Ошибка steam needs to be online to update

Here is a guide on how to fix the Steam needs to be online to update error on Windows PC. Steam is a video game distribution service developed by Valve Corporation. It is a great platform for gaming enthusiasts, however, it is usual for Steam users to run down in errors. One such error is the Steam Fatal Error error that occurs while downloading or updating games. When triggered, it displays the following error message:

Steam needs to be online to update. Please confirm your network connection and try again.

While this error may occur if there are problems with your network connection, there are several other factors that may trigger the Steam needs to be online to update error. Let us discuss the reasons for this Steam error.

Why does my Steam say it needs to be online to update?

Here are the causes that may trigger the Steam needs to be online to update error on Windows PC:

• First of all, make sure that you are connected to an active internet connection as it might cause this error.
• Insufficient administrator access to run Steam can result in this error.
• Your firewall and antivirus can also interfere with Steam processes and tasks and cause this error.
• Enabled proxy settings can be another reason for this error.
• It can also cause due to DNS settings issues.
• The corrupted Steam files also cause this fatal error.

These are some scenarios that may trigger the Steam needs to be online to update error. Now, if you are facing this error on Steam, this guide will help you. Here, we are going to mention possible solutions to counter this problem. Let us check out the solutions now.

Here are the fixes that you can try to resolve the Steam needs to be online to update error:

1. Disable Firewall and Antivirus.
2. Disable Proxy Settings.
3. Add –tcp parameter to Steam.
4. Grant Steam Administrative Access.
5. Use Ipconfig.
6. Change the DNS Server.
7. Refresh Steam files.

Before trying the above solutions, try troubleshooting your network and internet problems and then restart your system to fix any temporary glitch.

Let us discuss the above methods in detail now!

1] Disable Firewall and Antivirus

While Steam is downloading updates in the background, it might conflict with your firewall. Your firewall might suspect Steam processes as malicious tasks and might interfere with them resulting in this error. So, in case your firewall is blocking Steam processes, try disabling your firewall protection and see if the issue is fixed. If yes, the main culprit was your Firewall. Similarly, your antivirus can also cause this error on Steam. Hence, disable your antivirus and check if the issue is gone or not.

If you don’t want to completely disable your firewall or antivirus, you can whitelist the Steam app through your firewall and antivirus. In Firewall, you can allow the Steam app through it. While in antivirus, add Steam to the Exclusions list of your antivirus.

See: An error occurred while installing or updating the Steam game

2] Disable Proxy Settings

Turning off the proxy settings might help you fix this error. To disable proxy settings, you can use Chrome or Network Settings. Let us check out how!

Disable Proxy Settings in Chrome:

Here are the main steps to turn off proxy settings using your Chrome browser:

1. Launch Chrome and go to the three-dot menu.
2. Click on the Settings options.
3. In the search bar, enter the proxy keyword and then press the Open your computer’s proxy settings option.
4. Make sure you have disabled the Use a proxy server option.
5. Relaunch Steam with administrator privilege and see if the issue is fixed or not.

Disable Proxy Settings from Network Settings:

1. Open the Run dialog box using the Windows + R hotkey.
2. Enter inetcpl.cpl in the Open field and press the OK button.
3. In the Internet Properties window, go to the Connections tab.
4. Tap on the LAN Settings button.
5. Uncheck the Use Proxy Server for your LAN option and press the OK button.

3] Add –tcp parameter to Steam

Steam uses UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for transmission of data which you try changing to TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). TCP is more reliable and can help fix the Steam needs to be online to update error. If it doesn’t fix the problem for you or in any case, you can switch back to the default settings at any time.

To add –tcp parameter to Steam, here are the steps you can follow:

1. Go to the Steam shortcut on your PC and right-click on it.
2. Select the Properties option from the right-click context menu.
3. Move to the Shortcut tab.
4. In the Target field, type -tcp after the quotation mark.
5. Pree the Apply and then OK button to save changes.
6. Start the Steam Shortcut as an administrator and see if the issue is fixed or not.

Now, check if the issue is resolved or not. If not, move to the next fix.

4] Grant Steam Administrative Access

If Steam doesn’t have enough administrator privilege, you might encounter this error as well as experience some other problems in your gaming experience. As Steam doesn’t have full administrator access by default, you need to provide it admin access. Before that, make sure you are logged in to your PC with an admin account or admin privileges.

Here are the steps you can follow to grant administrative access to Steam:

First, open File Explorer and go to the installation directory of Steam; you will most probably find it at C:Program Files (x86)Steam.

Then, right-click on the Steam.exe file and click on the Properties option. Now, go to the Compatibility tab in the Properties dialog window and enable the Run this program as an administrator checkbox. After that, press the Apply > OK buttons to save changes.

Again, select and right-click on the GameOverlayUI.exe file from the Steam installation directory and press the Properties option. Then, check the Run this program as an administrator option in the Compatibility tab and save changes.

Next, you have to grant full control to the Steam files. For that, you can follow the below steps:

1. Locate the Steam directory in your File Explorer.
2. Right-click on the Steam folder and then choose the Properties option.
3. Navigate to the Security tab and click on the Advanced button present at the bottom of the dialog window.
4. From the Permission Entries, double click the row you want to edit.
5. Click on the Full Control checkbox and save changes.
6. Restart Steam with all administrator privileges and hopefully, you won’t receive this error anymore.

Read: How to Fix Steam Error Codes 53 and 101 on Windows PC

5] Use Ipconfig

You can try refreshing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) settings using Ipconfig (internet protocol configuration). This might fix this error for you. Now, there is a set of commands that you need to enter to use Ipconfig. You can simply follow the below steps and commands:

Firstly, open the Command Prompt on your PC. Now, type the below commands one by one:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns

Enter one after one command and let the command execute completely. When all the commands are executed, reboot your PC.

Now, open the Services app and locate the DNS Client service. First, stop the service and then start the service again.

Finally, relaunch the Steam app as an administrator and then see if the issue is resolved.

See: Steam games won’t launch; Stuck on Preparing to Launch on Windows

6] Change the DNS Server

If your default DNS server is causing this error on Steam, you can try changing the DNS server and see if the issue is fixed. You can use the Google DNS server. Change the Google DNS server and restart Steam and see if the issue is gone.

7] Refresh Steam files

If nothing works for you, try refreshing your Steam files. It basically deletes all Steam client configurations files and reinstalls them. To refresh Steam files, you can use the below-listed steps:

1. First, close all the Steam processes from the Task Manager.
2. Next, go to the Steam directory on your PC.
3. Now, select all the files except the steamapps folder and the Steam.exe application file.
4. After that, use the Delete option to clear all the files.
5. Then, restart your PC and relaunch Steam with administrator privilege.

Hopefully, this resolves the Steam needs to be online to update error.

Read: Fix Steam App Configuration Missing or Not available error

How do I make sure Steam is online?

To make sure Steam is online, you can use its dedicated Go Online feature. You can turn Steam online by following the below steps:

1. Firstly, launch the Steam client.
2. Now, go to the Steam menu from the top toolbar.
3. Next, from all the options, select the Go Online option.
4. After that, click on the Restart and Go Online option.

Steam will restart and it will be online.

Hope this helps you resolve the Steam needs to be online to update error on your Windows PC.

Now read: Fix Steam error Initializing or Updating Transaction.

Steam is a platform for gamers to play, purchase, and communicate with other gamers. The games downloaded and installed through the Steam platform then need to be updated from time to time. However, in certain cases, users have reported experiencing the following fatal error message:

Steam needs to be online to update. Please confirm your network connection and try again.

This error is fine if you are not connected to the internet at all. But what to do when you have an active internet connection that is working fine, but you still get this error?

Today we are going to discuss how to resolve this issue so that you can refocus on what’s really important – gaming.

Why Steam Needs to be Online to Update?

The error message states that you are not online to update Steam or any of the installed games. Sometimes, this error still appears even when you are online. This is the scenario we will be addressing today.

This error can occur due to any one of the following reasons:

• Your computer is not connected to the internet.
• A proxy, firewall, or antivirus software blocks Steam from connecting to its respective server(s).
• Your user account does not have the elevated privileges required to perform the update.
• DNS Server is incorrectly configured.

After considering the user feedback online, it was concluded that even reinstalling the game or the Steam client didn’t resolve the issue. With that, we are going to address the plausible issues listed above and get Steam up and running again.

Fix “Steam needs to be online to update” in Windows 11/10

Disable Proxy Settings

Proxy servers are devices that are put between you, an end-user,‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌internet. Contrary to a user directly connected to his router at home, a proxy server is an additional router that sits between you and the actual router. Your computer then needs to be configured to communicate with the proxy server.

In case of an improper proxy setting, Steam can be blocked from communicating with its respective server(s). When it is unable to communicate, it can no longer update itself or any of the games in its library.

Therefore, you must disable the proxy settings on your Windows computer. Here is how:

1. Navigate to the following:

   Settings app >> Network and internet >> Proxy

2. Toggle the slider in front of “Automatically detect settings” into the Off position.

   

3. Click “Edit” in front of “Use a proxy server.”

   Note: If you see “Set up” instead of “Edit,” it means that manual proxy configuration has not been made on your computer. Therefore, you do not need to perform this or any of the following steps.

   

4. Toggle the slider to the Off position under “Use a proxy server” and then click Save.

   

The proxy settings will now be disabled. Try rerunning the update and see if the problem is still there. If so, then continue to perform the solutions discussed below.

Alternatively, you can also try other methods to disable proxy if you do not prefer to use the Settings app.

Disable Windows Firewall

Windows firewall can be blocking ports by default. The ports are used to listen to incoming traffic, and if they are blocked, Steam will be unable to perform any updates.

Follow these steps to disable the firewall entirely:

Note: We do not recommend that you keep the firewall disabled indefinitely, since it is a security risk. Thus, we suggest that you disable it only while performing the Steam update.

1. Open Windows Firewall by typing in “firewall.cpl” in the Run Command box.

   

2. Click “Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off” from the left.

   

3. Select “Turn off Windows Defender Firewall” under every network profile visible, then click OK.

   

Once the firewall is turned off, recheck Steam to see if you still get the same fatal error. If so, keep these firewall settings and proceed with the given solutions below until the problem is resolved.

Disable Antivirus

The built-in Windows Security software in Windows 11 and 10, or any other third-party antivirus, can also hinder Steam’s communication with its server(s). Try disabling them and check if it resolves the issue.

Learn how to disable Windows Defender temporarily. If you are using a third-party antivirus, you must disable it also.

Once disabled, check if you are now able to update the game(s) inside the Steam library or the Steam client itself.

Run Steam in Compatibility Mode

Running software in “Compatibility Mode” allows it to use settings intended for earlier versions of Windows. Try running the Steam client in Compatibility Mode using the following steps:

1. Right-click on Steam’s icon and then click “Properties” from the context menu.

   

2. Switch to the “Compatibility” tab, check the box next to “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and then select “Windows 8.”

   

3. Once done, click Apply and Ok to save the changes.

Now re-run the Steam app and check to see if the issue persists. If it does, try giving it complete administrative access.

Grant Steam Full Control & Administrative Rights

Sometimes the lack of privileges for the Steam app throws the “Steam needs to be online to update” error. Here is how you can give them the rights required to perform the updated action:

1. Navigate to the Steam installation folder using File Explorer.

   The default installation path for Steam is:

   C:Program Files (x86)Steam

2. Right-click on the “Steam.exe” application and then click “Properties” from the context menu.

   

3. Switch to the “Compatibility” tab, check the box next to “Run this program as an administrator” in the Settings section, then click Apply and Ok.

   

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for “GameOverlayUI.exe” and allow it to run with administrative privileges as well.

   

5. Go back a folder (to Program Files (x86)) in the Explorer, right-click on the “Steam” directory, and then click “Properties.”

   

6. Switch to the “Security” tab, and then click “Advanced.’

   

7. Click “Disable inheritance” from the Advanced Security Settings window.

   When asked what you would like to do with the currently inherited permissions, click “Convert inherited permissions into explicit permissions on this object.”

   

8. From the “Permission entries,” double-click the row you want to edit (not with “Full Control”).

   

9. From the pop-up window, select “Full Control,” and then click Ok.

   

10. Now click Apply and OK in the Advanced Security Settings window to save the changes.

Now restart your Steam client and you should not be having the same error message again. If you still do, there are still a few tricks up our sleeves that can mitigate the issue.

Change Steam Protocol from UDP to TCP

Steam uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which is a connectionless protocol, by default. We can change this to Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) instead, which often works in resolving the “Steam needs to be online to update” error.

Here is how to change the protocol from UDP to TCP:

1. Right-click on the Steam shortcut on your desktop and click “Properties” from the context menu.

   

2. Switch to the “Shortcut” tab and type in “-tcp” at the end of the “Target” field.

   The Target text field should look something like this:

   "C:Program Files (x86)SteamSteam.exe" -tcp

   

3. Once done, click Apply and Ok.

With TCP protocol, administrative privileges for the Steam client, and compatibility mode, you should no longer experience the annoying error.

However, if the issue still persists, here’s what we can do.

Refresh Steam Files

It may be possible that some of the Steam files have been corrupted and are thus no longer able to update themselves or any games within the library. You can recreate Steam files by deleting the old ones, and the client will fetch new ones automatically.

Follow these steps to safely delete the Steam files:

1. Navigate to the Steam installation folder using File Explorer.

2. Select all the files using the CTRL + A shortcut keys. Once all are selected, continue holding down the CTRL key and unselect the following 2 items:

   • Steamapps (folder)
   • Steam.exe (application)

3. Hit the “Delete” button and remove everything except those 2 items.

   Only the aforementioned 2 items should remain.

   

4. Now restart your computer.

Once it reboots, return to the Steam directory and run the Steam app. The files will then be downloaded automatically.

Check now to see if you still get the “Steam needs to be online to update” error.

If so, continue to perform the following possible solutions:

Switch DNS

The cause of the problem could be a misconfigured DNS. You can therefore try changing it to Google’s Domain Name Server (DNS) using the following guide:

1. Navigate to the following:

   Settings app >> Network and internet >> Advanced network settings

2. Expand the network adapter you are using (Wi-Fi or ethernet) then click “View additional properties” under it.

   

3. Click “Edit” in front of “DNS server assignment.”

   

   You will now see an “Edit DNS settings” popup.

4. Perform the following configurations:

   1. From the drop-down menu: Manual
   2. Toggle the slider under “IPv4” into the On position.
   3. Preferred DNS: 8.8.8.8
   4. Alternate DNS: 8.8.4.4

   

   Once done, click Save.

5. Now reset the TCP/IP stack.

After performing the steps, try updating your Steam game and check if the issue is still there. If you still see the error message, there is one more thing you can do to fix the problem.

Change Steam’s Windows Registry

You can manually edit the system registry to configure Steam to not detect that it is offline, ever. This can be done using the following steps:

Note: Misconfiguration of critical values in the system’s registry could be fatal for your operating system. Therefore, we insist that you create a system restore point before proceeding with the process.

1. Open the Registry Editor by typing in “regedit” in the Run Command box.

   

2. Paste the following into the navigation bar at the top for quick navigation:

   ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareValveSteam

   

3. Right-click on the “Steam” key in the left pane, expand New, and then click “DWORD (32-bit) Value.”

   

4. Name this DWORD “Offline.”

5. Double-click “Offline” and set its Value Data to “0.” Click Ok when done.

   

6. Now restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Note: The steps above will still allow you to run the Steam client offline to play games whilst offline.

Now check to see if you can update the Steam library games and the client itself.

Closing Words

It can be frustrating when a game cannot update itself. Most modern-day updates include new maps, security patches, skins, characters, and so much more. It would be a shame if you are unable to get them before your friends do.

You can fix the issue yourself, without having to reinstall the Steam client. If you have a proxy enabled, disable it. Also, disable any firewalls or antivirus software to mitigate the issue. If that does not work, try running the client with administrative privileges.

If the problem still does not go away, try using Google’s DNS, or perform a registry trick to keep Steam online.