All the games you own appear in the Library section of the Steam client on your computer. So you can easily click on the next game you want to install and play. But what if Steam Library shows a black screen when you try to open it? That problem could be one of those weird Steam problems. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason as it could be caused by a problem with your GPU, corrupted game files, or even the Steam client.
Luckily, you won’t have to go through major changes to see the list of games you own in your Steam Library. We will share working methods to fix Steam library black screen issue on Windows 11. So let’s get started.
1. Check Steam Server Status
Before making any changes, you should check that the Steam server is online. Assuming the Steam server is under maintenance or experiencing any technical issues, the Steam client on your computer may be experiencing issues. The client will not show you the game library or allow you to install, remove, or download any games.
To check the Steam server status, visit the DownDetector website and search for Steam. There you will see any ongoing issues with the Steam client. In addition, you can access Steam’s Twitter account and look for any server maintenance related updates.
If the Steam server is down or experiencing any issues, you’ll need to wait until the server is back online. However, if everything is fine with the server, continue with other solutions.
2. Launch Steam with Admin Rights
Steam requires an internet connection to perform most of its operations, and you will need to run it with administrator privileges. Granting administrator permissions allows the application to manage the network and access system files that are normally restricted.
Lack of administrative rights may cause the application to not function properly and limit some information. So you can change the properties of the shortcut to make it launch Steam as administrator every time you click it. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Right-click on the Steam client shortcut on your computer and select Properties from the context menu.
Step 2: Click the Advanced button.
Step 3: Check the Run as administrator option and click OK.
Step 4: Click Apply and then OK to save the changes.
Next, launch the Steam client and check if you can access the Library section.
3. Close similar apps from background
Steam may not work properly if another app like Epic Games Launcher is running in the background. So close any similar running apps from background and check if it solves the problem. Follow the instructions below to do that:
Step 1: Press the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + Escape to open the Task Manager.
Step 2: Right-click on any game distribution service application like Epic Games Launcher or Origin and select End task from the context menu.
4. Clear cache and web browser data on Steam
Steam has a built-in browser to display more details about the game. Naturally, it also stores cache data that can get corrupted for various reasons. And when there’s a mismatch between the cached data and the actual game data on the game page, you might not see anything in the Steam client. To fix that, you can clear the Steam browser cache data. You can do that by following these steps:
Step 1: Launch the Steam client on your computer, click Steam in the top left corner and select Settings from the context menu.
Step 2: In the Settings window, select Web browser from the left sidebar.
Step 3: Click the ‘Clear web browser data’ button in the right pane.
Step 4: Click OK to confirm your selection.
Next, restart the Steam client and check for the problem. Besides clearing browser data, you can also clear Steam cache data. Similar to web data, Steam cache data can also be corrupted to cause the current problem.
To clear the Steam cache data, navigate to the Steam installation folder, select the appcache folder, and press the Shift + Delete keyboard shortcut to clear it.
5. Update Graphics Driver
Sometimes older graphics drivers may not work well with the latest Steam client build. You should download the latest graphics driver updates on your computer, especially if you avoid updating those drivers frequently. Users of older Windows versions can refer to our guide on updating graphics drivers on Windows 10. For those using Windows 11, here’s how you can easily update drivers. Graphics on your computer:
Step 1: Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
Step 2: Double-click the Display Adapters button to expand it.
Step 3: Right-click on the graphics driver and select Update driver.
Step 4: Select ‘Automatically search for drivers.’
That will cause Windows to search for the latest graphics driver for your computer. If it finds any, it will automatically install it.
You can also visit the official website of the graphics card manufacturer (such as NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) and download the update from there.
6. Customize Steam Settings
Steam offers a ton of settings that you can customize to your liking. However, certain settings may not work well together and cause black screen issues.
As a solution, make the following changes in Steam settings and check if it makes any difference.
Step 1: Launch the Steam client on your computer, click Steam in the top left corner and select Settings from the context menu.
Step 2: Select Library from the left sidebar.
Step 3: In the Gallery section, uncheck the box next to Low Bandwidth Mode. Also, select the radio button next to Auto in the ‘Display size for Gallery UI elements’ section.
Step 4: Select Appearance from the left sidebar.
Step 5: In the Appearance section, use the drop-down under the ‘Select the skin you want to use steam’ option to select the default skin. Also, uncheck the boxes in front of the following three options:
- Start Steam in Big Picture Mode
- Enable GPU accelerated rendering in webview
- Enable DirectWrite for improved font smoothing and kerning
Step 6: Click OK in the bottom right corner to apply the changes.
7. Update Steam Client
Using an older version of the Steam client can often cause the details to not match and not show you the latest Steam Library view. Updating the Steam client to the latest version can help eliminate the library black screen issue and also bring in new features.
To update the Steam client, click on the Steam option in the top left corner and select the Check for Steam Client Updates option. Then let Steam automatically download and install the updates.
Access games in the library
The Steam Library section is the perfect place to see all the games you own, have played, downloaded, and are available through Steam. However, the Gallery screen can turn black for various reasons. Luckily, you can fix this problem by following the fixes above and keep playing the game.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
