The quickest way to find CS:GO (now Counter-Strike 2) in Steam is through your library: right-click the game, choose "Properties," open the "Installed Files" tab (called "Local Files" in older versions of the client) and click "Browse." This opens the game's root folder. By default it is Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive: the folder kept its old name after the move to CS2, and the game files themselves sit inside it in the game\csgo subfolder.
Players usually look for this folder when they want to change or back up a config, check settings files or fix broken files that make the game crash. There are two ways to find it: through the Steam interface or with the standard Windows search, without opening Steam at all.
Using Steam
This is the most reliable method, because Steam knows which drive and library folder the game is installed in. Follow these steps in order:
Launch Steam on your computer.
Open your game library, find Counter-Strike 2 and right-click its name.
Select "Properties" in the menu that appears.
Go to the "Installed Files" tab (older Steam versions call it "Local Files").
Click "Browse" ("Browse local files" in the old client). The game's root folder opens.
Write down the folder path so you don't have to search for it again next time. CS2 configs are stored in the game\csgo\cfg subfolder; see our guide on where to find the config file in CS2 for details.
Using Windows Tools
Finding the game through Steam is much easier than using Windows tools, since Steam locates it no matter what your folders are called or whether you have renamed them.
We recommend the Windows search only if you are sure you haven't renamed the Steam folder on your drive, or you remember its new name. Otherwise you can spend a lot of time without finding anything.
Open "This PC" ("My Computer" in older Windows versions) and then your local drive (if you have several, check each one in turn). In the search box in the upper right corner of the window, type Steam (or the custom name you gave the folder) and press Enter. Repeat for each drive until you find the folder.
If you haven't changed any folder names, the default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive. The CS2 files are in the game\csgo subfolder, and the cs2.exe executable is in game\bin\win64. In the CS:GO era the game files sat in a csgo folder directly in the root, which is why the path in the screenshot below is shorter.
Fixing Possible Problems (Part 1)
Sometimes players need the game folder to deal with broken files. You will notice the problem at launch: the game crashes and shows a message naming the file that caused the error.
Possible causes: the drive works intermittently, or the file was written incorrectly in the first place.
The exact cause matters less than the fix, and these problems can usually be solved quickly. Here is the sequence:
Open the game's root folder as described in "Using Steam."
Type the name of the broken file in the search box in the upper right corner of the window.
Once you find it, delete the file completely and make sure it isn't left in the Recycle Bin.
Now restore a working copy. In Steam, open your library, right-click Counter-Strike 2 and select "Properties."
On the "Installed Files" tab, click "Verify integrity of game files."
Fixing Possible Problems (Part 2)
During the integrity check, Steam scans the installed files on its own and overwrites or downloads again any that are damaged.
Before running the check, make sure there is enough free space on the drive to rewrite the files.
If the check doesn't help and file errors keep coming back, the cause may be hardware, for example faulty RAM, which can make game files read with errors. Test your memory with a tool such as Memtest. If it finds errors, the faulty module has to be replaced. We cover other reasons the game won't start in what to do if CS2 won't launch on Steam.
Useful Tips
Once you have found the game folder through Steam or Windows and solved the task that started the search, check a couple more things.
First, you may run into a "launcher error" that mentions "unicode." It is usually caused by non-Latin characters in the path, so keep all folder names in the Latin alphabet only.
Second, a launch error can appear if the game is installed on two drives at once. Open the root folder and check whether you have two copies. If you find more than one, delete the extra files and reinstall the game, then install your config and set your launch options again if needed.
Don't copy the game manually from one drive to another. Remove it from the first drive and only then install it on the second one. You can also use Steam's built-in option to move an install folder to another drive.
