How to Fix Steam Disk Write Error

Buying, Downloading, and Playing Games with Steam is one of the most popular platforms for buying, downloading, and playing video games. Millions of gamers rely on it daily to launch their favorite games and manage friends. However, occasionally when you attempt to download or update a game you might encounter an error.

This error occurs when Steam fails to write the data to your hard disk space. It can prevent you from installing or updating games, and it can be frustrating when you’re eager to start playing.

Table of Contents

What Does the Disk Write Error Mean?

The Steam Disk Write Error indicates that Steam is having trouble writing game files to your computer’s storage. It occurs most often during downloads or updates.

The error might look like below An error occurred when updating the game This error prevents Steam from completing its work, meaning the game doesn’t install or update properly.

Why Does the Disk Write Error Happen?

Steam Disk Write Error: Why It May Occur? Below are some reasons why Steam may report a disk write error:
Storage Issues: Your hard drive could be full, damaged, or write-protected.
Corrupted Files: Your temporary files or cache data could be corrupted.
Permissions Issue Steam may be running without the necessary permissions to write to your storage.
Steam drives interference of AV: In some cases, your AV may hinder Steam from accessing its drive.
Disk Errors: This error may be caused by problems with your disk, such as bad sectors.
Old Steam Client: The older version of Steam has bugs in it which can lead to write errors.

Steps to Fix the Steam Disk Write Error

Below are multiple methods to resolve Steam Disk Write Error. Method 5: You can try these methods until the error is resolved.

Clear Steam’s Download Cache

Download cache can be corrupted and lead to errors. One possible solution is clearing the .he.

Open Steam.
Go to Steam in the upper-left.
Select Settings.
Go to the Downloads section.
Click Clear Download Cache.
If prompted, confirm, and restart Steam.
Cache clearing only clears temporary data; this will make sure that your downloads go smoothly.

Check for Storage Space

Free Space: Be sure you have enough free space on your hard drive to download or update the game. If it is out of space, delete files or move them to another drive.

You’ll want to open File Explorer (on Windows) or Finder (on Mac).
This would be right-clicking on the drive which has Steam installed.
Right-click Properties to see the available space.
If your drive is full, clear some space and attempt to download the game again.

Run Steam as an Administrator

Steam might require specific permissions to write files to the disk. This problem can be solved by launching it using the administrator.

Close Steam if it’s open.
Find Steam in your desktop shortcuts and right-click it.
Select Run as administrator.
Once it is complete, re-attempt downloading or updating the game.
This allows Steam to write files on your disk.

Verify the Integrity of Game Files

In case the disk write error occurs during the updating of some game, maybe those game files are corrupted. This can be fixed by verifying the integrity of the files.

Launch Steam and can open your Library.
In the Steam library, right-click on the affected game.
Select Properties.
Go to the Local Files tab.
Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Steam will verify the files and fix any that it finds are broken.

Disable Antivirus or Firewall Temporarily

Sometimes your antivirus or firewall software does not allow Steam to write to your disk. If so, try temporarily disabling these tools.

Go to your antivirus program and turn off real-time protection.
Re-download or update the game again and check.
Once it is working, make sure to add Steam to the exception list on your antivirus or firewall.

However, don’t forget to turn your antivirus back on after testing to protect your PC.

Remove Write Protection

Steam requires write permission on your drive — If your drive is write-protected, Steam cannot store files on it. You need to unprotect the write protection.

Open File Explorer.
Step 3: Right-click the drive for Steam.
Right-click, select Properties, and this time, ensure the Read-only option is not checked.
If the write-protect remains, however, you should try Command Prompt:

Method 1: Through Command Prompt Open CMD as admin

Type:

diskpart

Then type:

list disk

Identify your drive, then type:

select disk [number]

Remove write protection:

attributes disk clear readonly

Repair Disk Errors

Your hard drive has bad sectors or some other problem that causes those errors These problems can be repaired using built-in tools.

Open File Explorer.
Go to the drive on which Steam is installed and right-click.
Select Properties > Tools.
Test under Maths checking, click Test.
Just follow the prompts to scan and repair any issues.

You can also use the Command Prompt:

chkdsk /f /r

This is a scan for and also fixes disk errors.

Reinstall Steam

Reinstall Steam, if none of the above solutions works. This can repair incorrect installation files that are likely responsible for the error.

Back up your games:
Navigate to Steam > Backup and Restore Games
Run Steam Uninstaller from the Control Panel (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac).
Uninstall Steam and download and install the latest version from the website.
Try restoring your games and downloading them again.

Conclusion

The Steam Disk Write Error can be quite annoying, but the cause is often simple issues such as storage problems, corrupted files, or permission problems. Following through the steps in this guide will help you resolve the error.

These solutions target different causes of the error, whether you’re clearing the download cache and checking the hard drive, or verifying game files. These tips will help you get your game downloaded and updated again in no time at all.