How to set all games to update on launch by default?

[Ghost_Ship_Supreme]

I remember there being an option to change how games are updated by default across your whole library, but i can't find it anymore. Was it removed? Or am i crazy and it just never existed?

Is it even a good idea to only update games when you launch them? (mostly for games i don't play often but keep installed)

[crunchyfrog]

Not aware of such a thing ever existing. You may be confusing it with a setting on WHEN to update or when to push downloads?

Afaik they've always had to stay up to date as you can't run the game until it's updated.

[Muppet among Puppets]

I remember a global setting.
Now you must set it for each game.

[MoonC A T]

You're not crazy. It was removed and replaced by a setting where you can choose the time to allow allow auto updates in addition to the individual game settings.

[Lem_On_Lime]

I got a PowerShell script here that will do it:

$steamPath = "E:\SteamLibrary\"
$steamapps = Join-Path $steamPath "steamapps"

$acfFiles = Get-ChildItem $steamapps -Recurse -Include *.ACF
if(!$acfFiles) {
Write-Host "No files with the .ACF extension were found"
return
}

foreach ($file in $acfFiles) {
(Get-Content $file.FullName) |
Foreach-Object {$_ -replace '"AutoUpdateBehavior"\s*"0"','"AutoUpdateBehavior" "1"'} |
Set-Content $file.FullName -Force
}

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

I found a program to do this, "FAR" "find and replace". sourceforge.net/projects/findandreplace/

you have to adjust a settings option
FAR > settings > f‌&r tab > [uncheck] "Exclude binary f‌iles from replace operation"

locate the path to your appmanifest_####.acf files on steam then Zip them all up for a backup!
after you've backed them alll up, copy that folders path,

In FAR, add that path to the Base Folder box.

[uncheck] include sub-folders.

in the file name pattern you put in ⋆.acf (you can also save this pattern for future searches if you want to. it's a text type.)

now click on Find.

and once it finds the list of your appmanafest_####.acf files, click on the replace tab at the top.

and where it shows a Find box put this in:
"AutoUpdateBehavior" "0"
and in the Replace box put this in:
"AutoUpdateBehavior" "1"

note that the above space between AutoUpdateBehavior and the number, has 2 TAB key presses. ((Just in case steam formats things funny when i post this.)) [[Edit: yeah steam formatted it funny.. compressed my 2 tabs into a single space. Doh!]]

Now click the Replace button at the bottom, and it will tell you in the top right how many files it's effected.

----

Running steam in offline mode should prevent everything from even searching for updates. But there are other guides out there to make sure steam won't query for update infos once this AutoUpdateBehavior is set.. if i find the page again ill link it here. I think it was a steamcommunity page.. pretty sure...


⋆⋆⋆oh yeah, and steams term for "AutoUpdateBehavior" is misleading. 0 means search, 1 means don't search unless the game is run. 2 or 3 means its detected its out of date or something and a update is pending. ⋆⋆⋆

i have over 1200 games on steam. and im windows7. It is almost 1/1/2024 so games won't be bothering to make their future updates safe for windows7, in like 3 days.. because steams support for win7 ends Monday! Its no-mans land after that... Steampocolypse!

PS don't bother with the debate about upgrading, in October the Microsoft upgrade window Closed for 7 users to upgrade to 10 or 11, and on 1/1/2025 10 also goes EOL. as of right now only 34% of computers world wide can even upgrade to windows 11. I'm not even going to dare try. Ill just go to "Atlas OS" or linuix, and run multiple images of windows, 7/10/11 at that point since its becoming a forced march of os instability, with no way to prevent it from going subscription when it wants to, thanks to forced auto updates. All under the 'guise' of "security vulnerabilities" pfft. That tune has been heard before, and its lyrics are "Erosion of ownership".

[John]

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