How to Disable Auto Update on Steam

Game updates are useful, but they can also be a bit bothersome. This is especially on Steam, as they can break mod compatibility for your games, among other things.

Sometimes, you also just don’t want Steam to start hogging your internet connection to update games anytime an update is released.

Regardless of your reason, auto-updates can be annoying. Luckily, there’s a way to disable them. Let’s take a look!

Disabling Auto-Updates on Steam

Sadly, there’s no direct way to disable automatic updates for your games on Steam. Valve has never provided the option and probably never will. Instead, you will need to use a small workaround.

First, find the game you wish to keep from updating. We will be using Elden Ring for our example. Right-click on the game then click Properties.

Click on Updates on the left side of the window. On the right side of the screen, set Automatic Updates to “Always keep this game updated”. This is usually on by default.

Sounds a bit counterintuitive, right? Don’t worry, it will make sense later!

On the top left of Steam, click on the “Steam” option and then click on Settings. Next, click on Downloads on the left side of the screen.

Lastly, check the “Only auto-update games between” option. All that’s left to do is to pick a time range when your computer or Steam will be turned off!

For example, if your PC will turn off between 1 AM to 2 AM, set that as your time range.

This little trick will essentially keep Steam from ever auto-updating, as it won’t be able to. Sadly, this will only delay the inevitable. As soon as you try to start a game, Steam will check for any available updates.

Some games will continue to launch without updating, but most will force you to update before you can play them.

The only other option is to set Steam to Offline Mode, but you will obviously lose access to every online feature.

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