Steam client update of November 11, 2026: workaround for updates stuck at 99%, false Steam Cloud conflicts fixed — and Valve’s fixes if it still happens

Video: “Achievement Sets For Everyone, Plus A Huge Linux Change”, Steam Flow YouTube channel (independent creator, not Valve), published November 12, 2026, 10 min 42 s. A walkthrough of the November 11 Steam client update on desktop, Steam Deck and Steam Frame (desktop client, 64-bit Linux client, Remote Play HDR, Achievement Sets); it is not a troubleshooting tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AthSbe_JQeo

Valve shipped a new Steam client update to the Stable channel on November 11, 2026 (announcement posted around 10:57 PM Paris time). Beyond the headline feature, Steam Achievement Sets now available to everyone, it contains several fixes for annoyances players run into every day: updates that hang at 99%, Steam Cloud showing a conflict when there is none, the friends list stuck after a failed login, Steam windows flashing black. Here is what Valve actually lists, what it means for you, and Valve’s official Steam Support steps if a download or a cloud save still misbehaves. Valve pages read on November 12, 2026 around 4:10 PM Paris time; TricknFix has not tested every fix.

From Valve’s patch notes for the November 11, 2026 Steam client update:

• “Added a workaround for updates occasionally hanging at 99%.” This line appears in the Stable channel notes published on the Steam Deck news page; the desktop announcement of the same day does not list it, so do not assume it applies to every Windows PC.

• “Fixed a case where Steam Cloud Sync would incorrectly show a conflict in some games, e.g. Monster Hunter World.”

• “Fixed an issue where the friends list could get stuck when failing to login at launch and required toggling offline to load the friends list.”

• “Fixed some cases the Steam Service Error dialog was showing incorrectly if you quit/restarted Steam quickly.”

• “Fixed the Uninstall Failure dialog not showing”, “Fixed various cases where the steam windows could briefly flash black”, plus “Multiple general stability improvements and fixes for rare crashes affecting small numbers of users.”

• Also fixed: per-friend notification settings being ignored, “friend joins a game” notifications being dropped, voice chat volume per friend now kept between sessions.

• Valve says the update “has been released and will be automatically downloaded”. Restart Steam if it does not apply on its own.

• It is a Stable channel release: you do not need to join the Steam Beta to get these fixes.

• Valve gives no list of affected games for the 99% hang or the cloud conflict beyond the Monster Hunter World example.

• Clear the download cache: Steam › Settings › Downloads › Clear Download Cache, then Confirm. Valve says this “can solve problems with games that won’t download or start”, does not affect your installed games, and you will have to sign in to Steam again afterwards.

• Verify the game files: in your Library, right-click the game (or use the gear icon on its page) › Properties… › Installed Files › Verify integrity of game files. Valve notes this can take several minutes.

• Still stuck after both: Valve’s pages point to Steam Support (help.steampowered.com).

• The conflict window appears at launch when Steam detects that the local files differ from the cloud files, because they were modified in two places without a sync in between. Steam cannot pick automatically.

• Valve: “You will most likely want to pick the version of the files that was modified most recently”, but check the dates and times in the window against when you actually last played before choosing.

• Playing in Offline Mode keeps games from syncing until you are back online and, according to Valve, “is very likely to cause a conflict”.

• If Steam says it was unable to sync, Valve advises fixing the cause first: ignoring the message and choosing Play Game “could potentially cause a conflict” and lost progress.

• For diagnosis, Steam writes cloud_log.txt in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\logs on Windows (~/Library/Application Support/Steam/logs on macOS, ~/.local/share/Steam/logs on Linux).

• If the November 11 fix was your case (a false conflict in a game like Monster Hunter World), the window should no longer appear without reason after the update.

• Steam Achievement Sets are now available to all users: games can group achievements by base game and DLC, completed sets stay completed when new sets are added, and achievements can be archived; the achievements page was redesigned and you can compare progress with up to three friends.

• Steam Deck: the Hardware Compatibility dialog now shows the average framerate players get in a game.

• Remote Play: big HDR revamp (Automatic/On/Off setting, brightness slider), HDR enabled again on Steam Deck OLED, new “Display Style” setting for stretching or zooming.

• Steam Input: GameInput v4 support; fix for the “Joystick Power Curve” gyro setting that was not being applied (Valve warns the response may change if you had tweaked it).

• Linux: the Steam client is now a 64-bit application running inside a Steam Runtime container; fixed crashes when resuming from suspend and when creating a lobby in games using ISteamNetworking, such as Sons of the Forest.

• Steam, “Steam Client Update - November 11th” (desktop announcement, November 11, 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/678515036155543747

• Steam Deck news, “Steam Client Update: November 11th” (Stable channel notes, November 11, 2026, includes the 99% workaround): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/687522235410284741

• Steam, “Steam Achievement Sets — Now Available to Everyone” (November 11, 2026): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/685269908095762671

• Steam Support, “Steam Cloud”: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/68D2-35AB-09A9-7678

• Steam Support, “Clear download cache”: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6AD7-820D-8BE5-E51F

• Steam Support, “Verify Integrity of Game Files”: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0C48-FCBD-DA71-93EB

• Image: new Steam achievements page with Achievement Sets (Forza Horizon 5 example), official image from Valve’s November 11, 2026 client update announcement. © Valve Corporation; Forza Horizon 5 artwork © Microsoft.

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