steam_api64.dll is missing or fails to load: what the file is and how to fix it
steam_api64.dll is the Steam Client API, the Valve library a 64-bit game uses to talk to Steam for achievements, cloud saves, friends and multiplayer. Every Steam game that uses it ships its own copy in its own folder. When a game says the file is missing, the copy was deleted, quarantined by security software or replaced by a mod, and Steam can put the right one back.
Prefer to fix it yourself? The manual steps follow.
How to fix steam_api64.dll errors
The file belongs to the game that shows the error, not to Windows and not to a package you can install. Open Steam, right-click the game in your Library, choose Properties, then Installed Files, and click Verify integrity of game files. Steam compares every file of the game with the version on its servers and downloads what is missing or changed, steam_api64.dll included, in exactly the build that game was made with. If the file disappears again after the verify, your security software is removing it: look at its protection history before you do anything else.
A steam_api64.dll from a DLL download site or from another game is not the fix. Each game is built against one version of the Steamworks SDK and expects the matching file, so a copy from elsewhere either fails with an entry point error or loads and then breaks achievements, saves or multiplayer.
Which games and programs ship steam_api64.dll
Valve gives the library to game developers as part of the Steamworks SDK, and the developer puts it next to the game's .exe or in an engine subfolder. That is why there is no single steam_api64.dll on a PC: there is one per game, each in the version the game was built with. These are the cases you will meet.
| Program | Made by | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| 64-bit Steam games that use Steamworks | Valve Corporation (library), shipped by the game's developer | Achievements, cloud saves, friends, invites, workshop items and the overlay go through this file. Each game keeps its own copy, usually in steamapps\common\<game> next to the .exe. Verifying the game restores it. |
| Unreal Engine games on Steam | Valve Corporation, packaged with the engine's Steam plugin | The copy often sits deeper in the game folder, in an engine folder for third-party libraries. The error still names the file only, so search the whole game folder before you assume it is gone. |
| Unity and other engine games on Steam | Valve Corporation, added through the game's Steam integration | Often next to the .exe or in the game's Plugins folder under its _Data folder. A Failed to load message points here when the file exists but cannot be loaded. |
| 32-bit Steam games: steam_api.dll | Valve Corporation | A separate file, the 32-bit twin of steam_api64.dll. A 32-bit game never loads steam_api64.dll, and renaming one into the other does not work: the architectures differ. |
| The Steam client itself | Valve Corporation | Steam's own folder holds steamclient64.dll and steamclient.dll, which the game's steam_api64.dll connects to. They are different files. Reinstalling Steam does not restore a game's steam_api64.dll; verifying the game does. |
| Games from other stores and launchers | Their own publishers | A game bought outside Steam usually has no steam_api64.dll and does not need one. If such a game asks for it, a Steam build, a mod or a modified copy of the game is involved. |
Step by step
- Restart Steam and start the game from your Library. Close Steam completely (Steam menu, Exit), start it again, sign in with the account that owns the game and launch the game from the Library. A Steam game started from a desktop shortcut or its .exe while Steam is closed or signed out can fail at the same point as a missing file.
- Look at your security software's protection history. In Windows Security open Virus and threat protection, Protection history; other security programs have a quarantine or a history list of their own. If steam_api64.dll from a Steam library folder is listed, you know why it is gone. Do not restore it yet: the verify in the next step brings back a clean copy from Steam anyway.
- Verify integrity of game files. In Steam right-click the game, choose Properties, Installed Files, Verify integrity of game files. Wait until it finishes and do not run it for several games at once. Steam replaces missing and changed files. A message that one or more files failed to verify is normal: those are local settings files that Steam does not replace.
- If the file was removed again, deal with the detection. Only for a game you installed through Steam: when the security program removes Valve's copy a second time, it is a false positive. Restore the file from quarantine or verify again, then allow that one file or the game's folder in the security program and report the file to its maker as a false detection. Never allow a file that came from a cracked copy of the game.
- Remove mods and launchers that replaced the file. Some mods, unlockers and offline launchers rename the original steam_api64.dll (to a .bak, _o or similar name) and put their own in its place, often with a .ini file or a settings folder next to it. Remove them with the mod's own uninstaller, then verify the game: Steam puts Valve's file back, but it leaves the extra files the mod added.
- Repair the Steam library folder. If several games fail, open Steam, Settings, Storage, select the drive, open the menu next to the library and choose Repair Folder. It fixes the permissions of the library folder so that Steam can write files again. Then verify the game once more.
- Reinstall the game. Uninstall it from the Steam Library, then check that its folder in steamapps\common is gone (move your own save files first if the game stores them there) and install it again. A clean install also removes files that a verify leaves in place.
What not to do
Do not download steam_api64.dll from a DLL site.
You cannot know which game or SDK version the file came from, or whether it is Valve's at all. Cracked and modified versions of this file circulate widely, and a file of unknown origin inside a game folder runs with your rights every time you play.
Do not copy the file from another game.
It is Valve's file in both folders, but not the same build. Each game asks the library for the interfaces of the SDK version it was built with, and a copy from another game often lacks them. The result is the procedure entry point error, or a game that starts without achievements, saves in the cloud or online play.
Do not restore a quarantined copy from a cracked or repacked game.
In those copies steam_api64.dll is usually replaced by a Steam emulator, and malware is often bundled with such downloads. A detection there may be correct. Restoring it and switching protection off is how infections from free game downloads start.
Do not put steam_api64.dll into System32 or SysWOW64.
Windows does not use it from there, and games look in their own folder first. A copy in the Windows folders fixes nothing and stays behind, unknown, for every program that might load it.
Do not rename steam_api.dll to steam_api64.dll.
steam_api.dll is the 32-bit library and steam_api64.dll the 64-bit one. A 64-bit game cannot load a 32-bit file under any name; Windows answers with error 0xc000007b or a Failed to load message.
Check the copy on your PC
Choose the steam_api64.dll from your game folder. Its checksum is calculated in your browser and compared with 24 copies of the file collected from PCs, all reporting Valve Corporation.
The file stays on your computer. Nothing is uploaded: the checksum is computed locally.
Found a steam_api64.dll with a .ini file or a settings folder next to it, in a game you did not buy on Steam, or outside any game folder? Then the question is whether it is Valve's file at all, and that is a security question rather than a missing-file one. Is steam_api64.dll Valve's file or a crack? On 2-Spyware
The error messages and what each one means
The wording points to the cause: a missing file, a file of the wrong version, a file that cannot be loaded, or a game that cannot reach Steam. These are the texts Windows and games show, with the file name filled in.
The code execution cannot proceed because steam_api64.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 wording. The game's own copy is gone: deleted, quarantined, or moved by a mod. Check the protection history, then verify the game files in Steam.
The program can't start because steam_api64.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
The same situation in the older Windows wording. Same fix: verify the game files, or reinstall the game.
The procedure entry point SteamAPI_... could not be located in the dynamic link library steam_api64.dll.
A steam_api64.dll was found, but it is not the build the game needs: the function named after SteamAPI_ is missing from it. Typical after copying the file from another game or a download site, or after a mod replaced it. Verify the game files so Steam puts back the matching copy.
Failed to load steam_api64.dll
Shown by the game or its engine rather than Windows. The file exists but could not be loaded: it is damaged, blocked, the 32-bit file under the 64-bit name, or held by a security scan. Verify the game files; if it repeats, look at the protection history.
steam_api64.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error.
Windows found the file but it is damaged or not a valid 64-bit library, often after an interrupted download or a disk error. Verify the game files. If several games show it, check the drive and repair the Steam library folder.
Steam must be running to play this game / SteamAPI_Init() failed
The file loaded correctly. The game could not reach a running Steam client signed in to an account that owns it. Start Steam, sign in, and launch the game from the Library. Steam may then restart the game through itself, which is expected.
Faulting module name: steam_api64.dll
A line from the Application log in Event Viewer after a crash. Look at the Faulting module path of the same event: a path outside the game's Steam folder, or a copy you did not expect, points to a mod or a modified file. Inside the Steam folder, verify the game and update it.
File facts
steam_api64.dll is the 64-bit Steamworks API library. A game calls it at start-up to connect to the Steam client that is running on the PC, and through it reaches achievements, statistics, leaderboards, cloud saves, friends lists, invites, workshop content and the in-game overlay. The library itself does little on its own: it hands the game's requests to Steam. That is why a game with a healthy file can still stop with a message that Steam must be running. What the catalogue copies of the file report:
- Description in the file
- Steam Client API
- Company in the file
- Valve Corporation
Valve's Steamworks documentation tells developers to ship steam_api64.dll in the game's run-time directory, next to the executable or in its DLL search path, and Windows looks there first when the game starts. A Steam game therefore keeps it in its own folder under steamapps\common, sometimes in an engine subfolder, and never in the Windows folders. The genuine file describes itself as Steam Client API from Valve Corporation (Properties, Details) and is a few hundred kilobytes, about 110 KB to 410 KB across the copies listed below. Its file version does not tell you the SDK version and differs from game to game, so the only reliable comparison is the copy Steam installs for that game.
Copies of steam_api64.dll found on PCs
Public DLL catalogues have collected 24 copies of steam_api64.dll uploaded from PCs, from version 1.10.1.46 to 5.25.65.21, all reporting Valve Corporation as the company. Each one came from some game's folder. The table lists them with their checksums, so you can tell whether your file is one of them.
None of them is the right file for your game unless it came from that same game. Games are built against different SDK releases and the newest copy here, 5.25.65.21, is not a newer replacement for an older one. If your copy matches an entry, it is most likely a genuine Valve build; whether it fits the game is something only Steam's verify can confirm.
| Version | Build | Size | MD5 | SHA-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
5.25.65.21 | 64-bit | 287 KB | 2bca4e2c047ec969cb3cff277e7fc184 | c4b5b00b605e59c6fdcb6731f2e53069506e287a |
4.95.20.30 | 64-bit | 276 KB | 8fe4f5f3feefc50f25c5a1cd8485ba98 | c7eeddb97d831cf2d20e8d40d1fcc7d0ecd71a43 |
4.28.51.7 | 64-bit | 246 KB | 2a09ae29b5613645a4b30e9deea68042 | e77433094c56433685a68a4436e81b76c3b5e1f5 |
4.4.91.85 | 64-bit | 246 KB | 3a0b908e4d059125dd79d9014f5b67a9 | 75576f6a714b7255cbb4910348d241b90466b52a |
3.92.72.58 | 64-bit | 236 KB | c89d102f8445e9c59e11fba0e9981ba4 | 8c26b331beff366e42ba5a712e7dcb82822e483d |
3.75.32.7 | 64-bit | 236 KB | 6c23eab28f1cd1bfd128934b08288dd8 | fa732757f9aaa47e8de4ecfcabc07b5df4f0f1cf |
3.62.82.82 | 64-bit | 236 KB | cac66a8487a2ef6d3b1b8a66c20d1c12 | dd3cd391674d87ff0d333750a5e9ec9d42816e2a |
3.42.61.66 | 64-bit | 225 KB | 1711464a23e9a0c222a361c3fcf3c318 | f5e437ee0e6ceab67f97b1741a32f47a4fbc22e2 |
3.27.76.74 | 64-bit | 236 KB | 35ba2adf15a1e5207217b38cabbff86c | e0f79405d89fe0b6a879a8872b464ebb72f841e3 |
3.4.27.90 | 64-bit | 205 KB | 34c73cab1fc0c1b67094972b20904676 | d1385f6e028e00d64d9fb006cdc5180e4c81427b |
2.89.45.4 | 64-bit | 205 KB | c23fae46b9a6475a665cbe20949fd632 | 59ac74f6293b7fabe1a3023846ebc74ec97b1f1c |
2.77.37.82 | 64-bit | 205 KB | a96f0f6c0c22741d255efb8618a69c30 | 62c2c379282d0838a66241a94fddbe00c8207087 |
2.59.51.43 | 64-bit | 205 KB | e74bb536609af123b702bc0deb7ba2cd | 34206b5fc3f7fb80d6b38be5666a4b27d801c6a1 |
2.37.91.26 | 64-bit | 164 KB | 171fbeb3d24c092beb383bcd3118bd2c | 31e7b82953fe089e4b2f87cfd6686a8572ba981f |
2.8.75.99 | 64-bit | 123 KB | 94b00b9c7ce7ecc5172eea6de5ef199a | 5b94040355780bd96bd3062ac418b4afc957e213 |
1.98.31.73 | 64-bit | 123 KB | 256f1c99ba0d6fc6144b0976f5b50162 | f493c507be4c849dff5242304e8b907206eb0077 |
1.68.8.89 | 64-bit | 113 KB | 0e5609cd03105edc4d0d4d15dae9ffc8 | 00a1e96562d5392c01af8bd41d04260bb28c0383 |
1.68.8.89 | 64-bit | 123 KB | 2f9a21e34046822fdf6052f19f78a8e9 | 350daea2e119e16bdca2c9cb393a6a6111c38e2a |
1.68.8.89 | 64-bit | 123 KB | a1a2d0a52f367f1142402ed0a70f9315 | d0d080d9ae262cf290d9b031aa165367bb68bcad |
1.68.8.89 | 64-bit | 410 KB | dd6804cf110ff831ffafbb1bb8585205 | 6b37a58ad6858989cda0fb4a115e0de6dda31b22 |
1.68.8.89 | 64-bit | 113 KB | f25617d58815e32aab958b9b7f6bdf59 | 735dde78f557281b391466805d52c7fa046e44ba |
1.49.4.54 | 64-bit | 123 KB | 5e2243a13ceeab9dc297d14768cf9757 | 50e616c8d3de489bc6ee59f98cd20f78b3255d99 |
1.30.50.46 | 64-bit | 143 KB | 045776d86a468432f0755e2302524a97 | 3ef6b8e59c60bfe602a6f2afc95ef457a275b860 |
1.10.1.46 | 64-bit | 143 KB | 82b7f72d78cf35db8b9f76297b588479 | 959b8bd2ca9f349edf2648e5438287edcf8dea94 |
Copies uploaded by users to a public DLL catalogue, read on 14 October 2026. We list their checksums so you can identify a file; we do not offer them for download and we did not verify each one against Valve's signature.
Questions people ask
Is steam_api64.dll a virus?
Valve's steam_api64.dll is a harmless library that ships with Steam games. Cracked copies of games replace it with a Steam emulator, and downloads of such copies often carry real malware, which is why security programs flag the name so often. A copy in a game you installed through Steam is Valve's; verify the game to be sure. Read the security page linked above for a copy of unknown origin.
Why does my security software keep deleting steam_api64.dll?
Because the name is so common in cracked game downloads, some detections hit Valve's genuine file as well. If the game came from Steam, verify the game files, allow that game's folder in the security program and report the false detection to its maker. If the game did not come from Steam, the detection is likely about the file a crack put there.
Can I download steam_api64.dll and put it in the game folder?
You should not. There is no single correct file: each game needs the build it was made with, and a downloaded one is of unknown origin. The right copy for your game is on Steam's servers, and Verify integrity of game files downloads exactly that one in a few minutes.
Does reinstalling Steam fix steam_api64.dll errors?
Usually not. The file lives in each game's folder, not in Steam's own folder, so reinstalling the client leaves the game's copy as it was. Verify the game files instead, and reinstall the game itself if that does not help.
What is the difference between steam_api.dll and steam_api64.dll?
steam_api.dll is the 32-bit Steam API library and steam_api64.dll the 64-bit one. A game loads the one that matches its own build, and some games ship both for their 32-bit and 64-bit executables. They cannot replace each other, under any name.
Can I play a game without steam_api64.dll?
A game built with Steamworks loads the file at start-up and stops if it is missing, even for single-player. Some games are sold without Steam integration on other stores, and those builds do not need it. Removing the file from a Steam game only stops the game from starting.
The game was working yesterday. Why is steam_api64.dll missing today?
Most often a security scan or update of its detection rules removed the file overnight. Look at the protection history first. Other causes are a mod installed or removed since, a game update that was interrupted, and a disk problem. Verifying the game files fixes all of them once the cause is clear.
Related guides
How to fix "Failed to find Steam" error in Windows?
FixHow to fix "Steam must be running to play this game" error in Windows?
FixHow to fix Steam_api.dll missing or not found error?
Sources
File data read on October 14, 2026.
The editors who write and check uGetFix guides and reference pages. File facts are read from Microsoft's own installers and documentation, and every page shows the date its data was read.
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