Steam is down for many —here's what we know about the 'loading user data' issue

On October 26, 2026, Steam users have been experiencing a persistent issue that prevents them from logging in, with thousands of reports flooding in from Downdetector and social media platforms. The problem seems to have started gradually rather than abruptly, with reports beginning to rise around 4:30am ET / 9:30am BST. Despite the steady stream of complaints, Valve, the company behind Steam, has yet to release an official statement or update regarding the issue.

The Steam Dashboard remains unaffected, showing no signs of an official problem; instead, the issue appears to stem from a software bug or outage. Users across the globe, including those in Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia, are reporting being unable to log in. The loading screen that users are stuck on - "loading user data" - is particularly resistant to common troubleshooting methods, such as closing games, restarting PCs, and clearing cache.

There is currently no apparent connection between the issue and routine maintenance, as those typically occur on Wednesdays at 00:00 UTC. Despite the widespread nature of the problem, the Steam Dashboard continues to show no official issues, leading users to believe that the problem is not due to a network outage. As of 9:40am ET, the spike in reports is growing rapidly in both the US and UK, with nearly everyone reporting the same struggle.

Although there has been no official response from Valve, a reporter is attempting to secure a statement and will provide an update as soon as one is received.