Command line options (Steam)

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Source 2

Steam

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Command line options (frequently command line arguments or command line parameters; launch options on Steam) are additional arguments specified before the program starts, these functionally change the behavior of the program in some way, such as launching the game and start the game with the specified map directly, or play a demo for example.

Command line arguments are traditionally prefixed with a hyphen (-), but some Windows applications (especially system ones) will use a forward slash (/) instead.

This page contains command-line parameters for the Steam application.

Command-Line Parameters

Argument	Description
-480p	Run tenfoot in 480p rather than 1080p
-720p	Run tenfoot in 720p rather than 1080p
-accesscode
-all_languages	show longest loc string from any language
-applaunch <appID> [launch parameters]	Launches an Game or Application through Steam.
-batterytestmode	rapidly cycle battery percentages for testing
-bigpicture	Start in Steam Big Picture mode
-blefw
-cafeapplaunch	Launch apps in a cyber cafe context
-cafeapplaunch	Launch apps in a cyber cafe context (Forces apps to be verified / validated before launch).
-candidates	Show libjingle candidates for local connection as they are processed
-ccsyntax	Spew details about the localized strings we load
-ccsyntax	Spew details about the localized strings we load.
-cef-delaypageload	Enable early-out for known page loads
-cef-disable-breakpad	disables breakpad in crash dumps
-cef-disable-d3d11	disable D3D11 usage in CEF
-cef-disable-delaypageload	Disable early-out for known page loads
-cef-disable-gpu	Disable GPU usage in CEF (force software rendering/compositing)
-cef-disable-gpu-compositing	Disable GPU accelerated compositing in browsers
-cef-disable-hang-timeouts	disables GPU and renderer hang timeouts
-cef-disable-js-logging	disables console and log file logging of JS console events
-cef-disable-occlusion	disables Chromium window occlusion testing on Windows
-cef-disable-renderer-restart	Disable auto-restart of renderer process for existing browsers
-cef-disable-sandbox	disables sandboxing in CEF
-cef-disable-seccomp-sandbox	disables CEF seccomp-bpf sandbox on Linux
-cef-enable-debugging	enables Chromium remote debugging, defaulting to localhost:8080
-cef-enable-gpu-debugging	Enable GPU debugging in Chromium, costs a glGetError() call after every command
-cef-enable-samesite-by-default-cookies	Treat unspecified samesite as samesite=lax
-cef-force-32bit	forces usage of 32-bit steamwebhelper when available
-cef-force-gpu	Force enable GPU acceleration
-cef-force-sandbox	force sandboxing in CEF
-cef-full-memory-crash-report	enables full crash dumps
-cef-ignore-certificate-errors	allow self-signed certificates
-cef-in-process-gpu	runs CEF GPU processing as thread of browser process
-cef-no-linux-angle	Don't use ANGLE for rendering backend on Linux
-cef-single-process	runs CEF processes in single process
-cef-use-shell-exec	Launch CEF process via sub-shell
-cef-verbose-js-logging	enables verbose logging of JS console events
-cef-verbose-logging	enables verbose logging from CEF
-cef-winxp	force running the WinXP compatible CEF browser
-clearbeta	Opts out of beta participation (in case for some reason it can't be done via settings).
-clientui
-community	Set the community URL
-complete_install_via_http	Run installation completion over HTTP by default
-complete_install_via_http	Run installation completion over HTTP by default.
-console
-console	Enables the Steam debug console tab.
-controllertypeoverride
-debug_steamapi	Enables logging of Steam API functions.
-debug_steamapi	enables logging of Steam API functions
-debugbutton	Show debug button in content frame header
-dev
-dev	Sets the 'developer' variable to 1. Can be used to open the VGUI editor by pressing F6 or VGUI zoo by pressing F7. Intended for skin development, also enables the debug console tab.
-disable-winh264	disables loading winh264.dll
-disablehighdpi	disables high-DPI support in CEF
-disablepartnerlicenses	disable automatically granted partner licenses
-dumpvideostream	Dump the game stream as an elementary video file
-enable-desktop-gl-fallback
-enable-keyring	enables CEF usage of the Chromium keyring
-enablealloobesteps
-fasthtml	Enable fast child html for any platform
-flushconfig
-forcecontrollerappid	Force a Specific AppID for Steam Controller Config - Prevents context/app switching from changing configuration
-forcedeckcontroller
-forcedesktopscaling	Scale the desktop UI
-forceservice	Run Steam Client Service even if Steam has admin rights
-forceservice	Run Steam Client Service even if Steam has admin rights.
-forcevgui
-friendsui
-fs_log	Log file system accesses
-fs_log	Log file system accesses.
-fs_logbins	Log the binaries we load during operation
-fs_logbins	Log the binaries we load during operation.
-fs_target	Set target syntax
-fs_target	Set target syntax.
-fulldesktopres	Run tenfoot in full desktop resolution rather than 1080p, overrides -720p as well.
-fullscreen	Set BPM to fullscreen
-fullscreenopengl	Use the full screen OpenGL render for the UI
-gameoverlayinject	Sets the method how GameOverlay is injected.
-gamepadui	Same as -tenfoot. Note:Was used to start Big Picture in the Steam Deck UI, but this is now the default as of February 2023.
-gamepadui	Start in gamepadui mode
-help	Set the help/support URL
-hidelibmenu
-html-perf-monitor	Draws html perf data
-init_universe
-install <path>	Install a product from a specified path (e.g. "D:" for the DVD-ROM drive if D: is one).
-installer_test	Changes installing a retail game to emit all files to install_validate/ folder instead of to the steam cache.
-language <language>	Sets the Steam language to the one specified. (Examples: "english", "german").
-language	Set Steam client UI language
-log_voice	Writes voice chat data to the logs/voice_log.txt file.
-log_voice	writes voice chat data to the logs/voice_log.txt file
-login <[username]|anonymous> [password]	Logs into Steam with the specified Username and Password combination. Note: Steam must be off for this to work.
-login	Automatically logs in user
-lognetapi	Logs all P2P networking info to log/netapi_log.txt.
-lognetapi	logs all P2P networking info to log/netapi_log.txt
-master_ipc_name_override
-musiccrawltrack	Add menu to crawl track and print result to console
-musicdbforcerebuild	Forces a rebuild and recrawl of the music database
-net_fake_state	Set initial value for net_fake_state
-net_start_wifi_disabled	Set the initial value for wifi enabled to false. (Useful when emulating SteamDeck)
-no-cef-sandbox	disables sandboxing in CEF
-no-dwrite	Forces vgui to use GDI text even if DWrite support is available.
-no-dwrite	forces CEF to use GDI text even if DWrite support is available
-no-shared-textures	forces overlay to avoid sharing texture handles with game process
-noasync	Don't use async file operations, run them synchronous instead.
-nobigpicture	Start in regular mode (force Big Picture mode off)
-nocache	Starts steam with no cache (Steam must be off for this to work properly).
-noconsole
-nocrashmonitor
-nofasthtml	Disables new fast child hwnd direct in vgui hwnd rendering path
-nofriendsui
-nofriendsui	Prevents the friends list window from showing automatically upon start.
-nointro	Skip intro movie
-noshaders	Disable the shader manager
-noverifyfiles	Prevents from the client from checking files integrity, especially useful when testing localization.
-offlinemode	Always attempt to start in offline mode
-oldtraymenu	use old tray menu instead of browser-based menu
-openalldevtools	Open Chrome devtools on launch for every HTML window
-opendevtools	Open Chrome devtools for shared JS context (offscreen window) on launch
-opengl	Use the OpenGL render for the UI
-openoverlaydevtools	Open Chrome devtools on creation of any overlay browsers
-overlaytestmode	Forces overlay testmode mode for debugging
-perfectworld	Identifies processes that were launched by the Perfect world launcher
-pid	Pid that we should be watching for
-private_ip_override
-quicklogin	Set the base used to construct quick login URLs
-rememberpassword	If logging in user with credentials specified on the command line, proceed as if 'remember my password' had been enabled
-script <file name>	Runs a Steam script. All scripts must be in a subdirectory of the Steam folder called test scripts (Steam must be off for this to work).
-showallbetas	Disable client beta filtering
-shutdown	Shuts down (exits) Steam.
-silent	Silent startup mode (tray mode only)
-silent	Suppresses the dialog box that opens when you start steam. It is used when you have Steam set to auto-start when your computer turns on. (Steam must be off for this to work).
-single_core	Force Steam to run on your primary CPU only
-single_core	Force Steam to run on your primary CPU only.
-skipstreamingdrivers	Skip streaming driver checks
-steamos
-store	Set the store URL
-storebeta	0
-system-composer	Force the use of the system browser composer
-tcp	Forces connection to Steam backend to be via TCP.
-tcp	forces connection to Steam backend to be via TCP - deprecated, will be replaced by websockets only for TCP soon
-tenfoot	Start Steam in Big Picture Mode.
-tenfoot	Start in Steam Big Picture mode
-testbutton	Show test button on main menu
-testssa	force display of SSA
-teststoragedata	Enable test storage data
-toggle-overlay-html-mode	Disables new faster overlay HTML path (or enables if on a branch it's not on by default for)
-udpforce	forces connection to Steam backend to be via UDP - deprecated, won't exist for too long
-unhidefriendsui
-userchooser	Sends the user to the User Chooser even if they have 0 or 1 accounts
-vgui	Start in vgui mode
-vguifocus	Print out details of which panel has keyboard focus
-vguimessages	set to see debug vgiui2 messages
-voice_quality	Sets audio quality, range [1,3].
-voicerelay	Only allow 'relay' connections for voice (testing).
-voicerelay	Only allow 'relay' connections for voice (testing).
-vrdisable	Disable VR - never even try to load OpenVR DLLs
-vrforce	Always perform Hmd status check even if we crashed the last time we tried
-vronly
-vrskip	Skip VR initialization entirely no matter who asks for it
-websocket	forces connection to Steam backend to be via WebSocket
-websocketignorecertissues	says it's ok to ignore cert validation issues if using WebSocket connections, for dev use only
-windowed	Run Steam tenfoot mode in a window rather than a fullscreen borderless window

Deprecated Command-Line Parameters

• -no-browser - Disables all instances of CEF. CEF stands for Chromium Embedded Framework, which Steam uses for its built-in web browser components (including the in-game overlay browser), and also for WebViews used by the new Panorama-based friends/chat UI, and Library. Using this option will —among other things— disable the new Library UI, and restore the old friends list and chat UI. However, it won't restore the old Library UI, requiring the use of Small Mode to view the list of games.
  Note:Deprecated as of January 2023.

• -noreactlogin - Switches to the old login UI, but disables login confirmations via the mobile app and QR code logins.
  Note:Deprecated as of January 2023.

• -oldbigpicture - Restores the old Big Picture Mode UI.

• -vgui - Start Steam with VGUI as the main window renderer instead of being Chromium.
  Note:Deprecated as of January 2023.