1. Restart your Steam client
When Steam is intentionally not recognizing your games and declaring them as uninstalled. The first method that can help you solve this temporary issue is to log out of your Steam account, close your Steam Client and then Relaunch it after a few minutes. In these cases, this is the best option before you make any significant changes to your directories. Follow the instructions below to learn how to log out of your steam account and relaunch the client:
2. Restart your computer
Restarting your entire system is the second best way to deal with such an error. Because games being uninstalled automatically on Steam is a common occurrence. Restarting your computer will restart Steam, and it’s services which can cause it to detect your games.
3. Run Steam as an Administrator
If Steam isn’t detecting your games, it’s possible that it doesn’t have enough permissions to read the game files. Running Steam as an administrator will allow your app to adjust to its needs. This may include permission to write to the disk. Although Windows will disable these privileges by default, you can still manually do the task. To learn how to run Steam as an administrator, follow the steps below:
4. Turn off the Steam folder read-only settings
If the Steam directory is set to read-only, the entire directory will be write-protected, preventing any changes to the data stored on your hard drive. Follow the steps below to turn off the read-only settings of the steam folder:
5. Manually add your games to the Steam library folders
One of the major causes of this error is when Steam automatically removes your Steam Library folder from its Content Libraries, triggering the client not to recognize your game and eventually declaring them uninstalled. The best way to fix this problem is by manually placing your Steam Library folder into the Content Libraries. You can do that by following the steps below:
6. Transfer your game folder to another location
The main cause of Steam showing your installed games as uninstalled is that it cannot properly locate the game folder where your game files are located. One of the most useful ways to prevent this is by creating another folder on another driver and transferring the game folder to it. To do so, follow the steps we have given below: Note: During this process, you don’t have to install your entire game again since the game is already installed. The application searches for the file location, and once it does, it verifies its files and recognizes them, giving you the play button within a short period.
7. Let Steam recognize the .acf file of the game
Each game on steam has its unique .acf Code attached to it, which helps Steam stay in touch with the state of the game, such as its updates, installation, and downloading progress. If the game is missing the .acf file, the Steam Client will think the game is uninstalled. Below you will learn how to fix the .acf file issue that causes Steam to uninstall games.
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