How to Delete a Game From Your Steam Library

Managing your Steam library gets messy fast — especially after years of sales, bundles, and free weekends. Whether you're reclaiming disk space or just decluttering, knowing exactly how to remove games from Steam (and what "remove" actually means) saves a lot of confusion.

What Happens When You Delete a Game From Steam?

Steam separates two distinct actions that are easy to conflate:

• Uninstalling removes the game files from your hard drive but keeps the game in your library. You can reinstall it anytime.
• Removing from library (also called hiding or permanently removing) affects how — or whether — the game appears in your library list.

Most of the time, what people want is to uninstall the game to free up disk space. The game stays linked to your account permanently; you just delete the local files.

True removal from your account is more limited. Steam allows you to hide games so they no longer appear in your default library view, and in some cases — primarily free-to-play titles or games added via certain key types — you can request removal through Steam Support. Purchased games from the Steam store generally stay on your account for good.

How to Uninstall a Game From Steam 🖥️

This is the most common action and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Method 1: From the Steam Library

1. Open the Steam desktop app
2. Go to Library in the top navigation
3. Right-click the game you want to remove
4. Select Manage → Uninstall
5. Confirm when prompted

Steam will delete the game's local files from your system. The game remains in your library list, grayed out and marked as uninstalled.

Method 2: From the Game's Store Page or Library Detail

1. Click on the game in your library to open its detail page
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) on the right side
3. Select Manage → Uninstall

Both methods accomplish the same thing — they're just different paths to the same menu.

Where Are the Files Actually Stored?

By default, Steam installs games to:

• Windows:C:Program Files (x86)Steamsteamappscommon
• macOS:~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/
• Linux:~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/

If you've set up multiple Steam library folders (common among users with secondary drives), the game may be installed on a different drive entirely. You can check this under Steam → Settings → Storage.

How to Hide a Game So It Doesn't Appear in Your Library

If you want a game out of sight without uninstalling anything, hiding is the cleaner option.

1. Right-click the game in your library
2. Select Manage → Hide this game

Hidden games won't show up in your default library view. To find or unhide them later:

1. In the Library search bar, click the filter icon
2. Toggle Hidden to surface hidden titles
3. Right-click the game and select Manage → Remove from Hidden

This is useful for bundle shovelware, games you're embarrassed you own, or titles you'll never touch but can't permanently delete.

Can You Permanently Remove a Purchased Game From Steam?

Technically, yes — but with significant caveats.

Steam Support can remove certain games from your account, but they're selective about it. Their general policy is that completed purchases are non-refundable and non-removable after the standard refund window (under 2 hours of playtime, within 14 days of purchase).

Outside the refund window, permanent removal is typically only considered for:

• Free-to-play games added without a purchase
• Games added via third-party keys under specific circumstances
• Cases reviewed individually by Steam Support

If you simply bought a game, played it, and now want it gone, Steam will most likely keep it on your account regardless.

Factors That Affect Your Situation

What About Steam Family Sharing?

If you're using Steam Family Sharing, games borrowed from another account behave slightly differently. You can uninstall borrowed games the same way, but they were never "yours" in the library sense — they disappear from your access if the lender removes sharing permissions or if they launch the game themselves.

A Note on Save Data and Cloud Saves 🎮

Uninstalling a game doesn't automatically delete your save files if Steam Cloud is enabled for that title. Your progress syncs to Valve's servers and restores automatically when you reinstall. However, local save files stored outside the Steam Cloud — which many older or indie games use — may be deleted with the game folder. If save data matters to you, check the game's Steam Cloud status on its store page before uninstalling.

Local save files are usually found in:

• Windows:C:Users[Username]AppDataRoaming or DocumentsMy Games
• Varies widely by game and developer

How aggressively you manage your library — whether hiding is enough, whether you need the disk space back immediately, or whether a permanent removal is worth contacting Support over — depends entirely on how you use Steam, how much storage you're working with, and how much the library clutter actually bothers you.