8 Ways to Reduce Steam Web Helper RAM Usage & Boost Your PC Performance

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In This Guide

TRY IT NOW: Quick Ways to Reduce Steam Web Helper RAM Usage

5 Easy Methods to Reduce Steam Web Helper RAM Usage

Method 1. Open Steam in Offline Mode

Method 2. Disable Steam Overlay feature

Method 3. Delete Steam Web Browser Cache

Method 4. Open the Steam Mini Games List

Method 5. Enable Low-Performance Mode

3 Advanced Methods to Boost PC Performance by Lowering Steam Web Helper RAM Usage

Method 6. Disable Hardware-Accelerated Rendering

Method 7. Make a Custom Batch File for Minimal Steam

Method 8. Limit Concurrent Downloads and Updates

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While Steam is an excellent gaming platform, it is not without its flaws. One common issue is that Steam Web Helper uses too much RAM, which can slow down your entire system, especially when running multiple apps. The issue often arises when Steam handles online content. Steam Web Helper loads every time you access the store, game library, or community forums, often causing slowdowns.

You’re probably dealing with this problem if your computer seems slow when Steam is operating or if your Task Manager shows “Steam Web Helper” using up memory.
But fear not, there are ways to fix this problem.

We also have an awesome guide explaining how to upgrade and install some more RAM on your Windows PC.

5 Easy Methods to Reduce Steam Web Helper RAM Usage

Let’s begin with some simple ways that are often effective for the majority of people. 

Method 1. Open Steam in Offline Mode

Starting Steam in Offline Mode reduces the number of Web Helper processes, thereby cutting RAM usage.

• After starting “Steam”, select the “Steam” option in the upper-left corner.
• Choose “Go Offline”.

• Once your selection is confirmed, Steam will resume in offline mode. 

You’re effectively restricting Steam to what’s essential by doing this, which can save up a significant amount of RAM.

Method 2. Disable Steam Overlay feature

Disabling the Steam Overlay reduces background activities that consume memory.

• Open “Steam”, go to “Settings” > “In-Game”. 

• Uncheck “Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game”. 

• Restart “Steam” to apply the change.

Method 3. Delete Steam Web Browser Cache

This is a quick and easy way to reduce memory usage by Steam.

• Open “Steam”, then select “Settings”.

• Navigate to the “Web Browser” area.
• Choose “Delete Web Browser Cache”.

• For the effects to appear, restart “Steam”.

Method 4. Open the Steam Mini Games List

If you don’t require access to the Store or Community tabs when playing games, this option is really helpful.

• Launch the “Run” dialog box in Windows.
• Enter the following text:
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe” -no-browser +open steam://open/minigameslist

• Press ‘Enter’. This forces Steam into a streamlined interface, reducing RAM usage.

Method 5. Enable Low-Performance Mode

For older PCs or laptops with less RAM, enabling Low-Performance Mode can optimize Steam’s efficiency.

• Open “Steam”, and then click “Settings”.

• Search and enable the “Low-Performance Mode” option under the “Library” section.

• Restart “Steam” to apply the setting.

3 Advanced Methods to Boost PC Performance by Lowering Steam Web Helper RAM Usage

If the easy methods don’t yield results, consider the following more advanced steps:

Method 6. Disable Hardware-Accelerated Rendering

Disabling hardware acceleration can help free up RAM by preventing the web helper from using too much memory by shifting graphics work to the CPU.

• Open “Steam”, go to “Settings” > “Interface”.
• Turn off “Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views”. 

• Restart “Steam” to implement the changes.

This small adjustment can significantly reduce RAM utilization, especially on low-resource computers.

Method 7. Make a Custom Batch File for Minimal Steam

To minimize Steam’s RAM usage, create a custom batch file. This starts Steam with only the most basic functions thus, reduces the amount of RAM used by the web helper.  

• Go to the “Steam” installation folder.
• Inside the Steam directory, create a new text file (.txt).

• The commands below should be pasted into the .txt file:
  start steam.exe -dev -console -nofriendsui -no-dwrite -nointro -nobigpicture -nofasthtml -nocrashmonitor -noshaders -no-shared-textures -disablehighdpi -cef-single-process -cef-in-process-gpu -single_core -cef-disable-d3d11 -cef-disable-sandbox -disable-winh264 -cef-force-32bit -no-cef-sandbox -vrdisable -cef-disable-breakpad
• Replace the file name “.txt” with “.bat” to rename the file.

• Ensure that “Steam” is closed.
• Launch the just created .bat file. When Steam first launches, it should have an interface similar to the Steam Mini Games List.

Note that there are situations in which utilizing this setting can cause Steam to crash. If this happens, remove “-cef-disable-breakpad“ from the batch file command.

Method 8. Limit Concurrent Downloads and Updates

Reducing the number of concurrent downloads and updates eases the demand on system resources, which helps the web helper use less RAM.

• Open “Steam”, and then choose “Settings”.

• Open “Downloads” from the menu.
• Reduce the value of “Limit the number of concurrent downloads”.

• Restart “Steam” after making the necessary changes.

And that’s it! By now you should’ve greatly reduced your RAM usage by Steam app.

Note: we have some useful guides on how to hide your Steam activity, and to fix Steam error code 53.