Steam is one of the top platforms for purchasing and playing games, but that doesn't mean it's free from bugs and issues. There's a long list of problems you can face while using Steam on your computer. For instance, you may come across a situation where Steam fails to open on your Windows PC or encounter the disc write error while trying to download a game through Steam.
The "content file locked" error is another very common Steam issue that you can encounter while installing an update that you have downloaded for a game. The exact error message reads: An error occurred while updating "game name" (content file locked). Fortunately, like most other issues you face on Steam, it's possible to get rid of this update error as well.
We'll talk about all the possible reasons causing the content file locked error on Steam, along with the step-by-step instructions on how to resolve it. When you close a game, you may think its processes completely end on your computer. But that's not always the case.
Sometimes, certain services related to that game keep running in the background even after closing the game. While you'll generally not even notice those services as they quietly run on your computer without giving any major load to your CPU, they are eventually the main reason behind the content file locked error. Once you've downloaded an update for a game on Steam, you need to close that game and make sure none of its services are running in the background before installing the update.
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