What does the progress bar just below a steam download signify?

What does the progress bar just below a steam download signify? - Crop anonymous barista pressing aromatic coffee beans into filter block by using tamper while standing in light kitchen nearby professional brewing machine

On Steam, whenever a download is taking place, there are two progress bars: One on the bottom which is global to the Steam application, and the other is only visible in the Downloads screen.

I am referring, of course, to this bar: Bar



Best Answer

The bar at the bottom represents the download progress, which is measured simply in amount downloaded vs. total amount to download, both in bytes.

The bar for the individual games represents patching progress, measured in patch changes applied to the game files.

But in the picture above, are you telling me that more than 75% of the installation has completed when only 5% of the download is finished?

The two bars may progress in a different way:

  • There may be many small changes in an update. These small changes can be easy to compress, thus having a tiny effect on the download bar while accounting for most of the patching progress.

  • Combined with new, larger files which will weigh much more on the download bar than on the patching bar, you get a discrepancy.

In your specific case, I imagine the "many small differences"-bit was downloaded first, representing most of the changes needing to be made, before larger, single-change files (new content?) were added.




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Why is my Steam download done but still downloading?

This usually happens either if the download get's stuck, or more commonly it will happen if the download hasn't finished installing. If the game has downloaded but not fully installed it will still show as "downloading" as steam installs the game files.

Why is my Steam download network usage so low?

Your download speed may be slow because you're using a wrong network driver or it's out of date. You should update this driver to see if that's the case for you. If you don't have the time, patience or skills to update your drivers yourself, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Why does Steam have 2 download bars?

The bar at the bottom represents the download progress, which is measured simply in amount downloaded vs. total amount to download, both in bytes. The bar for the individual games represents patching progress, measured in patch changes applied to the game files.

How do I fix a stuck download on Steam?

You can fix the Steam not downloading error by repairing the Steam library folders. Just go Settings > Download > Steam Library Folders and right-click on the folder. Then, click on the Repair Library Folder option. Other things to try out are clearing out Steam's download cache or changing Steam's download region.



How to FIX Slow Download Speeds Steam Games (Fast Method!)




More answers regarding what does the progress bar just below a steam download signify?

Answer 2

That bar that you have highlighted, that appears on each individual game in the download section is the update / download progress of the individual game. That bar in the screenshot is telling you that Dota2 is updating, probably due to a patch, and that is the progress of the update.

You have auto update enabled, therefore any time Valve releases a patch for Dota2 you will see that update occurring.

Answer 3

It's the game installation/update progress. That includes everything to have the game up and running, without counting the first time setup.

So it includes data allocation, download, unpack and install.

The lower global bar represents the same but globally, that is, it counts all your current installation processes.

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