Hello.
In this article I would like to show you another work around for accessing some parts of the Steam user interface.
This article is a work in progress, things are subject to change.
Introduction:
So, maybe you want to change the location where steam games are being saved, or maybe check scheduled downloads? Then this article is for you.
I'll try to describe how to access downloads and settings from the run dialog. The fastest way to open it is using the windows + r shortcut. In there, we can type names of apps or locations we wanna open. Since steam is based on chromium, it uses similar commands to open certain things. For example if you're using chrome or another chromium based browser, when you type chrome://extensions in the address bar it will show the page with all extensions you have installed. It works the same way on steam, and you can even use your browser's address bar to do the same thing i'll be showing with the run dialog.
accessing the download queue.
Let's start from how to access the download queue.
1. Open the run dialog.
2. Type the following:
steam://open/downloads
then press enter.
3. You should now have the downloads window open. On the top there are informations about current download speed, how much time left, etc. Below you have the up next section where all games which will be downloaded after the current one finishes downloading are shown. Then we have the scheduled section. Steam sometimes schedules when updates should be downloaded and from this section you can start downloading updates now with out waiting. Then we have the unscheduled section. In there you can find games which won't be automaticly updated.
Ofcourse the download manager has a lot of unlabeled buttons. To start downloading something instantly, find the game with up and down arrows or by pressing g. Under that grafic and game title you'll find the size, below is an unlabelled button which will take you to the properties of that game, and below is the progress. It might say next 0%, which means the game you're focused on will be downloaded after the current download is finished, or it can just say 0% which means the game is further in the queue. 0% is just an example, it might be a different value for you. It all depends on how much of the game has been downloaded already. In the scheduled section there will be the date insteat of progress.
Below that we have another button, and that one will instantly start downloading the currently focused game, and another button below will probably remove the game from downloads list, but i'm not sure about that.
That's all about the download manager I've managed to figure out, let's move on to changing location of games.
adding a new steam library on another drive
Let's say your C drive is small, or you just don't want to store games on it. Since the default steam location is on C all games will be installed there, but there's a way to add a new steam library. You can have as many libraries as the number of your harddrives connected to your computer. I don't recommend using an external HDD drive for games because it will decrease the performance.
So, let's do it!
1. Open the run dialog.
2. Type the following:
steam://open/settings
then press enter.
3. The steam settings window should open, and guess what? No arrowing or tabbing here, we have to use OCR.
So press nvda + r, down arrow until you find downloads, focus on it by pressing nvda + numpad slash [a key next to the numlockm remember to have numlock turned off] and then pressing numpad slash with out the nvda modifier. I don't know shortcuts for laptop layouts so you need to research it on your own if you don't have numpad.
4. After that you need to press escape and then open the OCR again.
Scroll down until you find steam library folders and perform the left mouse click like in the previous step.
5. A new, quite accessible window opens. It's a storage manager.
On the top we have an unlabelled clickable thing which will probably close that window. Below it there will be your harddrive and informations related to the free and total space. Below that you'll find another unlabelled clickable which will let you add another library, you need to click on it, and a list of your harddrives will pop up, just press enter on the name and then press add button.
Now since the installer is not accessible we will set that new library as the default one. In the storage manager after adding a new library you'll find it under your default one. In my case it's clickable potato (J:).
Press enter on that and now find something about games and free storage, in my case it's GAMES19.98 GBUPDATES413.39 GBOTHER272.18 MBFREE520.23 GB but i already have some games there. Below that is a clickable. It will open a menu with stuff like browse folder, repair folder, make default, and remove drive. You just need to click on make default and when you'll be installing a new game it will go to your shiny new steam library.
You can now close that window and enjoy.
Storage manager also offers a way to move games from one library to another, but I don't no how to select things to move.
For now i'm moving every game separately from it's properties. Properties dialog is accessible, you have to make a right click on the game you wanna move and find properties with the down arrow. Then a new properties window appears, select location clickable and then scroll down until you find move button, then just click another move button below the 2nd library. Do not close the window until it finishes, and don't try to open properties of another game otherwise it will fail.
I hope you've enjoyed my messy article. It's my first one so sorry for any mistakes.
Have a nice day everyone.