Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Steam Valve portable PC
Image by Valve

How to fix low Steam download speeds during the summer sale

Here's how you can download your games quickly during the Steam summer sale.

The Steam summer sale has finally arrived, meaning hundreds of games are now available at low prices. However, after you purchase your digital cart full of games, you may notice a new, strange issue. Your usual download speed that gets games onto your drive of choice has suddenly plummeted down to single megabytes per second or even less.

Recommended Videos

If you’ve experienced just that recently, don’t worry. Your internet hasn’t suddenly gotten worse, nor has your service provider suddenly placed throttling limits ahead of the summer sale. Instead, it’s much more likely that you’re not the only one trying to download a game. The number of people downloading games is so high in your region that it’s actually slowing Steam itself down.

How to fix low Steam download speeds

The fastest way to work around this is to change the region you download games from to a part of the world where it’s late at night or early in the morning. To change this setting, open up Steam, click on “Steam” in the top left corner of the window, and then select “Settings.” From there, go to the “Downloads” sub-menu, and change your download region.

You’ll have to restart Steam afterward, but once it starts up again, you’ll be able to download your games from a non-congested server. Your speeds may not be as high as they usually are, but they’ll certainly be better than they were on your busy local server.


Gamepur is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy