There is no Steam app to uninstall Steam from PC.

[MarkJohnson]

I just upgraded my MB, CPU, RAM, and SSD.

I installed Win 10 pro x64

I connected my old HDD to my new PC and went to the Steam folder.

I deleted everything, except for steamapps, userdata, and Steam.exe

I then ran Steam.exe and it installed at it's current location.

I then verified each game and created shortcuts.

I then realized I have a spare 1TB SSD I can use instead.

So, I go to windows 10 apps and there is no Steam app to uninstall.

I then type in Control Panel in the search bar on the task bar (cortana?) abd bring up Control panel. I go to Uninstall a Program and there is no Steam app there either.

So, how do I uninstall Steam from windows 10? Or does it actually install into windows 10?

Can I just copy the Steam folder on my HDD to my SSD and rerun the Steam.exe (after deleting necessary files) and re-verify each game, while creating new short cuts again (overwriting old shortcuts)?

I searched Google and Steam for answers, but got nothing close to what I'm experiencing.

[Si-Fi]

Programs & Features is what you have to look for in Windows.

[Jaunitta 🌸]

Control Panel all items uninstall a program.

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Si-Fi:

Programs & Features is what you have to look for in Windows.

That is the same as Uninstall Programs from Control Panel. No Steam still.

Same for win10 settings menu, Apps & Features. No Steam.

Very weird issue.

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Jaunitta 🌸:

Control Panel all items uninstall a program.

There is no longer an Uninstall Program section anymore.

Only Programs and Features, and still no Steam.

[Magillanica Lou Mayvin]

That's Windows 10 for you ..

[MarkJohnson]

It's definitely bizarre!

This is the first time I ever had a program install in windows successfully, and it doesn't show up, except through file manager. lol

I guess I'll just overwrite the install and try it on the SSD and hope it doesn't get confused with the HDD.

Maybe I'll disconnect the HDD first, then reconnect it after installation on Steam, then copy the Steamapps folder and see if it picks everything up normally. (after I disconnect the HDD again, of course).

Why do I always get bizarre errors that no one else seems to get? lol

[Magillanica Lou Mayvin]

Originally posted by -DI- rmjohnson144:

It's definitely bizarre!

This is the first time I ever had a program install in windows successfully, and it doesn't show up, except through file manager. lol

I guess I'll just overwrite the install and try it on the SSD and hope it doesn't get confused with the HDD.

Maybe I'll disconnect the HDD first, then reconnect it after installation on Steam, then copy the Steamapps folder and see if it picks everything up normally. (after I disconnect the HDD again, of course).

Why do I always get bizarre errors that no one else seems to get? lol

You know in the old days we used REGISTRY to uninstall a software. You can still do that. You don't have to depend on windows doing it for you. You can manually uninstall everything in your pc from registry.

[Si-Fi]

Now that i think of it, because the installation wasn't involved but the main executable, this would not have created an entry into the registry in order for the uninstallation to appear and you need at least two or three seperate entries from what i remember.

[Magillanica Lou Mayvin]

Run > regedit > HKEY_LOCA.. > Valve > right click+ delete

[Si-Fi]

Originally posted by Grandmaster Foo:

Run > regedit > HKEY_LOCA.. > Valve > right click+ delete

HKLM entry doesn't deal with the uninstallation.

Actually it does but somewhere else, e.g.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.

[Magillanica Lou Mayvin]

google: how to uninstall steam from registry

Literally third website down shows step by step how to uninstall steam which is pretty much what I said.

Since when does deleting something completely off your computer by deleting all registry files does NOT deal with "uninstallation"?

Deleting registry files = no more files associated with those reg files on the computer. It's better than UNINSTALL because UNINSTALL still leaves traces of the game/software in system registry.

Uninstall exe files do not deal with deleting registry files not because it is not necessary but because any security software would automatically assume it's a virus instead.

Am I missing something here? He just wants to uninstall the software so that he can install it again on the same machine right?

[Si-Fi]

You are only removing its functionality capabilities to communicate with the rest of the system.

That uninstallation entry will remove that entry from the Apps and Features.

Maybe if the OP downloads the installation file this time, it will override the old entries.

Since when have uninstallers not relied on uninstallation files when i know they still exist, the registry entries call upon the trigger to remove the necessary files otherwise who could live with a bloated system.

[Magillanica Lou Mayvin]

"I deleted everything, except for steamapps, userdata, and Steam.exe

I then ran Steam.exe and it installed at it's current location.

I then verified each game and created shortcuts."


I feel there's definitely a plot hole here. He shouldn't have been able to run steam at ALL if he deleted everything but 2 folders and the exe. Be that as it may ..steam may self install through it's exe although I never hear of that.

Yeah now I read the whole thing again. There won't be any registries at all because he didn't actually install anything. In which case, how in the world does he expect for anything to show up in programs and features/uninstall.

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Grandmaster Foo:

"I deleted everything, except for steamapps, userdata, and Steam.exe

I then ran Steam.exe and it installed at it's current location.

I then verified each game and created shortcuts."


I feel there's definitely a plot hole here. He shouldn't have been able to run steam at ALL if he deleted everything but 2 folders and the exe. Be that as it may ..steam may self install through it's exe although I never hear of that.

Yeah now I read the whole thing again. There won't be any registries at all because he didn't actually install anything. In which case, how in the world does he expect for anything to show up in programs and features/uninstall.

I think that is the issue.

Steamapps contain all installed Steam games/apps.
Userdata contains all custom content for steam/workshop.
Steam.exe is just the Steam autoupdater it seems. It doesn't seem to actually install Steam.

I downloaded the Steam installer and everything shows up fine now.

I usually use this method to install a new drive and want to move my Steam folder to a new drive I purchased. But Steam wasn't installed at all this time.

But thanks for everyone's replies. It has been very helpful on how Steam is setup.

EDIT:

I wonder how Steam installed itself with only the updater? Shouldn't there have been an error?

How did Steam run successfully without being fully installed? Doesn't it need the registry for operation?

But I tested a few games without issues. Maybe it doesn't need the installer at all? Just useful for uninstalling is all. lol

[8ullfrog]

Yup, fresh magazine. My guess is Steam found itself confused, and tried it's best to connect to what it could, but was left in a strange condition. Neither installed, or uninstalled.

Schrödinger's Steam.

To use simple language. - if your steam is broken, download the installer to patch the holes. If that doesn't work, contact support.

But be ready for the response to be: ???