Fixing: ‘Steam needs to be online to update’ error in Windows 10

May 21, 2022May 21, 2022 Henry Jackson 0 Comments

Many users of the 10th version of Windows are faced with the error “You must be online to update Steam.” This is a weird problem that gets in the way of play, but luckily there are several solutions.

Table of Contents

Run Steam in Compatibility Mode

Right click on the program shortcut, click Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Check Run this program in compatibility mode, select Windows from the list of options.

Disable Windows Firewall

Press Windows Key + S, type Firewall, search for Windows Firewall.
When it starts up, click Turn Windows Firewall On or Off.
Click “Disable Firewall” then “OK”.
Turning off the firewall is not recommended, so be sure to turn it back on after updating.

Remove files from directory

Go to the installation directory. By default it should be C: Program FilesSteam or C: Program Files (x86) Steam.
Delete everything except Steam.exe and the Steamapps folder.
Reboot your computer.
After booting your computer back to the installation directory, run Steam.exe.

Use Registry Editor

Type the combination Win + R, enter regedit. Then “OK” or “Enter”.
When Registry Editor opens, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Valve / Steam.
In the right pane, click “Offline DWORD”, set it to zero.

Copy files from another computer

You will need another PC with a working version of the program and a USB flash drive.

Copy everything from the installation directory except the Steamapps folder to a USB stick.
Connect the USB flash drive to your computer, paste everything into the Steam installation directory.

Add parameter-tcp to shortcut

Find the Steam shortcut, right click on it.
Select Properties.
Go to the Shortcut tab, in the Target section add -tcp after the quotes.
Click Apply, OK.
Optional: open the Compatibility tab, check Run this program as an administrator

Disable Internet Explorer Proxy Settings

Type the combination Windows + S, enter Internet Explorer. Find Internet Explorer from the list of results.
When Internet Explorer starts, click the Tools icon, select Internet Options.
Go to the “Connections” tab, click “LAN”.
Make sure the use of a proxy server for your local network is not checked.

Temporarily disable your antivirus

Sometimes the error occurs due to antivirus software. Add the program to the list of exclusions from your antivirus. If that doesn’t work, disable your antivirus. If the problem persists, temporarily uninstall your antivirus or use a different one.

Use Google DNS

Sometimes this error can be caused by your DNS settings. If so, you are advised to switch DNS to Google DNS. To do this, follow these steps:

Type the combination Win + S, enter “Network and Sharing”. Find the Sharing Center.
Click “Change adapter settings”.

You will see a list of network adapters. Right click on the current network adapter, select Properties.

Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4), click Properties.
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) Properties window appears, select Advanced.
Go to the DNS tab.
Click Add, enter 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4.
Save changes and restart the network connection.

Edit the hosts file

Type the combination Win + S, enter “Notepad”. Right-click on Notepad, click “Run as administrator”.
Notepad will open, click File> Open.
Open the C: WindowsSystem32driversetc folder.
Double click hosts. If you don’t see any files, be sure to change the text documents for all files.
When hosts opens, the following lines are added at the end:

68.142.122.70 cdn.steampowered.com
208.111.128.6 cdn.store.steampowered.com
208.111.128.7 media.steampowered.com
Save your changes and close Notepad.
Type the combination Win + X, enter “Command Prompt”.
In the command line, write ipconfig / flushdns, then Enter

Set automatic start

Type Win + R, type services.msc.
When the Services window appears, locate the Steam Client service, double click on it.
In the customer service, find the startup type, change it from manual to automatic.
LMB “Apply”, “OK” to save the changes.

Disable from autostart

Open the program, go to Settings.
Go to the “Interface” tab, uncheck the “Start at startup” box, then “OK”.

Run SteamTmp.exe

Try running SteamTmp.exe from the installation directory.