"steamwebhelper.exe" not responding no matter what

[DieVirulenz]

Hi there,

a friend of mine has been having constant issues with "steamwebhelper.exe" not responding and so far nothing we came up with worked at all.

Here is a list of things we tried:

- Restarting Steam when it happens leads to the same issue
- Starting Steam with the "-no-browser" option
- Reinstalling steam (both to the default location and on a different harddrive)
- Restarting the webhelper with both GPU acceleration and sandboxing disabled
- Deleting "steamwebhelper.exe" and having Steam redownload it
- Clearing steam browser and download caches (both via menu and filesystem)
- Opting for STEAM Beta client
- Adding the "steamwebhelper.exe" and the whole steam folder to the Windows Defender Exceptions list
- Checked firewall settings for steam
- We replaced the RAM (16GB) as we thought it might have been the issue, which it wasnt

Some additional notes:
- There is no additional Antivirus on the system which is Windows 10 and up to date
- When starting the PC and waiting a while so all services come up the error occurs. Starting steam right after being on the desktop seems to work, but we could not identify any services that might cause the issue
- The issue has been going on for a while
- After the dialogue for the non responsive "steamwebhelper.exe" the main Steam window opens but browser and Friends list wont show up

We have been browsing the web up and down and saw a lot of these issues occur but so far no fix seems to remedy it.

So any input regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[VOID]

Originally posted by loonis:

Good luck with that ticket.

The support person pretty much closed the ticket as "Solved" and called it a job well done... Despite offering no fixes on their end.

I still hope the information makes its way to the dev team.

I will reopen the ticket if the error pops up again though.

[Unkrass]

Originally posted by Cosa Nostra:

Ready for the REAL FIX, OP?

Well here it is:

Go to this location below:

(drive letter where Steam is installed on):\Steam\userdata\118693378\config\librarycache and delete achievement_progress.json

If this file is over say 400KB+ (mine was at 8999KB), this is your issue and delete it when Steam is not running.

If Steam Client in Task Manager is taking up 1.1GB+ of RAM, this is 100% the issue/fix.

When Steam starts it will make a new file. The file is simply recording achievements that have been completed and when a user has a lot of games, this file can add up a lot of useless information when it is bugged and not clearing itself out.

This file causes a few issues such as high RAM usage, library view stuttering, Steam Webhelper not running, Steam infinite restart loops, and Steam Library Home not loading/failing to start.

Take my advice, you will not regret it, capisce?

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ legend! This fixed it for me

[RandomTurtle]

Originally posted by Cosa Nostra:

Ready for the REAL FIX, OP?

Well here it is:

Go to this location below:

(drive letter where Steam is installed on):\Steam\userdata\118693378\config\librarycache and delete achievement_progress.json

If this file is over say 400KB+ (mine was at 8999KB), this is your issue and delete it when Steam is not running.

If Steam Client in Task Manager is taking up 1.1GB+ of RAM, this is 100% the issue/fix.

When Steam starts it will make a new file. The file is simply recording achievements that have been completed and when a user has a lot of games, this file can add up a lot of useless information when it is bugged and not clearing itself out.

This file causes a few issues such as high RAM usage, library view stuttering, Steam Webhelper not running, Steam infinite restart loops, and Steam Library Home not loading/failing to start.

Take my advice, you will not regret it, capisce?

This worked. The only thing I would say is the path is slightly different for everyone:

(drive letter where Steam is installed on):\Steam\userdata\(Account ID)\config\librarycache and delete achievement_progress.json

But yes, my achievement progress json was at 82,691KB and I would notice in task manager that Steam Webhelper would crash after reaching over ~4,000MB in memory used.

____________________________________________

Also it probably goes without saying that deleting this file does not delete your achievement progress. All your achievements remain on you profile. All thyis does is fix the problem you may be having.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by RandomTurtle01:

Originally posted by Cosa Nostra:

Ready for the REAL FIX, OP?

Well here it is:

Go to this location below:

(drive letter where Steam is installed on):\Steam\userdata\118693378\config\librarycache and delete achievement_progress.json

If this file is over say 400KB+ (mine was at 8999KB), this is your issue and delete it when Steam is not running.

If Steam Client in Task Manager is taking up 1.1GB+ of RAM, this is 100% the issue/fix.

When Steam starts it will make a new file. The file is simply recording achievements that have been completed and when a user has a lot of games, this file can add up a lot of useless information when it is bugged and not clearing itself out.

This file causes a few issues such as high RAM usage, library view stuttering, Steam Webhelper not running, Steam infinite restart loops, and Steam Library Home not loading/failing to start.

Take my advice, you will not regret it, capisce?

This worked. The only thing I would say is the path is slightly different for everyone:

(drive letter where Steam is installed on):\Steam\userdata\(Account ID)\config\librarycache and delete achievement_progress.json

But yes, my achievement progress json was at 82,691KB and I would notice in task manager that Steam Webhelper would crash after reaching over ~4,000MB in memory used.

The folder seemingly, what I can gather, is the folder directly below folder "0".

But I guess having more than one attached account can muck things up a bit more and then to find the proper Steam ID's.

Each folder has a working .JSON which is also seemingly nonsensical.

[76561198965451260]

I’m having this issue. Tried uninstalling steam, updating drivers. Looked for the files but weren’t there. Even chrome won’t run for me. Please help!

[almond-110]

Originally posted by Danii.Ram92:

I’m having this issue. Tried uninstalling steam, updating drivers. Looked for the files but weren’t there. Even chrome won’t run for me. Please help!

Same ♥♥♥♥ is happening. Also cant enter on chrome. Thanks god firefox is still working and i can write something on forum.

[bidulless]

Originally posted by almond-110:

Originally posted by Danii.Ram92:

I’m having this issue. Tried uninstalling steam, updating drivers. Looked for the files but weren’t there. Even chrome won’t run for me. Please help!

Same ♥♥♥♥ is happening. Also cant enter on chrome. Thanks god firefox is still working and i can write something on forum.

hello
You can't run chrome too ?
So the problem is not only steam ?

[almond-110]

Originally posted by bidulless:

Originally posted by almond-110:

Same ♥♥♥♥ is happening. Also cant enter on chrome. Thanks god firefox is still working and i can write something on forum.

hello
You can't run chrome too ?
So the problem is not only steam ?

Hello. Chrome is not running some websites (in my case), not only steam. I heard steamwebhelper also uses chrome engine or something like this. Guess problem can be more complex than we can expect...

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by almond-110:

Originally posted by bidulless:

hello
You can't run chrome too ?
So the problem is not only steam ?

Hello. Chrome is not running some websites (in my case), not only steam. I heard steamwebhelper also uses chrome engine or something like this. Guess problem can be more complex than we can expect...

On the contrary, most solutions are very simple and basic; although, sometimes overlooked.

[dalii]

that cool

[bidulless]

Originally posted by almond-110:

Originally posted by bidulless:

hello
You can't run chrome too ?
So the problem is not only steam ?

Hello. Chrome is not running some websites (in my case), not only steam. I heard steamwebhelper also uses chrome engine or something like this. Guess problem can be more complex than we can expect...

hello
ARe you saying that even your chrome browser is not running ?
I guess you are running w10+ it will be hard for me to guide you in order to check if you have windows firewall running and check it rules as i am under w7 ...
But i guess you should start checking this side first imo.

[almond-110]

Originally posted by bidulless:

Originally posted by almond-110:

Hello. Chrome is not running some websites (in my case), not only steam. I heard steamwebhelper also uses chrome engine or something like this. Guess problem can be more complex than we can expect...

hello
ARe you saying that even your chrome browser is not running ?
I guess you are running w10+ it will be hard for me to guide you in order to check if you have windows firewall running and check it rules as i am under w7 ...
But i guess you should start checking this side first imo.

I use windows 10, i open chrome browser and it cant load websites steamcommunity, steampowered and some more. Steam application (steam.exe) also cant run. But i can open steamcommunity on Mozila FIrefox and Microsoft Edge. So i guess problem is about chrome engine because steam app (webhelper) also uses it. I also tried every or almost every tip from this thread (firewall, dns, delete some fire, reinstall etc) and another tips from internet. And result is just nothing.

[cadmiummangantellurid]

Steamwebhelper problems upon steam start I have too on my Steam for Linux account (there it's of courrse not steamwebhelper.exe but the corresponding code) ... none of the five options of the dialog box which opens after steamwebhelper error does resolve the problem... starting steam in debug node leads to some inconsistencies regarding OSes imported library dependencies and steam runtime provided dependencies... like in my case on Slackware Linux the steamwebhelper had some problems with my 'pulseaudio' libraries (which I don't think is very distribution specific since on another Linux computer with Ubuntu the corresponding libraries are found in the same subdirectories of the systems main library directory)... so I think it is a main problem with the import of dependencies, may it be from C:\Windows\system or C:\Windows\SysWOW64 or /usr/lib or /usr/lib64 (optional LFH)...

steamwebhelper 'encapsulating' web transfer by sandboxing the web stuff may be a noble task in terms of securing the web traffic, but it has to make sure that the OSes system libraries 'imported' don't have 'broken links'...

[bidulless]

Originally posted by almond-110:

Originally posted by bidulless:

hello
ARe you saying that even your chrome browser is not running ?
I guess you are running w10+ it will be hard for me to guide you in order to check if you have windows firewall running and check it rules as i am under w7 ...
But i guess you should start checking this side first imo.

I use windows 10, i open chrome browser and it cant load websites steamcommunity, steampowered and some more. Steam application (steam.exe) also cant run. But i can open steamcommunity on Mozila FIrefox and Microsoft Edge. So i guess problem is about chrome engine because steam app (webhelper) also uses it. I also tried every or almost every tip from this thread (firewall, dns, delete some fire, reinstall etc) and another tips from internet. And result is just nothing.

hello

Are you using some special av and not microsoft original av ?
And can you open a command line line and
Ping store.steampowered.com
ping steamcommunity.com
and ping community.cloudflare.steamstatic.com
there is another one but i think it change from region to region

[almond-110]

Originally posted by bidulless:

Originally posted by almond-110:

I use windows 10, i open chrome browser and it cant load websites steamcommunity, steampowered and some more. Steam application (steam.exe) also cant run. But i can open steamcommunity on Mozila FIrefox and Microsoft Edge. So i guess problem is about chrome engine because steam app (webhelper) also uses it. I also tried every or almost every tip from this thread (firewall, dns, delete some fire, reinstall etc) and another tips from internet. And result is just nothing.

hello

Are you using some special av and not microsoft original av ?
And can you open a command line line and
Ping store.steampowered.com
ping steamcommunity.com
and ping community.cloudflare.steamstatic.com
there is another one but i think it change from region to region

I use original windows defentder, no special av. All pings to these sites are ok.