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How to Start Steam in Of ine Mode

By Kevin Arrows  • June 27, 2018 0  7 minutes read

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Steam requires an internet connection if you want to play any game’s multiplayer or play online against friends.
There are dedicated servers allocated in each region. You connect to the region nearest to you and the algorithm
   sets up matchmaking according to the people who are also connected to that server.
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Steam also has an option of an offline mode where you can play the games which are installed offline against bots
or you can pursue the single player campaigns available. There are many cases where Steam fails to enter the
offline mode. There is also a fact that Steam doesn’t allow the usage of offline mode for consecutive 2 weeks
unless you connect with the internet. It has a type of timer and after 2 weeks, you cannot access the offline mode.

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Working On 500 Mn. Devices Before we continue, I would like to clarify that these solutions are meant to work IF you have your credentials
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checked the correct box; if you have, you can follow the solutions listed below.
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Solution 1: Change the date
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Like we mentioned before, Steam has a date counter. After it is over, you have to connect to the internet to reset it
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again. Many users reported that changing the date to a week earlier on their PC solved the problem and they we
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able to launch the offline mode with ease. This solution may or may not work, but, it is worth a shot before
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resorting to more technical methods.
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Opt for Quality Assurance 1. Press Windows + R button to launch the Run application. In the dialogue box type “ms-settings:”. This will
 By Sarmad Burki  1 day ago launch the Settings applications.
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2. Once in the Settings application, look for the option named “Time & Language”. It should be somewhere in
the middle.

3. After clicking the option, you will be taken to the Date and Time menu. By default, your pc will have “Set
time automatically” and “Set time zone automatically” checked. Uncheck them and click on the option
which says “Change date and time”.

4. After you click Change, a new window will pop up where you can change the date as well as time. Change
the date to one week or a few days early and save changes.

5. Launch your Task Manager by pressing ⊞ Win + R button. This should launch the Run application.

In the dialogue box write “taskmgr”. This should open up the task manager.

6. End all Steam related processes starting from the process ‘Steam Client BootStrapper’. If there are no Steam
processes active already, proceed to the next step.

7. Re-launch Steam. If your Steam is able to start in offline mode, well and good. If not, resort to the other
solutions listed below.

Solution 2: Opening from main game folder

Another remedy is to open the game you are playing directly from its installation folder. We can try bypassing the
Steam client and force the game to open without the internet connection.

1. Open your Steam directory. The default location of it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam. Or if you installed
Steam in another directory, you can browse to that directory and you will be good to go.

2. Navigate into the following folders

Steamapps<common

3. Now you will see different games which are installed in your PC. Select the game in which Steam overlay isn’t
working.

4. When inside the game folder, open the folder named “game”. When inside the folder, open another folder
named “bin”. Now you will see two folders named win32 and win64. Open win32 if your computer has a 32-
bit configuration or win64 if it has a 64-bit configuration.

The final address of would look something like this.

5. Here you will the game’s main launcher for example like “dota2.exe”. Right click it and select the option Run
as administrator. Check if the game gets launched in offline mode.

Solution 3: Checking if “remember me” is enabled

Another reason why you may be unable to launch Steam in offline mode can be because you didn’t check the
“remember me” tag while logging into Steam. For this solution, we need access to the internet so we can login
into Steam the correct way and check if the offline mode launches or not.

1. Log out of Steam by clicking on the option of “Change User” present if you click your account title on the
top.

2. After clicking the option, you will be given a login screen where you have to enter your credentials. After
inputting your credentials, check the box which says Remember my password. Click the button Login.

3. Click on the Library tab present on the top. Here all your installed games will be listed. We need to verify the
integrity of game files to make sure that all the files are complete and don’t require any further updates.

4. Right click on the game which you want to play and select Properties.

5. Once in the properties, browse to the Local Files tab and click on the option which says Verify Integrity of
Game Files. Steam will then start verifying all the files present according to the main manifest it has. If there
is any file missing/corrupted, it will download that files again and replace it accordingly.

6. Now navigate to your Settings by pressing the Settings option after clicking Steam present in the bottom left
corner of the screen. Once in the Settings, open the Downloads tab present at the left side of the interface.

7. Here you will see a box in which it is written “Steam Library Folders”. Click it

8. All your steam content information will be listed. Right click on it and select “Repair Library Files”.

9. Restart Steam and open it using Run as administrator. Open and play the game to ensure that it is working
properly.

10. Now click on Steam present in the upper right corner of the screen and select Settings again. Navigate to the
Account tab Look towards the bottom and you will see a check box like this.

11. Make sure that this checkbox is unchecked. If it is checked, your Steam will not enter offline mode through
anyway.

12. Now click on the Steam menu present in the top left corner of the screen and select Go Offline. You will be
able to go into offline mode immediately.

Solution 4: Adding –of ine to your Steam shortcut

This method worked for the majority of the people. It manipulates the shortcut of Steam and adds a command
line parameter in its properties.

1. Locate your Steam client. The default location is C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam.

2. Create a shortcut of Steam in the same directory.

3. Click ‘Properties’ and head over to the ‘General’ tab.

4. In the ‘Target’ dialogue box, add ‘offline’ in the end. The final result looks like this “C:\Program Files
(x86)\Steam\Steam.exe”-offline

5. Open task manager and end all Steam processes like explained above.

6. Re-launch Steam using the shortcut and click Go Offline by clicking Steam located on the top left side of the
client.

Solution 5: Checking your Firewall and Antivirus

It is a very common reality that your firewall and antivirus software conflicts with Steam. Steam has a lot of
processes going on at once to ensure that your gaming experience is nothing but the best. However, many
antivirus software mark these processes as potential threats and quarantine them resulting in some
processes/applications not working. We have put together a guide on how to put steam as an exception in
antivirus. Follow the steps here.

For disabling the Windows Firewall, follow the steps listed below.

1. Press Windows + R button to bring up the Run application. In the dialogue box type “control”. This will open
your computer’s control panel in front of you.

2. On the top right there will be a dialogue box to search. Write firewall and click on the first option that comes
as a result.

3. Now at the left side, click the option which says “Turn Windows firewall on or off”. Through this, you can
turn your firewall off easily.

4. Select the option of “Turn off Windows Firewall” on both the tabs, Public and Private Networks. Save
changes and exit. Restart Steam and launch it using the option Run as administrator.

Solution 6: Making a steam.cfg le

Although we are highly aware that some people can mess up their entire Steam installation by resorting to very
technical methods, we will try our best to help you guide through this solution. In this remedy, we will make a
steam.cfg file and add the parameters so Steam is forced to open in offline mode. Please note if your credentials
are not saved in Steam, this method won’t work. In fact, if you don’t have your credentials saved (by checking the
box Remember password on login window), there is no way around it. You have to get internet connection and
check the box which says Remember my password.

1. Navigate to your Steam directory. The default location for your directory is

C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam. Or if you have Steam installed in another location, you can browse to that
directory.

2. Once in the directory, create a new .txt file either by right clicking on the white empty space, or selecting
New option present in the upper left corner of the screen.

3. Once you have created the .txt file, open and write the following lines into it exactly.

BootStrapperInhibitAll=enable

ForceOfflineMode=enable

Make sure that these are on separate lines.

4. Save changes and exit. Rename the .txt file as “steam.cfg”. Press ok and exit.

5. Now start Steam and hopefully, you will be taken into offline mode.

Note: If you ever want to go to online again, you have to delete this file. What this .txt does is force Steam to open
into offline mode, even if there is an internet connection present. You have to remove it and restart your computer
if you wish to go online again. There is no remedy for this. Do read this carefully or you will be stuck/will have to
reinstall Steam again.

Final Solution: Refreshing Steam les

If the error still persists at this stage, we have no choice but to refresh Steam files. Refreshing Steam files will
reinstall Steam on your computer again. We will delete some of the configuration folders to ensure that they get
renewed upon the installation and all the bad files get removed.

Please note that any interruption during the copy process will corrupt the files and you will have to re-download
the entire content over again. Only proceed with this solution if you are sure that your computer won’t be
interrupted.

6. Navigate to your Steam directory. The default location for your directory is

C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam.

7. Locate the following files and folders:

Userdata                                      (folder)

Steam.exe                                    (Application)

Steamapps                                    (folder- only preserve the files of other games in it)

The userdata folder contains all the data of your gameplay. We don’t need to delete it. Furthermore, inside
Steamapps, you will have to search for the game that is giving you problem and only delete that folder. The other
files located contain the installation and game files of other games you have installed.

However, if there all the games are giving you problems, we suggest that you skip deleting Steamapps folder and
proceed with the following step.

8. Delete all other files/folders (except the ones mentioned above) and restart your computer.

9. Re-launch Steam using administrator privileges and hopefully, it will start updating itself. After the update is
complete, it will run as expected.

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