Steam Error Code 137 — What It Means & How to Fix It

What Does This Error Mean?

Steam Error Code 137 means the internal web page or store view inside Steam crashed and failed to load. The message usually reads 'Failed to load web page (error 137)'. This happens because Steam uses a built-in browser (based on Chromium) to display the store, your library, and game pages. Corrupted cache files, GPU rendering issues, or a crashed Steam helper process are the usual causes.

Affected Models

Steam (Windows)
Steam (macOS)
Steam (Linux)

Common Causes

Steam's browser cache is corrupted or has become too large
The SteamWebHelper.exe process crashed while trying to render a page
Hardware acceleration in Steam's browser is conflicting with your graphics driver
Antivirus software is blocking Steam's web rendering process from running
An outdated Steam client has a known bug affecting web page rendering

How to Fix It

Close Steam completely (right-click the Steam icon in the system tray > Exit), then reopen it. Let the store page fully load before clicking anything.

A simple restart kills any crashed background processes like SteamWebHelper and lets them restart fresh.
Clear Steam's web browser cache. Go to Steam > Settings > In-Game (or Interface) > Delete Web Browser Cache and Delete All Browser Cookies.

A large or corrupted browser cache is the most common cause of Error 137. Clearing it forces Steam to load pages fresh.
Disable hardware GPU acceleration in Steam. Go to Steam > Settings > Interface > uncheck 'Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views'. Restart Steam.

GPU acceleration can conflict with certain driver versions. Disabling it makes Steam render pages using the CPU instead, which is slower but more compatible.
Update Steam to the latest version. Go to Steam menu > Check for Steam Client Updates. Install any available update and restart Steam.

Older Steam versions have known rendering bugs. Updating often patches the exact cause of Error 137.
End the SteamWebHelper.exe process in Task Manager and let Steam restart it. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, find SteamWebHelper.exe, right-click it, and select End Task. Steam will restart the process automatically.

If the web helper crashed and got stuck, killing it forces Steam to start a fresh copy.

When to Call a Professional

Error Code 137 is a software issue with no hardware repair needed. It is one of the most common Steam errors and has well-established fixes. If every fix below fails, a full Steam reinstall almost always resolves it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Error 137 only appear on some pages and not others?

Different Steam pages load different amounts of content — community pages and store pages with lots of images and videos are heavier. A marginal cache corruption may only affect certain pages while lighter ones load fine. Clearing the browser cache is the fix regardless of which specific pages trigger the error.

I cleared the cache and it fixed it, but Error 137 keeps coming back. Why?

If the error keeps returning, hardware acceleration is likely the culprit — it is slowly corrupting the cache each time. Disabling GPU acceleration in Steam's settings (Steam > Settings > Interface) prevents the corruption from occurring. You may also want to update your graphics drivers to the latest version.

Can I still play my games if I see Error 137?

Yes. Error 137 only affects Steam's built-in browser pages — store, news, and community tabs. Your games library and game launching work independently. You can launch and play your games normally while the store pages show the error.