Steam: download very slow - what to do?
Especially for the Steam Summer Sale you want to download bargains quickly. If the download of Steam games such as GTA 5 is very slow, this can have various causes. You can find out what these are and how you can speed up the download here.
GTA 5 download too slow: How to download games faster
Ideally, games download from Steam at the maximum available speed of your internet connection - in practice, however, this is not always the case. With blockbusters such as GTA 5 in particular, the download rate tends to drop. You can try the following:
- Visit the website www.initiative-netzqualitaet.de and carry out a so-called broadband test. In this way you can determine whether your Internet connection is currently reaching the available connection speed.
- Make sure that no other application is transferring large amounts of data over the Internet while downloading a game on Steam. This also applies to other computers, tablets or smartphones that are in the same (home) network. An HD video on YouTube, for example, can limit the bandwidth considerably.
- Check if there is a download limit in Steam settings. To do this, first click on "Steam" in the menu bar of the client and then on "Settings". Make sure that there is no download restriction period and no download bandwidth restriction in the Downloads area.
- In many cases, it can also help to choose a different download server. You will find the corresponding option if you click on "Steam" in the menu bar and then on "Settings". You can change the download region in the "Downloads" area. The closest server location is selected by default, but this does not always have to be the fastest. This server may also be busy while another is still freeing up enough capacity.
- Steam stores the location information for the downloads in the ClientRegistry.blob file. Rebuilding this file can improve download speed. All you have to do is close the Steam client and rename the file, for example in "ClientRegistryOld.blob". Steam will then recreate the file the next time it is started. You can find the file in the installation directory of the software.
- Note: The download speed always depends on the server capacity. If many players load via a server at the same time, this can slow down your download. This happens particularly quickly with long-awaited game blockbusters like GTA 5. In such a case, the only thing that helps: wait and bridge the time with another game.
If your Steam games jerky after downloading, you should follow the tips in our next practice tip.