Hands-on guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for the things people actually use DepotDownloader for. Written from real use, kept up to date as Steam changes the rules.
Start here — the core workflows
If you only read four pages here, read these. They're the spine the rest of the site hangs on — the universal downgrade workflow I actually use, what to do with the files once you have them, how to keep mods working across a rollback, and a map of which games are easy to preserve and which aren't. Every game guide below assumes you've met these first.
How to downgrade any Steam game
The full workflow: find the manifest ID on SteamDB, build the command, install the old build and stop Steam from updating it back. Plus the honest part — what no longer works in 2026 and why.
read the guide → essentials · after downloadAfter the download: now what?
You ran DepotDownloader and got a folder of files — here's how to actually use it. The output folder decoded, three ways to install/run it, and how to keep your saves.
read the guide → essentials · modsDowngrade a game, keep the mods working
An update broke your mods? The cross-game playbook: get the old build, stop Steam re-updating it, and the part everyone misses — match the loader and mod versions to the build.
read the guide → index · all gamesWhich games keep their old versions
A tier list of 27 games by how safely you can get their old builds — from full developer archives to community-only survivors. Find your game and jump to its guide.
see the tiers →Servers & headless workflows
The server side is where DepotDownloader quietly shines: no account, no GUI, just the exact build you want on a box you control. These cover pulling clean dedicated servers, the one recipe that fits most of them, and the Workshop and UGC downloads a headless setup needs.
Rust: clean dedicated server
Pristine server files straight from Steam's CDN, anonymously — plus staging/aux branches, the rollback move when Oxide lags an update, and -validate as a factory reset.
read the guide → servers · hubDedicated servers: every game
The lookup table of server AppIDs (Rust, CS2, TF2, Valheim, Palworld…), why anonymous always works, the one generic command and a cron-able update script.
read the guide → clean filesRust: clean client files
The companion piece: fix EAC integrity violations with -validate, keep a reference copy for diffing, and archive client builds that match your frozen test servers.
read the guide → serversTF2 & the HLDS family
Classic Source and GoldSrc dedicated servers — the 232xxx AppID table, and the app-90 quirk where DepotDownloader beats SteamCMD outright.
read the guide → workshop · ugcWorkshop without the client
Pull workshop items by ID with -pubfile: maps and mods for headless servers, archiving mod versions before they vanish, and the -ugc lower level.
read the guide →Platforms & the GUI
Not everyone runs this from a Windows terminal. Here's how I get it working where the command line is awkward — a Steam Deck, an Android phone over Termux, or a different OS than the depot targets — plus the point-and-click GUI for when you'd rather not type flags at all.
Using the GUI instead
SteamDepotDownloaderGUI walkthrough: install on Windows, Linux or Steam Deck, fill the form, download — plus the field-to-flag map for when you outgrow it.
read the guide → cross-platformDepots in other flavours
macOS builds from Windows, 32-bit legacy binaries, other-language voice depots and full preservation pulls — the -os, -osarch and -language flags in practice.
read the guide → androidA depot puller in your pocket
DepotDownloader on Android via Termux and PRoot: the bootstrap one-liner, wake locks, storage reality, and the quirk list that saves you an evening.
read the guide → platformDepotDownloader on the Steam Deck
Downgrade a game on SteamOS: why the self-contained build dodges the immutable filesystem, the Desktop Mode / Konsole steps, where games live on the Deck, and the GUI option.
read the guide →Game-specific downgrade guides
This is the long shelf: a guide per game, each built from that title's real depot and manifest history, its mod-loader quirks, and the exact build worth pinning. I check these against SteamDB and the game's own modding community, and I flag where a version is uncertain rather than inventing a number. Find yours.
Skyrim: the eternal downgrade
The most common reason people install this tool. Verified manifests for 1.5.97 and 1.6.640 across all three depots, the read-only acf lock, SKSE/Address Library/BEES matching — and the patcher route compared honestly.
read the guide → gamesOld TF2: a client time machine
Pre-Meet Your Match, pre-Jungle Inferno, the last 32-bit build — the two-depot recipe, the hl2.exe -game tf launch, and the hard 2013 SteamPipe boundary nothing can cross.
read the guide → gamesLeft 4 Dead 2: versions with rules
Pre-Last Stand builds and speedrun-grade versions: the 551+552 depot recipe, the RestartAppIfNecessary trap, why this game's VAC warning is serious — and when to take the community's packages instead.
read the guide → gamesTerraria: fifteen years of versions
One-way save conversion (back up first!), tModLoader's official legacy branches, the community's TerrariaDepotDownloader wrapper with its version catalog — and the manual depot 105601 recipe.
read the guide → games · serversProject Zomboid: two builds, one folder to guard
The b41/b42 branch map and when Steam's Betas tab is enough — plus the three jobs it can't do: side-by-side installs, unlisted point versions, and servers matched to the digit.
read the guide → gamesLethal Company: a version per crew
Community-verified manifests for v40–v72 (v49 included), the one-depot download, strict lobby matching — and the r2modman profile-transplant trick that makes old builds modded and livable.
read the guide → games · serversSons of the Forest: pinning a moving target
RedLoader mod eras, the co-op version lock, the Windows-only dedicated server — and the Unity security patch that changes the ethics of running old builds.
read the guide → gamesCyberpunk 2077: two games since 2.0
The official 1_63_legacy_patch branch, GOG's version picker, manifests for the 2.x gaps, multi-depot era pairing — and why which store you buy on is a preservation decision.
read the guide → gamesStardew Valley: the wiki-blessed rollback
The only game whose official modding wiki documents a DepotDownloader command — 1.5.4 for old hardware, 1.5.6 for the mod era, legacy_1.6.8 and the compatibility branch, plus SMAPI era-matching.
read the guide → gamesBaldur's Gate 3: don't patch mid-campaign
Larian's patch-day rollback branches, the wiki's depot 1086941 recipe, the Steam-closed launch quirk, Script Extender eras — and the rule: patch between campaigns, not during them.
read the guide → gamesGTA V: Legacy, Enhanced and the week of waiting
Half the searches don't need a downgrade — Legacy is its own app. The other half ride the ScriptHookV window: the crossed-out-manifest trick, the offline flag, and the bright red GTA Online line.
read the guide → games · preservationNo Man's Sky: the developer who archived himself
Hello Games put four pre-NEXT eras on the Internet Archive themselves — plus the NMS Retro community's manifest tables for everything in between, and an honest take on the launch problem.
read the guide → gamesRimWorld: the game is easy, the mods are the trap
Ludeon's branch shelf runs back to beta18 — but Workshop mods auto-update with no version history. Pin the game with a dropdown; archive the mods today, locally, or watch the modlist rot.
read the guide → games · serversValheim: a shelf with one slot
The default_old branch covers yesterday's patch — and only yesterday's. Deeper eras by manifest, BepInEx profile transplants, and a dedicated server that must march in step with its vikings.
read the guide → games · preservationKSP: one folder, one universe
The game is portable (saves and mods live in the install folder), branches reach back to 1.0, CKAN does the era bookkeeping — and since 1.12.5 was the last patch ever, the archive can be completed.
read the guide → games · servers7 Days to Die: a museum with one empty case
Eleven years of alphas on an official shelf back to Alpha 8 — and Alpha 6, gone entirely. Era launching quirks, overhaul mods that name their alpha, and anonymous era servers.
read the guide → gamesSubnautica: three eras below the surface
Legacy (QMods), 2.0 (BepInEx) and the post-Unity-patch schism: the official legacy branch, verified depot recipes, the SNAppData swap rule — and the security trade-off stated plainly.
read the guide → games · preservationFactorio: the factory keeps every blueprint
Wube hosts every version ever as self-contained ZIPs — the gold standard. Plus the Space Age checkbox that silently blocks Steam downgrades, one-way saves, and a mod portal that remembers everything.
read the guide → gamesBannerlord: campaigns outlive patches
A near-complete Betas museum, forward-only saves, the Harmony/ButterLib stack below every modlist — and the rule that protects months-long dynasties: patch between campaigns.
read the guide → gamesRisk of Rain 2: the downpatch that went mainstream
When Seekers of the Storm broke the base game, rollback became official community advice — the verified Devotion manifest, the steam_appid trick, Thunderstore eras, and the honest aftermath.
read the guide → games · serversPalworld: patch night is ops night
Version control as server ops: the "Show other versions" diagnostic, branch-and-backup rollbacks, one-way save migration — and the maxim that the downgrade is prepared before the update.
read the guide → gamesETS2: the shelf the developer labeled
SCS named their rollback branches "for incompatible mods" — the ProMods version-pairing rule, the labeled temporary branches, side-by-side with ATS, and why "temporary" is a clock you should hear.
read the guide → gamesCities: Skylines: no shelf, only the door
The counter-case: Paradox can't offer version branches, so the depot route is the only way back. Honest date-matching, the Workshop no-history trap, and the broken-mod spreadsheet.
read the guide → gamesHollow Knight: the speedrunner's patch ladder
Category picks the patch to the fourth digit (1.2.2.1 / 1.0.2.8 / 1.4.3.2) — the verified depot recipe speedrun.com prints itself, side-by-side patches, and the version-locked Modding API.
read the guide → gamesSlay the Spire: the update that split the mods
The developers' own v2.0 modernization broke the classic ModTheSpire scene and its custom characters. The pre-2.0/2.0 fork, honest date-matching, and the two-layer loader.
read the guide → gamesStellaris & Paradox: the shelf behind the account gate
The deepest official version shelf in gaming — but the keys live in your Paradox account, not the Steam dropdown. The checksum that governs multiplayer, mod playsets, and the depot fallback.
read the guide → games · legacyCS:GO after CS2
The csgo_legacy branch still serves the full game, the classic dedicated server still answers at app 740 — and what's honestly gated beyond them.
read the guide → gamesPAYDAY 2: legacy builds
The recipe for the game whose community practically invented this workflow — pre-Epic U236.1, the steam_appid.txt trick, save backups and BLT compatibility.
read the guide →Edge cases, archiving & the honest limits
The questions that don't fit a neat box: archiving a whole library, pulling just a soundtrack, downgrading non-game software, matching a multiplayer version with friends — and the honest pages about what this tool can't do, like grabbing a game you don't actually own.
Download a delisted game you own
A game you bought left the store — can you still get it? Usually yes. When DepotDownloader beats the client, the preservation case for archiving it, and the one limit nothing gets around.
read the guide → use caseDownload a soundtrack without the game
The OST you own is its own depot — grab just the music with DepotDownloader, and pick the lossless FLAC depot over the MP3 one instead of installing the whole game.
read the guide → use caseDowngrade software on Steam
Wallpaper Engine, Aseprite, RPG Maker — an update broke your workflow? Software downgrades the same as a game, plus the project-file and plugin cautions specific to apps.
read the guide → use caseDowngrade to play with friends
A patch split your group and now you can't connect — the version-matching fix: pick one build, get everyone (and the server) onto it, and the anti-cheat line to respect.
read the guide → preservationArchiving your library
Backing up the games you own — the honest way: archive the at-risk slice, not all 900. The triage, the scripting loop with its rate-limit and overwrite gotchas, and cataloging cheaply with -manifest-only.
read the guide → advancedDatamining assets
Pull and inspect game files: cheap recon with -manifest-only, surgical extraction with -filelist (exact paths vs regex:), the manual patch diff, the unpackers by engine — and the responsible-datamining line.
read the guide → the honest answerCan you download a game you don't own?
No — and here's exactly why the ownership wall makes it impossible, what you genuinely can download for free, and why the "tools" that claim otherwise are piracy with a malware chaser.
read the guide →