Steam officially stopped supporting Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems on January 1, 2024. Those who have the Steam client installed on a computer running one of the above operating systems should note that it will no longer receive updates, including several critical security updates.
Steam Support will also not be able to offer technical assistance to users still using these older operating systems. Valve also cannot guarantee the uninterrupted operation and security of the Steam client or even games purchased through the client on unsupported versions of the Windows operating system. Users are encouraged to upgrade their operating system to a newer version such as Windows 10 or 11 to ensure that Steam and its games continue to function properly. The change is necessary because several of Steam’s core features rely on a built-in version of Google Chrome that no longer works on older versions of Windows.
Future versions of Steam will also require features and security updates that are only available on the Windows 10 operating system or later. With Microsoft announcing the end of security updates and technical support for Windows 7 from 2020 and Windows 8.1 from 2023, certain older versions of Microsoft’s operating system are now more vulnerable to hacking attacks or malware and exploits when connected to the Internet. Certain malware can negatively affect computer performance, create stability issues for the Steam client and games, or even be used to steal your Steam account credentials.
Valve urges Steam users to update their PC operating system to a supported version of Windows in order to continue to run Steam safely.
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