Stardew Valley is a 2D game in which your character owns and develops a farm. At its core, it sounds like a farming sandbox game - don't get us wrong, that is what it is - but there is a lot more to it than that..

There are five different skills, each being important in some way or another. There's farming (duh), mining, foraging, fishing, and combat. These can all be trained and leveled up, and you'll find yourself needing to do this to progress and gain access to some of the hundreds of pieces of equipment and tools Stardew Valley hosts.

Steam is one of the most popular online gaming stores for gamers everywhere, and it's not just for PC; you can enjoy Steam on your macOS Big Sur Mac too! Here's how to install and download games using Steam for Mac. The following instructions are a simple way to move your Steam installation along with your games: Exit the Steam client application. Browse to the Steam installation folder for the Steam installation you would like to move (C:Program FilesSteam by default).Delete all of the files and folders except the SteamApps & Userdata folders and Steam.exe; Cut and paste the whole Steam folder to the.

Not only are there skills, but there are many other characters that you can (and in some cases have to) develop your relationship with. Some of these characters might buy items from you, sell items to you, and others you might marry! The possibilities are endless...

The game was released in early 2016 and was developed more or less entirely by Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe. It is now available on a vast array of platforms including PC, Mac, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and XBOX One.

Game Save Files Location

You may wish to access your Stardew Valley save files in their raw form (XML) to share them with friends, create a backup, or add someone else's save to your game. The folder that the saves are located in varies based on your operating system, so see help relevant to yours below:

Windows

On Windows, Stardew Valley saves are located within the following path:

If you need help accessing this folder, simply follow these steps:

1. Press WINDOWS + R at the same time (WINDOWS being the windows key that opens the start menu)
2. Enter the following text into the text field: %AppData%StardewValleySaves
3. Hit OK

The path in File Explorer should look like this:

Mac

If you're playing Stardew Valley on a Mac, you can find your game save files at the following folder:

If that doesn't mean anything to you, simply follow the below:

1. Press COMMAND + SPACE on your computer (or click the magnifying glass in the top right)
2. Paste the following text into the text field: ~/.config/StardewValley/Saves
3. Hit ENTER, and the folder will be opened up

Linux

Linux versions of Stardew Valley store game save files at the same location as Mac:

Mod Folder

All of your Stardew Valley mods are located in the Mods folder within your game's installation folder. Where your game's installation folder is varies based on your operating system and what you're using to play Stardew Valley (Steam or GOG). See help for your operating system below:

Windows

Steam

On Steam installations you can find your mods by default at one of the following paths:

Or

If you have changed your Steam library location and are having trouble locating it, see this guide to locate Stardew Valley's installation folder, and in there you will find the Mods folder.

GOG

On GOG installations of Stardew Valley on Windows, you find your mods folder at one of these paths:

OR

OR

Mac

Mac Steam installations of Stardew Valley place mods in the following directory:

To quickly jump to the above path, press COMMAND + SPACE, or click the magnifying glass in the right of your menu bar, paste it in (the text above) and hit ENTER.

If the above path isn't working, you have probably changed the location of your Steam library. You can follow this guide to find out where it is.

If you're playing Stardew Valley via GOG, you can find your Mods at the following path:

To quickly jump to the above path, press COMMAND + SPACE, or click the magnifying glass in the right of your menu bar, paste it in (the text above) and hit ENTER.

Linux

On Linux, Steam Stardew Valley installation mods are found in this folder:

And GOG installations of Stardew Valley are found in this folder:

Are you the one struggling with the Steam not recognizing installed game issues? Don’t know why does Steam not detecting installed games?

Or what to do when steam doesn’t recognize installed games.

RELAX!!! In this article, I’ll help you to solve all your queries and know how to get steam to recognize installed games?

Steam helps the users to manage all their games from one place. This is very helpful and makes the works a lot easier for gamers.

But, nowadays many gamers are found encountering various Steam related issues. So here in this article, I am going to discuss one such problem – steam not recognizing installed game the players are facing and found reporting on the forums threads.

Steam not detecting installed games on your system is the issue that interrupts the user’s time to time so here check out the complete information why Steam is not installing and how to resolve steam doesn’t detect installed games issue.

Let’s get started…!

Why does Steam not Recognize Installed Game?

Here check out the possible reason why steam stopped recognizing installed games.

• The problem appears when you clean install the Windows and keep the backup of the Steam app folder that comprises games files and other data.
• Something wrong with the game installation

You can move it back to Steam installation folder only to let Steam to re-download the game data back

So, if having the same issue, then here follow the tricks to force Steam to recognize the installed games.

How do I Get Steam to Recognize Installed Games?

#1: Reinstall the Games without Downloading

This is the easiest solution that works for you when Steam fails in recognizing the installed games, it shows an option to install the games again.

Well, if you are having game data in the Steam apps folder, then you would force Steam to detect the games by starting the game installation problem.

Follow the steps to do so:

• First, start Steam > go to Games.

• Now choose & click > install for the games that Steam failed to identify.
• And after installing the steam world start determining the existing game files.

Hope after doing this the Steam not detecting installed games issue is solved. But if still, the issues persist then follow the next solution.

#2. Identify Games from New Drive

Check if the main drive (default installation location of Steam) has sufficient space for installing the entire games.

If it is not having enough space to install games then move game data to the new hard drive and after that add the Game Library Folder manually in the Steam app.

Follow the given instructions to do so:

• If you desire your games should be in the D:/games directory > then create a subdirectory and name it “Steamappscommon”. The folder looks like D:>Games > steamapps>common
• And as the subdirectory is generated > move entire games to the newly-created directory.
• After moving games, it looks like:
  • D:>Games >steamapps >common >Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag
  • D: >Games >steamapps >common > Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead
• Next, from the desktop,> start the Steam app
• And click on Steam > Settings > click the Downloads tab

• And under Content Libraries section > choose Steam Library Folder

• Then click on Add Library Folder > move to the location where the games are moved in D:/games/your_subdirectory.

• Now click on Select > Close for saving the library folder.
• Lastly exit Steam > restart it.

And now Steam scans the newly selected Library folder > display entire games as installed.

#3: Manually Add Steam Library Folder

In the installation disk in the Steamapps folder steam stores the game data by default. But if you had a custom location to store game data then try adding the location in the Steam app to fix the Steam doesn’t recognize installed games.

Here follow the steps to do so:

• First, launch and click on Steam > choose Settings

• And click on Downloads tab > Steam Library Folders.

• Next, in the pop-up window > click on Add Library Folder > choose the location where entire the Steam game data is saved.

Cant Find Installation Directory For Steam Machine

• Click on Select > close the Steam settings.

• And exit Steam app > restart Steam

I hope now, Steam starts detecting the installed games again and shows the games in the folder.

#4. Utilize .acf Cache to Force Steam to Recognize Games

After taking the Steamapps folder backup with entire game data, utilize the Steam cache files to force recognize steam games from the game data.

Follow the steps to do it:

1. Verify you have reinstalled Steam or have existing installation.
2. Now move game data to C: > Program Files (x86) > Steam > Steamapps folder.
3. And launch Steam > now steam might display some games that are installed correctly.
4. But for the games that not show as installed > choose and click on the Install button
5. And steam starts detecting entire existing files.
6. But if still, Steam won’t recognize existing files > it starts downloading the files and progress read 0%.
7. Now pause updating for games > exit Steam
8. Next go to C: > Program Files (x86) > Steam >Steamapps > locate entire current .acf files.

1. And copy entire .acf files > move it to a new folder > outside the Steamapps folder.
2. Again relaunch Steam > and in the Games library, > affected games appears as uninstalled.
3. Exit Steam.
4. Now move entire .acf files back into C: > Program Files (x86) > Steam > Steamapps folder.

1. Lastly, restart Steam > go the Game library > click Resume Updating the games you paused before.

Well, if everything works well then the entire games you installed earlier will appear as installed. So if any update is needed than update it.

#5: Check the Game’s integrity through Steam

This may work to fix steam doesn’t recognize installed games. Try verifying the integrity of the game cache of your operating system.

Cant Find Installation Directory For Steam Machine

Follow the step given:

• From the library section,> load Steam > right click on game > from the menu choose Properties
• Now choose Local files tab > click Verify integrity of game cache button
• And steam starts verifying the game’s files.
• This may take several minutes, wait for the whole process to complete.

And restart your steam, hope this fixes the steam not detecting the issue of the installed game.

#6: Use Steam’s own Backup and Restore Function

Cant Find Installation Directory For Steam Machines

You can use steam’s own backup and restore function to copy the game between the PCs to resolve the problem.

Here you need the 65GB of free space on the home computer and 65GB somewhere else like USB drive, or a portable hard drive or USB key. Or else you can a folder on the main system and share it over the network.

Follow the steps to perform the backup and restore:

• In your library > right click on the game > choose Backup Game Files.
• And to do the restore choose Backup and Restore Games > from Steam menu at the top left
• Now make to delete the game files you have copied to the home computer.

Conclusion:

Hope the solutions given works for you to fix the Steam not Detecting Installed Games issues.

Well, this is a common problem that many users are struggling but it can be fixed after following the solutions given.

So, try the solutions given one by one to make the steam recognize the installed games. Hope the article helps you to solve your problem.

Well sometimes the issues might be internal and can’t be fixed manually so, in this case, you can scan your system with the PC Repair Tool, this is an advanced tool that fixes various computers issues and errors just by scanning once. And boost the Windows PC performance.

However, is you have any query, suggestions, regarding the ones presented then fee-free to share it with us in the comment section below.

Hardeep Kaur

Hardeep has always been a Windows lover ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP PC. She has always been enthusiastic about technological stuff, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing. Before joining PC Error Fix, she worked as a freelancer and worked on numerous technical projects.