Game suddenly turned grey in library

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Syn Sep 27, 2015 @ 10:46am

Game suddenly turned grey in library

I played Batman AC just a few hours ago and then now it's greyed out on my library..
it wants me to install the whole game again..

I checked my game directory and the filles are still there, i tried to log out/log in but it's still grey..
has anyone experienced this problem? :S

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Showing 1-13 of 13 comments

SPG Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:04am

try verifying the files

Syn Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:14am

the verify button is also greyed out because steam identified the game as "not installed"

SPG Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:19am

Try install button to see if steam recognizes the files. You can always stop it if it looks like it's going to install the complete game again.

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

ajoshi Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:38am

Were your games not installed in the standard Steam installation directory? If so...

DO NOT reinstall. Steam isn't as smart as people here seem to think. I tried that, and now one of my games needs to be fully reinstalled. Instead you need to go in and re-add your downloads folder in settings. I did that and all my grayed out games are back (except for the one I reinstalled like an idiot).

Edit: False freakout- the game is being recognized after a restart. Steam just freaked out. Phew. So I guess there is no harm in trying to reinstall as long as you stop it and delete the 'local files' when the install keeps going on.

Edit 2: So it seems that Steam forgot secondary installation folders, and any games installed in those folders are unrecognized.

Last edited by ajoshi; Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:43am

SPG Sep 27, 2015 @ 11:58am

The simplest first thing to do when Steam is misbehaving is to manually shut it down and restart. The second simplest thing to do is to shut it down and then restart your computer.

If those don't work, then you can start looking elsewhere for the problem. Steam often behaves wierdly especially during maintenance times which are Tuesdays and Sundays.

ajoshi Sep 27, 2015 @ 12:35pm

To be clear, (in my case) restarting didn't help until I readded the installation folders. Then restarting was helpful in getting me back the one game I was reinstalling. That said, in general 'restart and see if it still happens' is solid advice.

Syn Sep 28, 2015 @ 5:41pm

I tried to install it again and steam is trying to regognize the files of the game, finally it's coming back ahah

thank you so much for the help guys

Quake. Feb 7, 2018 @ 10:40am

I'm having the same problem, and I just Resolved it by starting the Install on one of my greyed games, however one of my other games is too large to begin the Install, what do I do now?

Quindarious Gooch Oct 27, 2018 @ 3:01pm

Originally posted by Quake.:
I'm having the same problem, and I just Resolved it by starting the Install on one of my greyed games, however one of my other games is too large to begin the Install, what do I do now?

unfortunately you will just have to uninstall games to make room for it.

Nato Feb 10, 2023 @ 2:11am

found a simple solution; enter big picture mode and then exit and should be fixed

#10

Ron Burgundy Jan 19, 2024 @ 2:02pm

what worked for me was to check to see if my drives were in my storage page in the steam settings. They weren't so i just re added them back and every game came back from being grey'd out. hope it helps

#11