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is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.
Valve has announced that it will stop supporting 32-bit versions of Windows for its Steam app next year. Valve will continue to support 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 with Steam, but on January 1st 2026 it’s game over for 32-bit versions of Windows.
Windows 10 is the only 32-bit version of Windows that’s still currently supported by Steam. Microsoft is about to end of support for Windows 10 next month, but Valve will continue to support 64-bit versions of the OS. You’ll also still be able to play 32-bit games through Steam, just not install the Steam app on a 32-bit version of Windows.
The irony here is that the current version of Steam is a 32-bit app on all versions of Windows right now, but that appears to be changing soon. “Future versions of Steam will run on 64-bit versions of Windows only,” warns Valve in a support note. “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.”
The move away from 32-bit versions of Windows won’t affect too many Steam users, though. Valve says the 32-bit version of Windows 10 is only used by 0.01 percent of all systems reported through its Steam Hardware Survey.
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