FIX: When Steam Stuck Preallocating Disk Space (2022)

Are you having trouble downloading or upgrading your games? Don’t worry. It happens to everyone!

Many users have reported facing this problem with Steam

While Steam allows gamers using Mac, Windows, PlayStation, and other gaming consoles to manage their favorite games, the digital platform isn’t immune to malware and bugs interrupting its operations.

It can be annoying for a well-known global software to curb your enthusiasm due to internal malfunctions. 

Whatever Steam is dealing with, you will be able to take a load off and play your favorite games with these tried and tested quick fixes.

Before we remedy your problem, let’s discuss how it came about in the first place. 

Let’s talk about the common issues Steam users deal with, how they come up, common resolutions, and how you can avoid them in the future.

Ready to blow off some steam?

Table of Contents

Common Issues for Games on Steam

Steam is a digital platform that cultivates efficiency.

It’s not only cost-effective but efficiently stores gaming software on your device.

Steam allocates the storage needed to accommodate games.

All games run on various programs with encrypted files, and Steam helps optimize efficiency by rearranging or rewriting its data for faster retrieval and processing.

However, issues may pop up if you have or encounter any one of these issues:

  • Your internet has low bandwidth.
  • The inferior, subpar, or aged specifications of your device.
  • Your device’s configurations.
  • Firewall blocks.
  • Lagging or congested download Cache.
  • Overclocking.

If your computer is dealing with any of these issues, you should deal with them as soon as you can. 

Once you address these issues, you can download your favorite games on Steam and upgrade your current ones.

However, one of the most commonly reported issues is when a Steam update is stuck on pre-allocating mode.

When this happens, the underlying issues are often with storage capacity. 

What Do I Do When Steam Download Gets Stuck on Pre-allocating?

Typically, clearing your cache is enough to do the trick. 

It can be as easy as one, two, and three! No, really. It only takes a few steps to clear your cache.

Try this oldie but goodie technique:

Step 1: Launch Steam on your device.

Step 2: Click ‘Settings’ and proceed to ‘Downloads.’

Step 3: Click Clear Download Cache.

Once you have completed these steps, click ‘OK’ for the process to begin. 

You can now re-open Steam Client to retry downloading and upgrading your games.

If this doesn’t work, try our other solutions for more comprehensive allocating issues on Steam.

Alternatively, you can allocate more RAM to your device to avoid continuous cache clearing and app offloading.

The Corsair Vengeance LPX is a discrete DDR4 you can add to your PC or laptop. 

What Are Other Solutions for Steam Not Allocating Disk Space?

Besides clearing your cache, there are other things you can try.

Not all lags or malware have something to do with the cache.

Have you ever rage quit a game you were losing?

Force-quitting an ongoing Steam process is a form of rage quitting, and it has proven helpful in some cases. 

According to some users, they have forcibly quit Steam at one time or another when dealing with its issues, and most of the time, it has been effective in remedying the problem.

How to Force Quit Steam on PC

Try to force quit or “end task” the Steam operation and relaunch it as an admin

This is a little more tedious than clearing your cache, but let’s try it.

Step 1

Hold ‘CTRL SHIFT & ESC’ down together. 

OR

You can also click the ‘Windows Key’ 

(on the bottom-left of your keyboard) 

together with the letter ‘R.’

Type in ‘taskmgr.exe’ to open Task Manager

and proceed below.

Step 2: Click ‘More Details’ to expand its view.

Here you will see the many functions your computer is running. 

Step 3: Click ‘Details.’

(Press Name to sort programs in alphabetical order.)

Step 4: Left-click on Steam.exe and press ‘End Task’ on all Steam programs if there’s more than one running simultaneously.

Step 5: Right-click on the Steam App if you have a shortcut on your desktop.

(If you don’t have a shortcut, copy-paste C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam on your desktop’s search bar.)

Step 6: Once the file location window is open, right-click on Steam.exe and click on ‘Properties.’

Step 7: Pick the ‘Compatibility’ tab to manage its settings.

Step 8: Check the box for ‘Run this program as administrator.’

Step 9: Click ‘OK.’

Once you have completed all the steps above, relaunch the Steam Client app and manage it as an administrator. 

Check if you can now install or upgrade applications without further allocating difficulties.

If you are still running into allocating problems, files may be congested with data bottle-necking somewhere in transmission.

Luckily, there’s an easier way you can deal with digital traffic jams.

How to Refresh Steam Installations

When you refresh Steam, it can offload the app of unnecessary files lingering in its software.

It can replace, repair, or restore any non-functional and corrupted files

Typically, you uninstall and reinstall apps on devices when they start malfunctioning. 

However, that’s not an option for Steam users.

The app stores all programs in its storage, and deleting or uninstalling Steam will take everything saved on its way out.

That’s all your games and their upgrades, gone. 

Here’s how you can refresh the app without affecting the files saved within it.

Step 1: Launch the Steam app.

Step 2: Click ‘More Details’ and locate Steam.exe.

Step 3: Click ‘End Task’ to force quit the app and halt all its current operations.

Step 4: Right-click on your Steam app and choose ‘Open file location.’

Step 5: Select ALL folders EXCEPT the Steam.exe executable and SteamApps folder.

Step 6: Right-click for the folder’s Context Menu to appear.

Step 7: Click ‘Delete.’

Once everything is deleted, relaunch the app by double-clicking the Steam.exe executable to reinstall all Steam folders. 

This technique should refresh everything in your cache, including its servers and the program, and be ready to go.

Try installing or upgrading games now; you shouldn’t encounter any disk allocating errors.

Remember that you can execute these steps with an allocating error message open on another window.

Blow Off Some Steam

Hopefully, we’ve helped you figure things out for your Steam’s allocating issues.

However, we should remind you that sufficient storage on your device can help you avoid encountering any issues with allocation in the future.

Minor lags and other transmission-disrupting issues can be prevented by sufficient internal storage

If you want to make an upgrade, check out the 2021 HP Omen 15 Gaming Laptop for seamless gaming installations and endless upgrades. 

Its DDR4 Ram is considered one of the best for gaming purposes.

Remember, there’s no need to worry when your Steam update is stuck in pre-allocating mode.

Getting your Steam engine back on track won’t take too much of your time and resources.

You can do plenty alone at home; no professional help is necessary.