Does anyone know how to stop steam opening when you open a game?

[Scrudgie]

I find it an inconvenience when the steam window boots up steam when the game is opened. How do I fix this?

[Crazy Tiger]

If the game devs have applied the Steam DRM, obviously Steam will get opened when you boot the game.

Unless I'm misunderstanding things.

[Kule02]

I have the same exact question. The way it used to work is that when running a game from an exe on the desktop, Steam booted silently in the background. The way it works now is that Steam boots fully on the desktop and then the advertising window and then the game. So you can't just boot a game and play it, Valve is forcing you to see their advertising.

[Iceira]

Recheck startup location.

many setting has been reset after the update, so things can work with new settings you set.

[Kule02]

I disabled the pop-up advert by turning off 'Settings > Interface > Notify me about additions...' which helps a bit, but it's still annoying that Steam opens on the desktop rather than minimized.

[SinnerSinner]

more stupid crap from the so called smart people nevermind steam has hijack all notions of a hard copy but now totally ruined gaming for me as microsoft and other have turned my computer into there computer wich i now have little control of and has basicly become a giant marketing box for thing i have no desire to even what to see when i started computing in the 90 windows and these 3rd party crap programs where something to delete from the hard drive now i cant play a game without them big middle finger you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!!

[Kule02]

There might be a better way of doing this, but this is working for me. You'll need AutoHotKey 2.0. Make a new script and delete the contents and paste the script below. Then put the script in the same folder as the game exe, and make a shortcut of the script on your desktop. When the script runs, it will start the game and minimize Steam. Steam tries to maximize itself again after being minimized, so the script runs a second time to minimize it again. This can look a bit glitchy, but it only happens for a split second.

Replace 'game.exe' with the title of the game's exe.

edit: I just realise the news pop-up window breaks the script. Disable it by turning off 'Notify me about additions...' in Settings > Interface

#Requires AutoHotkey v2

SetTitleMatchMode 3
run "game.exe"

count := 0
loop {
    if (winActive("Steam")) {
        MinMax := WinGetMinMax("Steam") 
        if (MinMax = 0 or MinMax = 1) {
            WinMinimize "Steam"
            count += 1
        }
    }
    if count = 2 {
        break
    }
}

processClose "autohotkey.exe"
ExitApp

[Scrudgie]

I decided to use this link in order to downgrade steam version and thus not have to deal with the GUI or the steam booting up: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/6516193260168294059/#c6516193260168358018
It can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around this solution but it can be achieved.

However, i do like your workaround.

Originally posted by neonsquare:

There might be a better way of doing this, but this is working for me. You'll need AutoHotKey 2.0. Make a new script and delete the contents and paste the script below. Then put the script in the same folder as the game exe, and make a shortcut of the script on your desktop. When the script runs, it will start the game and minimize Steam. Steam tries to maximize itself again after being minimized, so the script runs a second time to minimize it again. This can look a bit glitchy, but it only happens for a split second.

Replace 'game.exe' with the title of the game's exe.

#Requires AutoHotkey v2

SetTitleMatchMode 3
run "game.exe"

count := 0
loop {
    if (winActive("Steam")) {
        MinMax := WinGetMinMax("Steam") 
        if (MinMax = 0 or MinMax = 1) {
            WinMinimize "Steam"
            count += 1
        }
    }
    if count = 2 {
        break
    }
}

processClose "autohotkey.exe"
ExitApp

[psikofunkster]

Hope they fix this.

[Kule02]

Originally posted by Scrudgie:

I decided to use this link in order to downgrade steam version and thus not have to deal with the GUI or the steam booting up: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/6516193260168294059/#c6516193260168358018
It can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around this solution but it can be achieved.

However, i do like your workaround.

Thanks for the link. It's weird that Valve changed this, since if you're booting a game from your desktop, you specifically did it to avoid opening Steam. Hopefully it's an oversight and they change it back.

I think I'm going to stick with the new UI and hope that they fix it. I don't use the Steam UI much, so other changes don't bother me, it was just this one in particular.

[Kule02]

Here's a better version of the script. The last one would fail because the steam client reopens when other steam windows open, like the news window or friends. This new script loops and closes all windows until the game becomes the active window.

Replace 'game.exe' with the title of your game's exe.

#Requires AutoHotkey v2

SetTitleMatchMode 3

game := "game.exe"
run game

loop {
    if (WinExist("Sign in to Steam")) {
        WinMinimize
    }
    if (WinExist("Steam")) {
        WinMinimize
    }
    if (WinExist("Special Offers")) {
        WinMinimize
    }
    if (WinExist("Friends List")) {
        WinMinimize
    }
    if (WinActive("ahk_exe" . " " . game)) {
        break
    }
}

processClose "autohotkey.exe"
ExitApp

[bigmonk]

Steam has a major problem with its store page popping open and screwing up the gaming experience and the solution is typing code into your computer from a stranger?
If it's a sales technique to make people not want to buy anything from Steam, it's sure working for me.

[SpyGRNtiger2021]

@neonsquare
I am having the same problem since installing the update yesterday. Super annoying - I tried changing the properties for steam to 'run minimized' but it seems that you might have to do that everytime you open up your game.

[Zedna]

Why do we even solve this? Steam should fix it, done!

[Igrovets]

Regarding the launch of Steam at the Windows start immediately in the tray:
Registry Editor (run as administrator)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Name steam - edit value data
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" --no-startup-window -silent

[Armi]

I have the same problem. It's very annoying to have to see steam ads every time I open a game for the first time! I start looking for options to open the game without having to invoke steam...
Btw I also can't tolerate steam opening every time I restart my computer, so the solution above doesn't apply to me