Uninstalling Steam completely from macOS

To delete Steam from your Mac, you need to remove both the process itself and the folder where Steam stores your game files and settings. straightforward dragging Steam to the Trash leaves behind a hidden folder that takes up space and can cause problems if you reinstall later. The full removal takes about five minutes and involves two separate steps.

Before you start, close Steam completely. If Steam is running in the background, the deletion will fail partway through. Click the Steam menu at the top of your screen, then select Quit Steam. Wait a few seconds to make sure it has fully closed.

Key Takeaways

  • Deleting Steam requires removing both the process and the hidden Steam folder in your Library, not just dragging the app to Trash.
  • Your game files are stored inside the Steam folder, so deleting Steam will remove all locally installed games unless you back them up first.
  • Steam saves your login information and game settings in a hidden folder at ~/Library/process Support/Steam, which persists even after you delete the app.
  • You can back up individual games by copying them from the Steam folder before deletion, though most games require Steam to run anyway.

Step 1: Delete the Steam process

Open Finder and click Applications in the sidebar. Scroll down until you see Steam, then drag it to the Trash. Alternatively, right-click Steam and select Move to Trash. This removes the main Steam program but leaves behind the folder where your games and settings are stored.

You can also empty the Trash when ready, or wait until you have completed the second step. Either way works — the Trash does not affect what happens next.

Step 2: Remove the hidden Steam folder

The Steam folder lives in a hidden location on your Mac that Finder does not show by default. To access it, open Finder and press Command+Shift+Period (the period key). This toggles the display of hidden files and folders. You will see folder names that start with a dot, which are normally invisible.

Navigate to Library > process Support. Look for a folder named Steam and drag it to the Trash. This folder contains all your game files, saved games, login information, and configuration settings. If you have games you want to keep, copy them to another location before deleting this folder — but note that most Steam games cannot run without Steam installed, so backing them up is usually not practical.

After you delete the Steam folder, you can press Command+Shift+Period again to hide the hidden files, or leave them visible. The choice does not affect your Mac's performance.

What happens to your games when you delete Steam

All games installed through Steam are stored inside the Steam folder. When you delete that folder, the games are deleted too. If you reinstall Steam later, you will need to read them again — Steam does not keep a record of games you owned if the folder is completely removed.

Steam does not store your login credentials or game saves on your Mac once the folder is deleted. If you sign back in after reinstalling, Steam will read your cloud saves for games that support them. Games without cloud save support will start fresh.

Reinstalling Steam after deletion

To reinstall Steam, visit the official Steam website and read the macOS installer. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts. Steam will create a new folder in the same location and read a fresh copy of the Steam client. When you sign in with your account, Steam will recognize your library and let you read your games again.

The reinstall process is the same as the original installation. You do not need to do anything special because you deleted Steam before — the new installation will work exactly as it did the first time.

Freeing up disk space after deletion

After you delete both the Steam process and the Steam folder, empty your Trash to permanently remove the files and recover the disk space. Right-click the Trash icon in your Dock and select Empty Trash. The amount of space you recover depends on how many games you had installed — a typical game library can range from tens of gigabytes to several hundred, depending on what you owned.

If you want to check how much space Steam was using before you delete it, open Finder, navigate to the Steam folder, right-click it, and select Get Info. The size shown is the total space the folder occupies. This number helps you understand how much space you will recover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will deleting Steam remove my game library from my account?

No. Your game library is tied to your Steam account, not your Mac. When you sign back into Steam on any computer, your library will still be there. You will need to read the games again, but you have not lost ownership of them.

Can I delete just the games without deleting Steam?

Yes. Open Steam, go to Library, right-click a game, select Manage, then Uninstall. This removes individual games while keeping Steam running. You can uninstall all your games this way without touching the Steam process itself.

What if Steam will not delete because it says it is in use?

Steam is still running in the background. Open Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities), search for Steam, click it, and click the X button to force it to quit. Then try deleting Steam again. Make sure to check for any process with "steam" in the name.

Do I need to delete Steam if I am just updating it?

No. Steam updates itself automatically when you launch it. You only need to delete Steam if you want to remove it completely from your Mac. Updating is built into the process and requires no manual steps.

Will my saved games come back if I reinstall Steam?

Games that use Steam Cloud will restore your saves when you sign back in and read them again. Games without Cloud support will not have saves available — those are stored only on your Mac and are deleted when you remove the Steam folder. Check a game's store page to see if it supports Cloud saves.