Steam announces end of support for Windows 10 32-Bit, saying only 0.01% of PCs are still running it

Valve has announced Steam will be ending support for 32-bit versions of Windows 10 at the turn of the year, citing the fact that only 0.01% of current Steam users are on the operating system. The 64-bit versions of Windows 10 will continue to be supported.

"As of January 1 2026, Steam will stop supporting systems running 32-bit versions of Windows," reads a Valve blogpost. "Windows 10 32-bit is the only 32-bit version that is currently supported by Steam and is only in use on 0.01% of systems reported through the Steam Hardware Survey. Windows 10 64-bit will still be supported and 32-bit games will still run."

The only solution for those still hanging on to their beloved 32-bit jalopies is to upgrade.

"Steam Support will be unable to offer users technical support for issues related to the old operating systems, and Steam will be unable to guarantee continued functionality of Steam on the unsupported operating system versions. To ensure continued updates and compatibility, users should update to a 64-bit version of Windows.

"This change is required as core features in Steam rely on system drivers and other libraries that are not supported on 32-bit versions of Windows. Future versions of Steam will run on 64-bit versions of Windows only. We strongly encourage all 32-bit Windows users to update sooner rather than later."

An ASCII shrug emoji displayed in Windows 10.

Valve has arguably held on longer than most: Microsoft first announced it would be ending support for 32-bit systems back in 2020. Heck, the company is way past Windows 10 at this point, as anyone still running Windows 10 will know from the constant wheedling requests to upgrade.

Those current Steam users on Windows 10 32-bit will find that the client should "continue to function for the near term" but there will be no further updates.

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Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

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