Steam is the world’s most popular digital PC games store — an online platform for downloading games straight to your computer instead of shopping at traditional retail outlets. The platform was launched to great success in 2003 thanks to the parent company, Valve, releasing it alongside one of the most highly anticipated PC games of all time: Half-Life 2. The company strategically ensured that Half-Life 2 couldn’t be played without downloading or registering the game on Steam, which was a controversial move but also the world’s first push into digital distribution. Since then, Steam continued to grow rapidly as dated formats like CD and DVD became obsolete.
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Today, lots of Mac users are still wondering: does Steam work on Mac? Truth is, for many years, Mac users had very little access to the most recent games. Although Steam was originally Windows exclusive, it eventually began to support Macs too — with a catch.
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How Does Steam Work On Mac?
The main reason for Steam not initially supporting Macs was them containing proprietary hardware that game developers struggled to cater for. Macs generally didn’t have the same gaming-oriented hardware that Windows PC users enjoyed, such as high-performance CPU chips and video cards. Additionally, Windows made it easier for game developers to interface with their hardware using widely supported API tools such as DirectX.
The lack of games on Mac wasn’t only due to hardware and software, but also the business model as a whole. In the early 2000s, Apple was more concerned with their suite of creative applications and music software rather than games. As gaming became more popular, the company struggled to enter the market through their own App Store, as competing products had already captured market share.
Thankfully, Macs shifted away from their own hardware to common X86 platforms used by Windows PCs, which included Intel chips and leading video card brands like AMD and Nvidia. Suddenly, gaming on Macs became viable — in an effort to reinvent the industry Apple is releasing Arcade this fall, its gaming subscription service for all the Apple devices. But while we are yet to see what is Apple hiding up its sleeve, Steam has already jumped on the opportunity to make it work.
How to install Steam on Mac
Now is a better time than ever for gamers on Mac, thanks to greater Steam support and more powerful hardware parts. So if you’re wondering how to download Steam for Mac, you’re in the right place. Follow the instructions below and you’ll be ready to get your Mac games download going in no time:
Navigate to steampowered.com
Click the Install Steam on the top right of the screen
On the next page, click Install Steam (make sure the Apple logo is next to the button, the browser should have automatically detected you’re on a Mac)
When the Steam download for Mac is finished, click on steam.dmg
From the new window, drag steam into Applications
The install should now be complete. Test it by opening Steam from your Dock or Applications folder.
There are a few considerations to keep in mind if you’re thinking about installing Steam on Mac. First, you’ll want to ensure you meet the minimum requirements. Second, most of the popular games use a traditional two-button mouse configuration, whereas many of Apple’s mice only have one by default. You can usually update the settings of your mouse, including the Apple Magic Mouse, to use a two-button style in your System Preferences. Finally, you’ll want to ensure your Mac is optimized for the best gaming performance.
How to download games on Steam
Despite Macs now having a more viable hardware platform for game developers, you’ll find that not all best Steam games for Mac are the same as Windows. Game developers still have to make accommodations for their games to run properly, most often quality assurance testing and specific Mac updates. In such an environment, here’s how you can find the best Mac games on Steam:
Open Steam from your Dock or Applications folder
Create a new account or log in if you already have one
All featured games (on the first page) should be Mac-compatible (identified by the Apple logo)
Double-click on any title to learn more about it
Click “Add to Card” and then “Purchase for Myself”
Choose Install Game Now
The Steam downloader will automatically start in the background and notify you when complete. Your game will then become available from the Library tab.
A helpful trick for first-time users is to take advantage of the Wishlist function, which adds games to a watchlist and notifies you when they are on sale. You can find the Wishlist button on the game page, near the “Add to Cart” button.
Additionally, you might want to begin your gaming journey with some free games for Mac. In Steam, navigate to the Store tab, then Games, and then Free-to-Play. You can download any of these following the same instructions as purchasing games.
If you find certain games are running slow, especially online, you may want to troubleshoot your internet connection. Mac users have a fantastic option for identifying internet issues in an application called WiFi Explorer.
WiFi Explorer automatically scans your network for coverage conflicts and then suggests tips for resolving them. In just a few seconds, you can see how well your WiFi network is performing, the strength of the signal when you move around your place, and your signal-to-noise ratio — so you can go back to gaming ASAP.
How to uninstall steam on Mac
If you’ve finished a game, or you’re trying to free up space on your drive, you may want to uninstall a Steam game on Mac. But you might be wondering: where does Steam install games? The answer is relatively complex, as Mac structures its application files in such a way that accessing them in the Library can be difficult when compared to the Windows File Explorer. Thankfully, uninstalling games on Steam is easy with its built-in file wizard for Mac. Here’s how to uninstall Steam games on Mac:
Open Steam, then navigate to the Games Library
Right-click on a game and choose Uninstall from the dropdown
Click Uninstall on the confirmation window. The game will be removed automatically from your Mac.
If you’re looking to uninstall the Steam application itself entirely from your Mac, it’s best to uninstall your games first to ensure nothing gets left behind. After that, simply dragging Steam into the Trash wouldn’t be ideal. If you want the most reliable way possible to uninstall Steam on your Mac, you may want to consider using an application designed to do this thoroughly.
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Now that you know how Steam works, and how to install and uninstall games for Mac, you’re ready for gaming with confidence.
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How To Uninstall Games From Steam
When it comes to being the most popular online store for purchasing PC games. There’s no contender to steam. Owned by valve, the steam online store offers one the largest catalogue of PC games. Adding to that steam store is also known to provide regular discounts on most games in their library with most discounts going as high as 75%.
Most of these discounts are offered during major holiday events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. And when you have a wallet full of cash, it’s not an easy job to stay away from the incredible discounts being offered on the steam store.
When the games are being offered at jaw dropping discounts, it’s hard to resist them and most people end up with impulse purchases. This is same with most PC gamers who make use of steam and it’s services. Over time, your steam game library will be filled with too many games, most of which you might have already completed or some that you didn’t like.
Now if you want to delete a few of them, there’s no way you can do so from the steam desktop client. Well until a few months back it was not possible to remove games from your steam library. But now, Steam has finally provided an option to permanently remove games from your steam library.
For those who want to permanently delete games from their Steam game library, here’s how you can do so.
How to Permanently remove games from Steam Library
- Step 1: Head over to https://help.steampowered.com/ and login with your steam account details.
How To Remove Games From Steam Activity
- Step 2: Click on the game that you want to remove.
- Step 3: Click on I want to permanently remove this game from my account.
- Step 4: Ok, remove the listed games from my account permanently.
That’s it, the selected game or games should be permanently removed from your account. But the achievements will still stay in your account.
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