I accidentally removed steam folder

[Pasi123]

So, I copied my games to another HDD (only steamapps folder) and after that I was going to delete that folder from my older HDD but I accidentally deleted the whole steam folder...

Is there any way to get my games back without re-downloading every single one? I still have steamapps folder that I copied...

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by Pasi123:

I still have steamapps folder that I copied...

If you copied the steamapps folder to another hard drive, you are fine. Just reinstall Steam to the same existing place you had it installed. Then drag in the copy of that steamapps folder afterwards. (It goes in the Steam folder of course, once you reinstall Steam)

EDIT...

Reinstall Steam

The Steam installer can be downloaded here: http://store.steampowered.com/about/ and reinstalled to the same location where it is already installed.

So download a new client installation package, run it and install Steam to the same place you originally had it installed to. This just "overwrites" any existing files and harms nothing at all.

Then, drag in the steamapps and launch Steam and log in. You may want to keep a copy of that steamapps for now, just in case.

As long as you have a copy of your steamapps folder, you are good and cannot make any grave errors which cannot be resolved easily, without having to redownload games.

[Pasi123]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

If you copied the steamapps folder to another hard drive, you are fine. Just reinstall Steam to the same existing place you had it installed. Then drag in the copy of that steamapps folder afterwards.

EDIT...

Reinstall Steam

The Steam installer can be downloaded here: http://store.steampowered.com/about/ and reinstalled to the same location where it is already installed.

So download a new client installation package, run it and install Steam to the same place you originally had it installed to. This just "overwrites" any existing files and harms nothing at all.

Then, drag in the steamapps and launch Steam and log in. You may want to keep a copy of that steamapps for now, just in case.

I just noticed that I only have "common" folder (and games inside it) in that steamapps folder... So I don't have any of the ".acf" files that is needed?

[The Giving One]

Where are the .acf files ? They should have stayed in the steamapps folder if you copied the whole steamapps folder.

Just do the steps I suggested and then launch Steam and log in. Let it fully update and then open up the steamapps\common\(pick a game) folder. Find the .exe for that game and right click it and run it directly from the .exe file. Steam may then recognize the game as installed.

Or, you can "try" to right click the drive where Steam was installed, then properties, then the previous versions tab on top. See if you can get a copy of the steamapps folder containing the .acf files from a restore point.

Are you doing any of this on an external hard drive ? We have seen cases where the .acf files disappear for odd reasons, and sometimes external drives are involved.

EDIT...

If the games still appear as "uninstalled" after moving the copy of the steamapps you made, because you don't have the .acf files, see this support page............

Installed games are appearing as uninstalled

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

[Pasi123]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Just do the steps I suggested and then launch Steam and log in. Let it fully update and then open up the steamapps\common\(pick a game) folder. Find the .exe for that game and right click it and run it directly from the .exe file. Steam may then recognize the game as installed.

Thanks! That does work but it will take a really long time because it checks all of the game files... and I need to do it with 100 games one by one :D

[The Giving One]

I edited my post above somewhat. Sorry about that and please see the edits.

You seem to have missed my question about the external hard drive. For the .acf files to just go missing on their own, is very strange, and that is caused by something else there, not Steam itself.

I would suggest you investigate why the files went missing, if they did. Also, see the support page I linked above, and try the restore point suggestion also. You "may" be able to get the .acf files back that way, all at once.

[Pasi123]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

I edited my post above somewhat. Sorry about that and please see the edits.

You seem to have missed my question about the external hard drive. For the .acf files to just go missing on their own, is very strange, and that is caused by something else there, not Steam itself.

I would suggest you investigate why the files went missing, if they did. Also, see the support page I linked above, and try the restore point suggestion also. You "may" be able to get the .acf files back that way, all at once.

I didn't use external hard drive, maybe I didn't copy anything else than the common folder or something like that
Maybe I shouldn't do anything like that when I'm tired.

[The Giving One]

In the future, if there was any mistake, if you want to move Steam files around, you need to make a copy of the entire steamapps folder, just in case you did make a mistake here or do, then you don't have to worry about redownloading the games.

You can still do it with just the "common" folder that has the game folders in it, but as you can see, it is just a bit more involved.

As long as you have the common folder, it's not a total loss. Feel free to ask if you need further help, but you seem to have things in order now. Thanks.