libraryfolders.vdf is reset on every steam-start now (latest update)

[DΣX]

Seems like steam doesnt like custom gaming setups anymore.

They basically lock my out of my gaming library, which is in a non-default location on my c-drive, and was set up through the libraryfolders file.

All changes i make to the file are just reset when starting steam.
Anyone know where the information is backed up at? seems like it must be getting the old version from somewhere.

[Ninjacatpads]

I'm having the same problem, can't have skyrim vr (modded) in program files so needs to be on a different folder on my ssd, and now it won't let me point to that folder. The update has broken it.

[WhiteDog]

It seems that the solution is to edit libraryfolders.vdf under the Steam\config directory, rather than Steam\steamapps. If you only edit the one in steamapps, then Steam will replace it with the one from config on start.

[Ninjacatpads]

Thanks I’ll have to try it

Originally posted by WhiteDog:

It seems that the solution is to edit libraryfolders.vdf under the Steam\config directory, rather than Steam\steamapps. If you only edit the one in steamapps, then Steam will replace it with the one from config on start.

[5 am cat noises]

I was having the same issue and it solved it for me.

[Untrue]

Originally posted by WhiteDog:

It seems that the solution is to edit libraryfolders.vdf under the Steam\config directory, rather than Steam\steamapps. If you only edit the one in steamapps, then Steam will replace it with the one from config on start.

not working for me. the file just redownloads. i even tried matching byte size with the original vdf but it didnt work, sadly.

[DΣX]

i mapped my games directory to a drive-letter to make it work again. really stupid that they limit you to one location on a single disk anyway

[Untrue]

Originally posted by XEO:

i mapped my games directory to a drive-letter to make it work again. really stupid that they limit you to one location on a single disk anyway

it really is. what are you trying to achieve though by editing the vdf? can't you do custom locations through the "STEAM LIBRARY FOLDERS" (Content Libraries) setting?

my mouse software (G HUB from Logitech) just stopped working due to the new vdf. They must've hardcoded it to work with the old vdf structure and still haven't updated it lmao.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Can you modify file permissions to make your changes stick and override Steam's ability to reset them?

[Yasuke]

Did anyone find a permanent solution for this? I have copied the correct VDF file in Steamapps and the config folders but every time I start Steam it goes back to the corrupted file. Please help!

[HappyHitman]

Originally posted by Vox_Nihili:

Did anyone find a permanent solution for this? I have copied the correct VDF file in Steamapps and the config folders but every time I start Steam it goes back to the corrupted file. Please help!

These are the steps I took and it solved it.

My scenario was that I had a drive fail and when i replaced it steam wouldn't write a new library to it because it had the drive letter that matched a now missing library. aka D:\

1 - on the new drive I create a D:\Steam\steamapps folder structure. It is case sensitive
2 - I opened the libraryfolders.vdf in both the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps' folder and the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config' folder
3 - I replaced the record of my old drive record in both files with the bellow record. If you aren't replacing a drive, you could copy the snippet below and add the right path that you desire. Don't forget to make sure the number at the top is unique and in sequence.

"1"
{
		"path"		"D:\\Steam"
		"label"		""
		"contentid"		"1"
		"totalsize"		"1"
		"update_clean_bytes_tally"		"0"
		"time_last_update_corruption"		"0"
		"apps"
		{
		}
	}

4 - Restart Steam - don't forget the close the daemon in the system tray to properly shut it down.
5 - On my first attempt, steam took a long time and then reported a failure. It offers some options and I chose the option to just restart steam. After this it worked fine.

I hope this helps

[lightwo]

^ This is much more easily solved by opening this URL:

steam://open/console

Then, in the console, enter the path of the library location in this command:

library_folder_add "<path>"

[Wayne]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.