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12

I have many games on Steam and many more I will buy, but I have a problem and I hope you can point me a solution.

When I download a game, is it possible to launch and play a single player game under Steam and continue downloading others games in the meanwhile.

Steam blocks my download as soon as I launch a game, every game.

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12  
I assume that Steam thinks you want to play online and downloading will hurt your ping. – ChrisF Jul 19 '10 at 22:55
4  
We really should be able to configure this on a per-game basis. I like to play offline because I can leave other things downloading in the meantime. – Matheus Moreira Mar 19 '11 at 3:32
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I filed a support ticket asking Valve to at least not pause downloads when they know the game you're launching does not support multiplayer (they obviously can't for non-Steam games or games which have both singleplayer and multiplayer). That must've been two years ago or so... ;) – Cort Aug 6 '11 at 17:19
Click "Play" on the second game and it will force Steam to download that first and in the background while you're playing another game. – Kurian Jun 16 at 14:11

5 Answers

up vote 89 down vote accepted

The way I do it is:

  1. Pause all of the downloads manually.
  2. Launch the game I want to play.
  3. Alt-Tab back to Steam window, resume all downloads manually.
  4. Alt-Tab back to the game and enjoy.

It seems that it only stops the download for you on launching a game. I have not found an "official" way to do it, but this way works until they give us one.

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That works, I do that too. – Edison Gustavo Muenz Jul 20 '10 at 4:31
Nice and simple, thanks :) – NPC Jul 20 '10 at 10:15
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Lies and slander, Maciej. This still works. Thanks! – user7811 Mar 15 '11 at 14:39
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That depends on the game you're playing, some games crash on Alt-Tab. – migo Mar 19 '11 at 6:46
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This solution doesn't work anymore, or at least doesn't work with the Dota2 beta. The download is "suspended", not paused, so I can't resume it. I can pause it however, then resume it, but it gets "suspended" again after a few seconds. – Codemonkey Dec 8 '12 at 4:52
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up vote 14 down vote
+100

Steam used to block all downloads as soon as you launched a game. However, there is no need for a workaround anymore, thanks to the new content system: when you download a game, it is possible to launch and play a single player game under Steam and continue downloading others games in the meanwhile.

Fixed downloading new update while game is still running

Reference: Steam client updates.

In addition, the new content system will allow us to build several new features that we’ve often heard requested. Upcoming client releases will include things like download scheduling, bandwidth throttling, and prioritizing which games get downloaded first. You’ll also be able to download an update to a game while you’re playing that game; Steam will apply the update after you exit the game.

Reference: Steam news.

Some people are talking about downloads being suspended, but I have never experienced this problem. I suggest choosing another server and trying again if this happens to you.

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I see only updates are mentioned; does it also work when downloading entire games? – Oak♦ Dec 11 '12 at 7:10
I have recently downloaded games that way too (Mark of the Ninja while playing L.A. Noire), but could not find an official statement about it. – wok Dec 11 '12 at 7:47
Not a good update: store.steampowered.com/news/9951 – wok Feb 14 at 19:49
up vote 5 down vote
  1. While playing, hold Ctrl, Alt, and Del to go to pick a menu.
  2. Pick the "Start Task Manager" then you can go to window.
  3. Open steam then resume the downloading then click the picture where you were playing.
  4. ENJOY!
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11  
This is essentially doing the same thing as in Zemm's answer but with a different way of getting out of the Steam game. – Mana♦ Aug 6 '11 at 14:39
up vote 2 down vote

After the game was started, you may also ALT-TAB back into steam, and then right-click and press "Pause Download" (even though it says "Paused" already), and then right-click and choose "Resume Download". I have noticed that some games do not pause your downloads, but most games do.

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up vote 1 down vote

This FAQ article on the Steam website seems to indicate that the old process should still work.

Steam pauses downloads upon launching a game in order to prevent interference with connection quality that the game may need.

If you wish to bypass this feature, press Alt+Tab (or Command+Tab for Mac users) to minimize the game and return to the Steam client.

Under the Library tab, select Downloads from the drop-down menu and click the "Resume All" button. This will have all downloads continue downloading.

[NOTE: If you wish to only continue an individual download, you may click the Resume button for that title located in the bottom right-hand corner of the title's download bar.]

Furthermore, when I tried to replicate this issue, my Steam client didn't even pause my current downloads when I started up a game via the Steam library:

enter image description here

There are also a number of requests on Steam's forum asking for this to be implemented an option within the Steam client.

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protected by Community♦ Aug 24 '11 at 15:51

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