urlredir.dll hkcmd.exe ascplugin_protection.dll steam.exe lsass.exe csrss.exe skypehost.exe hostappserviceupdater.exe armsvc.exe googleupdate.exe igfxtray.exe [all]

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