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This article will show you how to Fix “Steam Not Enough Disk Space” error. You will get the “You do not have enough disk space” error when installing or updating a game on Steam if the Steam client doesn’t find enough free space on the current download drive. Steam is a popular online gaming app that has been around since the late 1990s and now has more than 30 million active users all over the world. Even though it’s one of the most popular gaming platforms and lets users play thousands of games, it still has a lot of bugs. Valve works hard to fix new and annoying problems and release updates often.
Even if you have enough space on the current download drive, Steam may check another drive that is running out of space and show you this error message, even if you have enough space on the current download drive. This error may also show up if you are trying to update a game that needs more space but you don’t have much space left. However, some problems can’t be fixed with a quick update. One of them is a Fix “Steam Not Enough Disk Space” error.
What is Steam?
Steam is a platform and app for sharing video games online. It has features for social media and message boards for the community. It was made by Valve, which also made the games Half-Life, Counter Strike, and Left4Dead. It’s one of the most popular gaming platforms and works like a mix of an online store and a community hub.
The Steam app can be downloaded on Windows, Mac, and Linux. There is also a beta version for ChromeOS. The app lets you buy games and keep track of what you have. You’ll see your games and be able to play them, just like with a media player app. You’ll also see links to social features and forums. To use Steam, you need an account, which you can get for free. You can also get the Steam app for iPhone and Android, which lets you use Steam’s social features and buy games while you’re on the go. We’ll talk more about these features below.
What is the “not enough disk space” error?
Almost all PC gamers use Steam as their main gaming client, but even though it gets updated often, it still has problems from time to time. When you try to update a game, one frustrating thing can happen: Even though you have enough space on your hard drive, Steam cancels the download and gives you the NOT ENOUGH FREE DISK SPACE error. This error can happen if Steam can’t update the game because of something like a broken download or not enough writing access. Read on to learn about some things you can try to Fix “Steam Not Enough Disk Space” error.
Fix: “Steam Not Enough Disk Space” error
Clear Steam Download Cache
- Start Steam on your Windows computer.
- Tap Steam in the top left corner of the screen.
- From the drop-down menu, choose Settings.
- Go to the tab called Downloads.
- Click the button next to Clear Download Cache that says “Clear Cache.”
- Start Steam over.
Verify Integrity of Game Files
- Start the Steam program on your computer.
- Go to the tab called LIBRARY.
- Right-click on a game and choose “Properties” from the menu that comes up.
- Go to the tab on the left called “Installed Files.”
- Tap on Check the game files’ integrity.
Repair Steam Library Files
- Start Steam on your computer.
- Tap Steam in the top left corner of the screen.
- From the drop-down menu, choose Settings.
- Go to the tab for Storage.
- Tap the icon with three dots and then choose Repair Library Folder. (The icon should be next to the bar for storing items.)
Select a New Download Location
- Start Steam on your computer.
- Tap Steam in the upper left corner, then tap Settings.
- Go to the tab for Storage.
- Tap the “+” sign to add a folder to the library.
- You must choose a drive that has at least 200GB of free space. (Don’t choose a drive that has already been used).
Set a Default Download Folder
- Open the Steam app on your computer.
- Tap Steam in the upper-left corner of the screen and click Settings.
- Choose Storage from the list on the left.
- If it’s not already set, choose a default download folder.
- You should see “C:PROGRAM FILES (X86)STEAM” if the default download folder is already set. If it’s not already set, right-click on it and choose “Make this folder the default.” This should fix the problem.
Reinstall Steam
- Type “Control Panel” into the search box in Windows and hit “Enter.”
- Change the view to Small icons.
- Click the Programs and Features button.
- Select Uninstall when you right-click on Steam.
- To be sure, click Uninstall again.
Delete Partially Downloaded Game Files
- Ensure Steam is shut down.
- Press the Windows and X keys at the same time, then choose Task Manager.
- Right-click on services that have to do with Steam and choose End task.
- Perform the step above for each Steam process.
- Navigate to your computer’s Steam folder. It should be in the C:Program FilesSteam folder.
- Tap on the Steamapps folder inside the Steam folder.
- Access the location where the files are being saved.
- Remove the folder that might be the problem. If you don’t know which one to get rid of, press Ctrl + A and click Delete to get rid of them all.
- Restart your computer.
Causes of the “Steam not enough disk space” Error
- Most of the time, the error is caused by not enough space on the disk: When you try to download or update games, you will get this error if your hard drive or the partition where Steam is installed doesn’t have enough free space.
- Fragmented Disk: When files on your hard drive are spread out in different places, this is called fragmentation. If your hard drive is very fragmented, Steam may not have enough space to download or update games. This can cause the error.
- Incorrect Steam Library Location: You will get the error if the default Steam library location or a custom library location you set is on a drive that doesn’t have enough free space. During the download and installation process, Steam needs enough space to store temporary files.
- Steam Game Cache: The game cache is a place where temporary files are stored. These files are made when a game is updated. If the game cache gets too big or gets broken, it can take up a lot of disk space, which can cause the error.
- Anti-virus or Firewall Settings: Sometimes, the way your anti-virus or firewall is set up can get in the way of how Steam works, like how it handles disk space. If your settings are too strict, Steam might not be able to get to the disk space it needs, causing the error.
Conclusion
We had a lot of trouble with the Steam “not enough disk space” message. We couldn’t get the updates for our games, so we didn’t play any games for a whole week. There are many reasons for this, from a small software bug to a Steam folder that isn’t working right. You don’t have to worry too much, though, because there are many good ways to fix the problem.
Questions and Answers
There could be hidden or virtual memory files taking up space, and you need to delete the files on the virtual partition. It’s also possible that your disk format doesn’t allow you to do what you want. If the format is FAT32, you can’t write files that are bigger than 4GB.
A Steam account doesn’t have a limit on how much cloud save data it can have. Each game has its own limit, though. But you don’t need to worry about it most of the time. The majority of games will never get that far.
If your disk is full in Windows 10, the problem could be caused by Windows or any number of other programs. There are many things that can cause this, like Windows Superfetch, a virus or other malware, or drivers or firmware that are too old. Often, your problem will be caused by more than one thing.
Why doesn’t the external hard drive show the full amount of space? Most of the time, this is because the hard drive was set up with the wrong partition table. We know that the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table can’t handle more than 2TB of disk space.22-