Steam won't launch... at all (2020 M1 MacBook Pro; MacOS Monterey, 12.0.1) SOLVED!

[Kara]

Hi all, I've really tried digging around for solutions for this one but I'm coming up short. Searched the subreddit, Google, Steam forums, etc.

As it says in the title, I'm running Steam on a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro with MacOS Monterey, v. 12.0.1. I have never had any problems running Steam before, and I've been using this computer since December 2020. I have been using Steam to (successfully!) play games very often the past month, but suddenly, I cannot open Steam at all anymore. It says that my last play was on September 9 with a game I've been playing for over a month with no problems.
Whenever I launch Steam, the icon bounces in the taskbar like it's working on launching. It will sometimes show the update download, but not often. After a while it'll stop bouncing but will not have any windows open. The whole time, it will say that the application is not responding, and I'll have to force quit.

Here's what I've already tried: Restarting my computer, force quitting Steam (I have to do this every time I try to launch it), force quitting Steam via the Activity Monitor, checking accessibility permissions, trying to manually update Steam by launching "stem_osx" via the Terminal, and of course, uninstalling and reinstalling Steam (using the method where I delete everything except the games according to the Steam Support FAQs). I have not updated my OS; I wasn't sure if that would be the best idea, given that Steam had been running fine on the one I've had for a while, and newer OSes aren't always supported.

I am really stumped. I figured a reinstall would fix things. I'm trying to think what I may have done in the past few days to trigger this. I logged in and out a couple of times to sync a friend's save that had used my computer, but that shouldn't be an issue. The only other thing is that last week, I downloaded and installed "Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi" and installed 07th-mod for it, at my friend's insistence. We had a little trouble getting it configured, but the game ran fine, and I used Steam after it. That was on September 5th. I also can't find any record of other people having had their Steam access impacted by 07th-mod, but it can be hard to find Mac stuff.
I've tried to be specific and comprehensive here but tell me if there's any other info I should provide! I'm hoping there's a minimally invasive solution, but let me know! There's nothing else I've installed or done differently with my computer the past few days.

Edit: Upgraded my OS. Problem solved.

[Zardoz]

Steam gets updated all the time, so it could be something in one of the updates that broke it. I would upgrade your Monterey to the latest version. 12.0.1 is pretty old by now, and you're better off getting the latest security and bug fix updates. Do a time machine backup before you update though.

[Kara]

Thanks for the response! I'll give that a shot. Support told me to uninstall and reinstall... which I have already done, and had said that.

[Kara]

It took 100 years (should have updated sooner!) but upgrading my Mac has seemed to solve the problem. Steam opened, made me register the computer to my account (probably since I'd reinstalled it), and we're back in business. I hope you have the best weekend ever, Zardoz.

Originally posted by Zardoz:

Steam gets updated all the time, so it could be something in one of the updates that broke it. I would upgrade your Monterey to the latest version. 12.0.1 is pretty old by now, and you're better off getting the latest security and bug fix updates. Do a time machine backup before you update though.