How to Run Steam as Administrator

Many solutions to various problems require that you grant Steam administrator access. Here we will talk about how you can grant Steam.exe and the entire Steam directory administrator access.

Steam is a platform that requires read and writes permission on disks and its folders. Sometimes it also needs to change the system files so it can run in the most optimized way possible. If Steam doesn’t have administrator access, it can act bizarre and produce unexpected errors. By default, Steam doesn’t have administrative rights when it is installed. You can grant it the privileges by following the steps mentioned below.

Steps:

1. Browse to the directory where Steam is installed. The default location of it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam. If you have Steam installed somewhere else, you can browse to that location and follow the steps listed below.
   Note: Before proceeding, make sure that your account has administrator privileges.
2. Once in the directory, browse for a “.exe” file named “Steam.exe”. This is the main Steam launcher. You should right-click on it and select Properties from the list of options. Select the Compatibility tab from the top of the screen. At the bottom of the small window, you will see a checkbox which says “Run this program as an administrator”. Make sure it is checked. Save changes and exit.

   

3. Now browse for a “.exe” file named “GameOverlayUI.exe”. You should right-click on it and select Properties from the list of options. Select the Compatibility tab from the top of the screen. At the bottom of the small window, you will see a checkbox which says “Run this program as an administrator”. Make sure it is checked. Save changes and exit.

   

4. Now, we will grant full control to all of the Steam folders. Please note that we have granted administrator access to the two main “.exe” files in Steam. Now we will proceed with the whole folder.
5. Open your Steam directory. The default location for Steam is (C:\Program Files\Steam). If you installed Steam another directory, you can also browse to that.
6. Once you have located your Steam folder, right-click it and select Properties. Browse to the Security tab and click on Advanced found at the bottom of the screen.

   

7. Now you will be presented with a table like this. The first 4 rows are editable while the last two or not. Here you can see we have granted the folder full control. If your settings may differ, you can change the settings through the method listed below.

8. Click on the row and click the button Edit. A window will come forward consisting of all the options in the form of checkboxes. Check all of them including Full Control. Click Apply, save changes, and exit. Do this for the first 4 rows and exit after changing.

9. Now you can re-launch Steam by clicking Steam.exe and it will have all the administrator privileges.