10 Tips and Tricks for Using Steam for Games
Steam gaming is a relatively new concept in the video game industry, but it already attracts millions of users who want to play games on multiple devices without burdening memory. The concept of Steam gaming improves user experience and makes the games more convenient, but it can get even better!
All it takes is to customize preferences and add significant improvements to your gaming experiences. We will show you 10 tips and tricks for using Steam for video games.
- Make Steam downloads faster
Speed represents an essential feature of Steam gaming, so your first goal should be to increase Steam download speed. You can do it in many different ways, but we propose the following solutions:
- Optimize the performance of your Wi-Fi network
- Quit incompatible apps
- Clear Steam download cache
- Customize your Steam account
You can customize each of these functions, so feel free to play with them until you find the best solution speed-wise.
- Use Steam in a browser
Although most gamers use the Steam app, the truth is that web browsers solve most problems commonly associated with the app itself. Web browsers don’t give you such a wide variety of options like a Steam app, but they definitely do provide players with a better overall experience. Give it a try soon – you won’t be disappointed.
- Create game collections in Steam
Many Steam users download tons of games and eventually find it difficult to pinpoint a targeted game quickly. This is why you should create game collections in Steam and manage your favorite titles more comfortably. The best thing about it is that you can make collections based on different criteria such as genres or your personal favorites. All it takes is to right-click a given game and add it to the designated folder.
- Download a new game while playing
Steam users hate stopping their games while downloading new titles, but there is a quick solution to the problem. There is a one-time solution, but we want to help you get over it permanently. You can do it by following this scheme: Steam Preferences → Downloads → Allow downloads during gameplay. This enables you to play the game while downloading another one in the background.
- Take advantage of batch game management
If your Steam game collection is massive, you shouldn’t be managing each game individually. On the contrary, you should take advantage of batch game management to perform functions effortlessly. For instance, you can go to the Steam account’s library and enter the “detail view” category. If you ctrl-click multiple games, you can perform the same action with all of them simultaneously.
- Use Steam Mover to manage game locations
Another way to handle your games is to use Steam Mover in order to manage game locations. Steam Mover enables users to transfer games to different folders without making any substantial changes in the process. It’s a precious tool for gamers addicted to speed and accuracy.
- Use a smartphone to download games
In case you are planning to download a new game very soon, we advise you to initiate the process remotely through your smartphone. This is a very good solution for players who tend to download massive games with 40 GB or 50 GB worth of files. In this case, using a smartphone app is better because you can complete the process remotely while doing something else in the meantime.
- Refresh your drivers
A typical Windows user is facing many problems because of the drivers. They are the source of most issues, so you should give the system a quick boost simply by refreshing the drivers. Steam makes the procedure straightforward because you only need to check for video driver updates and upgrade the system using new versions.
- Hide games in Steam
Sometimes you will find the Steam library to be packed with useless or irrelevant titles, so you might as well choose to hide a few games. Once again, the process is simple: right-click targeted games, select Set Categories, and choose the option called ‘hide this game in my library’. The list of hidden games can be found in Library → Search → Games button → Hidden.
- Check frame rates
Sometimes a Steam game is too powerful for your device to handle it and you might want to check its frame rates. Steam has a dedicated feature, so you can activate the counter in the Steam menu. Once you’ve entered it, click In-Game and activate the In-Game FPS Counter.
The Bottom Line
The basic version of Steam gaming is good enough for most players, but why stop there? Using the top 10 tips and tricks we discussed above, your Steam gaming experiences can get a lot better. Are you ready to give them a try?