What to Do When Steam Says Game Is Running? Get Methods Now!

Before you try the following fixes, you can restart the PC to fix the “Steam says game is running” issue. This method can restart Steam and all related temporary files/data, and Windows reset will not fail. If the fix is not working, you can try the following methods.

Fix 1: Restart Steam

Restarting Steam is always the first thing to try. Please restart Steam and then repeat the downloading/upgrading. Then, you can check if the “Steam thinks game is running” issue has been fixed. Maybe, you are interested in this post – Steam Won’t Open? Here Are 11 Solutions to Fix It Easily.

Fix 2: Turn off Steam in Task Manager

You can also try to turn off Steam in Task Manager to fix the “Steam game says running but isn’t’ error. Here is how to do that:

Step 1: Open Task Manager and navigate down the list of services until you find Steam.

Step 2: Click it and click the End Task button.

Step 3: Then, relaunch Steam and launch the offending game.

Related article: 4 Methods to Fix Steam Games Not Launching Issue

Fix 3: Reinstall Steam

If the methods are not working, you can reinstall Steam to fix the “Steam says game is running” issue. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Type Control Panel in the Search box and select the first result to open it.

Step 2: Go to the Programs and Features part and click it.

Step 3: Find and right-click Steam in the list of programs and choose the Uninstall/Change button.

Step 4: When finished, download Steam’s latest version from the official website.

Step 5: When downloaded, double click the executable file to complete the installation wizard steps.

Step 5: Launch Steam. Then, install and launch the game.

Fix 4: Reinstall the Game

Then, you can also try to fix the “Steam says game is running” issue by reinstalling the game. You need to notice that his method requires all game files to be downloaded again, so there is indeed a time limit. Here are the instructions:

Step 1: Open Steam and click Library. Then, right-click the game to select Uninstall.

Step 2: When you see the “Delete Game Files?’” warning message, you need to click Delete. Then, the associated game files will be removed

Step 3: Restart Steam and locate the game in your Library and click Install.

Step 4: Click Play On Steam And Nothing Happens. Then, click Next in the install window and click Finish.

Step 5: Allow Steam to download the game files in full. Then, launch the game.

Final Words

To sum up, this post has shown 4 ways to fix the “Steam says game is running” error. If you have the same problem, try these solutions. If you have any better idea to fix the “Steam says game is running” error, you can share it in the comment zone.