Steam UI is a memory hog. What is a work-around?

[The Rabid Otter]

I've used Steam for around 15 years. In the past two or so years, the updates to the UI seems to lead it to respond more slowly and hog more memory (on my gaming laptop, no less). Is there a way to turn off all the dynamic image blah blah blah? Better yet, is there a way to revert back to the ca. 2017 UI?

[mimizukari]

No revert. You need at least 12GB RAM in 2020 for gaming. (If you check HWSurvey most Steam users are on 16GB or more. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam )

Developers and designers of platforms like Steam will keep increasing requirements as the currently available hardware keeps increasing and the active users of the platform move onto the new stuff.

Personally I find 32GB RAM to be a good spot to be right now if you use other programs open while you game, you could always turn Steam overlay off and not have any Steam window open while you game though to minimize the impact.

[Spawn of Totoro]

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/1642052612841407353/

If you wish for the UI to be reverted, then please join the thread above. If I recall, there are instruction on how to revert the UI in that thread as well, though it may cause some issue as aspects, or even games, may require the updated client. Continued use is also not guaranteed as the way Steam server can change with client updates.

But I doubt you can revert back to the 2017 version, even then.

To lessen the amount of memory Steam uses:

Steam > Settings > Library

Check every box and set Display size to small.

Other then that, you can try setting Steam to small mode.

[mimizukari]

Spawn of Totoro eredeti hozzászólása:

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/1642052612841407353/

If you wish for the UI to be reverted, then please join the thread above. If I recall, there are instruction on how to revert the UI in that thread as well, though it may cause some issue as aspects, or even games, may require the updated client. Continued use is also not guaranteed as the way Steam server can change with client updates.

To lessen the amount of memory Steam uses:

Steam > Settings > Library

Check every box and set Display size to small.

Other then that, you can try setting Steam to small mode.

I thought the way to revert was patched out recently (last few months).

[The Rabid Otter]

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

No revert. You need at least 12GB RAM in 2020 for gaming. (If you check HWSurvey most Steam users are on 16GB or more. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam )

Developers and designers of platforms like Steam will keep increasing requirements as the currently available hardware keeps increasing and the active users of the platform move onto the new stuff.

Personally I find 32GB RAM to be a good spot to be right now if you use other programs open while you game, you could always turn Steam overlay off and not have any Steam window open while you game though to minimize the impact.

I have 16GB. I'll need to check my slot configuration to see if I can add more. However, I hadn't considered turning off the Steam overlay.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

I thought the way to revert was patched out recently (last few months).

I've heard that and others claim it still works or there may be other ways.

Not sure as it isn't something I would do, hence why I suggested another place for them to find out.

[The Rabid Otter]

Spawn of Totoro eredeti hozzászólása:

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/1642052612841407353/

If you wish for the UI to be reverted, then please join the thread above. If I recall, there are instruction on how to revert the UI in that thread as well, though it may cause some issue as aspects, or even games, may require the updated client. Continued use is also not guaranteed as the way Steam server can change with client updates.

But I doubt you can revert back to the 2017 version, even then.

To lessen the amount of memory Steam uses:

Steam > Settings > Library

Check every box and set Display size to small.

Other then that, you can try setting Steam to small mode.

Thank you. Sadly, these were already my settings. I'll follow the link and check it out, though.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Unfortunately, Steam really doesn't seem to like people going back to an older client version with its arguably better UI.

So, for now, here's what I do (which doesn't require reverting the client): I use the launch parameter -no-browser. This means my Steam launching shortcut says

C:\path\Steam\Steam.exe -no-browser

What this does is it causes Steam to NOT launch any of its "steamwebhelper.exe" processes. (Generally it spawns seven of them just from starting up the program.) This makes it use less RAM and also makes it start up faster.

There are drawbacks of course. The main Steam Library UI is completely broken. But you can still use Small Mode. Steam's built-in browser is broken obviously, but you shouldn't be using it anyway since it's missing various features (like history, which you need for finding moved threads on the Steam forums). And the Friends list/chat is replaced with the old interface (which is missing some things, such as group chat, but what can you do...but you can always use webchat in your own browser if you need to).

Just don't uninstall games in Small Mode; the uninstall prompt is routed through a browser-rendered page. Don't even uninstall from the Windows programs list. Only uninstall using Big Picture Mode.

As with client reverting, I don't know how long this method will continue working. Unfortunately, using Steam means we're at the mercy of Valve screwing things up on their end.

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

You need at least 12GB RAM in 2020 for gaming. (If you check HWSurvey most Steam users are on 16GB or more. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam )

1. Just because people have the system resources to handle more bloated software doesn't mean that bloat is a good idea.
2. It's quite ironic when Steam requires heavier system resources than the games that gates access to. "Gaming in 2020" doesn't suddenly make all older games poof out of existence.

[mimizukari]

Quint the Alligator Snapper eredeti hozzászólása:

Unfortunately, Steam really doesn't seem to like people going back to an older client version with its arguably better UI.

So, for now, here's what I do (which doesn't require reverting the client): I use the launch parameter -no-browser. This means my Steam launching shortcut says

C:\path\Steam\Steam.exe -no-browser

What this does is it causes Steam to NOT launch any of its "steamwebhelper.exe" processes. (Generally it spawns seven of them just from starting up the program.) This makes it use less RAM and also makes it start up faster.

There are drawbacks of course. The main Steam Library UI is completely broken. But you can still use Small Mode. Steam's built-in browser is broken obviously, but you shouldn't be using it anyway since it's missing various features (like history, which you need for finding moved threads on the Steam forums). And the Friends list/chat is replaced with the old interface (which is missing some things, such as group chat, but what can you do...but you can always use webchat in your own browser if you need to).

Just don't uninstall games in Small Mode; the uninstall prompt is routed through a browser-rendered page. Don't even uninstall from the Windows programs list. Only uninstall using Big Picture Mode.

As with client reverting, I don't know how long this method will continue working. Unfortunately, using Steam means we're at the mercy of Valve screwing things up on their end.

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

You need at least 12GB RAM in 2020 for gaming. (If you check HWSurvey most Steam users are on 16GB or more. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam )

1. Just because people have the system resources to handle more bloated software doesn't mean that bloat is a good idea.
2. It's quite ironic when Steam requires heavier system resources than the games that gates access to. "Gaming in 2020" doesn't suddenly make all older games poof out of existence.

Most of those older games can be ran without Steam, as in, once you download with Steam you can close the client and directly launch the .exe from the common folder.

For history just go to chrome://history/

Steam uses the Chrome webkit (which is a sandbox environment, very safe and part of the reason of the EXTENSIVE memory usage.) You can access a majority of the chrome:// links, you just can't download anything from the browser.

[The Rabid Otter]

Quint the Alligator Snapper eredeti hozzászólása:

Unfortunately, Steam really doesn't seem to like people going back to an older client version with its arguably better UI.

So, for now, here's what I do (which doesn't require reverting the client): I use the launch parameter -no-browser. This means my Steam launching shortcut says

C:\path\Steam\Steam.exe -no-browser

Just to be clear, I open up PROPERTIES\SHORTCUT\TARGET on the Steam launching icon and add "-no browser" to the end of the path name?

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

The Rabid Otter eredeti hozzászólása:

Quint the Alligator Snapper eredeti hozzászólása:

Unfortunately, Steam really doesn't seem to like people going back to an older client version with its arguably better UI.

So, for now, here's what I do (which doesn't require reverting the client): I use the launch parameter -no-browser. This means my Steam launching shortcut says

C:\path\Steam\Steam.exe -no-browser

Just to be clear, I open up PROPERTIES\SHORTCUT\TARGET on the Steam launching icon and add "-no browser" to the end of the path name?

Yep.

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

1. Just because people have the system resources to handle more bloated software doesn't mean that bloat is a good idea.
2. It's quite ironic when Steam requires heavier system resources than the games that gates access to. "Gaming in 2020" doesn't suddenly make all older games poof out of existence.

Most of those older games can be ran without Steam, as in, once you download with Steam you can close the client and directly launch the .exe from the common folder.

While it's true that some games on Steam, including some of those older games, can be run without Steam, there are still a number of Steam game that are rather light on system resources that can't be run without Steam. For example, Alchemic Dungeons DX.

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

For history just go to chrome://history/

...but the built-in browser's address bar isn't even accessible. I guess you could go into Steam's console for that...?

[crunchyfrog]

Kurumi Tokisaki eredeti hozzászólása:

No revert. You need at least 12GB RAM in 2020 for gaming. (If you check HWSurvey most Steam users are on 16GB or more. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam )

Developers and designers of platforms like Steam will keep increasing requirements as the currently available hardware keeps increasing and the active users of the platform move onto the new stuff.

Personally I find 32GB RAM to be a good spot to be right now if you use other programs open while you game, you could always turn Steam overlay off and not have any Steam window open while you game though to minimize the impact.

This is simply not true at all.

There is no need for 12GB, as it's system dependent. That's TERRIBLE advice.

OP, I run a laptop that is fine for gaming. I don't play the ABSOLUTE up to date new releases ever, but you can see from my profile that I play plenty of games from this "generation" and I only have 8GB RAM installed. I have another 8GB stick but it changes NOTHING as regards to my gaming or Steam's behaviour (I only use it for music production).

Also, these games are running at high and even ultra on some with that "mere" 8 gigs.

So please ignore this bad advice.


As far as this problem goes, Yes, the Steam overlay is the first culprit to try fiddling with and disabling. It's fairly common to see people suffer with memory usage due to something going on there (which I've never got to the bottom of). Never experienced it myself either.

Also, if you use the inbuilt browser it can quickly rack up memory usage, especially if you leave windows open. Seen that happen a number of times with users who forget about that.