How to Verify Integrity of Game Files on Steam
A game is crashing, missing textures, or behaving oddly, and you want Steam to re-check it and repair anything broken.
Why: Verifying compares your installed files against Steam’s known-good copies and re-downloads only the ones that are missing or corrupted. It’s the safest first repair — it doesn’t wipe the whole game.
Fix 1: Verify the game files
- Restart your computer and open Steam, then go to your Library.
- Right-click the game’s title and choose Properties.
- Open the Installed Files tab.
- Click Verify integrity of game files.
- Wait for it to finish — depending on the game’s size and your connection, this can take several minutes. Steam re-downloads any bad or missing files automatically.
When it’s done, launch the game and check whether the problem is gone.
Fix 2: If verification keeps finding the same problem
Repeated failures usually point at the drive or a program touching the files.
- Don’t run verification at the same time as a disk defrag, antivirus scan, or another game’s verify — those can make files look “wrong.”
- Add your Steam install folder as an exclusion in your antivirus, then verify again from a fresh restart.
- If a specific drive keeps corrupting files, check that disk for errors before re-verifying.
FAQ
It says some files “failed to validate” — did it not work? That message is normal. The files that fail are your local configuration files, which Steam deliberately leaves alone. Everything else has been checked and repaired.
Will verifying delete my saves or settings? No. It only replaces game files that don’t match Steam’s copy; your saves and local config are untouched.
How long does it take? Anywhere from under a minute to many minutes for a large game — it has to read every file and re-download any that are bad.
When should I use this? Any time a game crashes on launch, shows missing/garbled graphics, or won’t update — it’s the standard first repair before reinstalling.