Can I Uninstall a Steam Game and Get it Back?
Yes, you can uninstall a Steam game and get it back whenever you want, as Steam allows you to uninstall and reinstall any game you’ve purchased at any time. This flexibility is one of the benefits of using the Steam platform, as it gives you full control over your game library and allows you to manage your storage space efficiently.
Understanding Steam Game Uninstallation and Reinstallation
When you uninstall a Steam game, it will remove the game from your computer, but it won’t delete the game from your Steam library. This means you can reinstall the game at any time, and your game progress will be retained if it’s saved to the Steam Cloud. However, if the game doesn’t use the Steam Cloud and you don’t have a backup of your save files, you may lose your game progress when you uninstall the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will Uninstalling a Game on Steam Delete My Progress?
Yes, you do keep your progress, but only if your game save has been saved to the Steam Cloud. Otherwise, you will lose any progress not saved to the cloud upon uninstalling the game.
2. Do I Have to Rebuy a Game on Steam if I Uninstall it?
No, you can uninstall and reinstall at will, without having to repurchase the game.
3. What Does Permanently Removing a Game from Steam Do?
Permanently removing a game from Steam will delete the game from your account forever, and you’ll need to repurchase the game if you change your mind later.
4. How Do I Repurchase a Game on Steam?
You can find a saved cart from your Purchase History page and click on the shopping cart icon to repurchase the game.
5. How Do I Delete All Traces of a Game on Steam?
To remove a game from your Steam account permanently, log into Steam Support, select the game, and choose the option to permanently remove the game from your account.
6. Can I Uninstall a Game and Keep My Progress?
It depends on the game, as most new games have your progress saved either on the server or cloud of the developer, or in the Steam Cloud.
7. Is it Bad to Uninstall and Reinstall Games?
It’s very unlikely that uninstalling and reinstalling the game specifically would cause performance issues.
8. Does Deleting and Reinstalling a Game Make it Run Better?
Installing/Uninstalling a game should not affect its performance.
9. Does Uninstalling a Game Delete Files?
If the save data is stored with the game files, then uninstalling the game will usually delete your save data, unless it’s a cloud-save game and you’ve enabled cloud saves.
10. Is it OK to Uninstall and Reinstall Apps?
You can use apps you bought on Google Play on any Android device without the need to pay again, and you can also reinstall an app you bought but deleted.
11. How Do I Recover Deleted Game Progress?
Some games autosave your progress when you’re signed in with the Google Play Games Mobile App, and you can sync your game data and pick up where you left off.
12. Can You Delete a Game You Bought and Redownload it?
Yes, you can delete and re-download games however you please, as long as they’re in your library.
13. Is Deleting a Game the Same as Uninstalling it?
On Android devices, “uninstall” is the same thing as “delete”.
14. How Do I Completely Uninstall a Game on My PC?
You can uninstall a game on your PC by going to the Control Panel, selecting Programs and Features, and then selecting the game and clicking Uninstall.
15. How Do I Reinstall a Purchased Game on Steam?
You can reinstall a game on Steam by selecting the game from your library and clicking Install, or by right-clicking the game name and selecting Install.