@kisak-valve this happens with every game in my library. the most recent update must've done some change to the properties button and broken it.
reverting to the stable client does not fix this. so i dont think its a bug specific to the beta client.

is there a way to revert to the previous beta as a means to access my game's properties until a proper fix is made?

i have discovered that switching to big picture mode will allow me to change my games' properties. very annoying, but it works.

I suspect this is specific to @mathew2214's setup in some way. Unless we see other folks able to reproduce on Debian.

update: several steam beta updates have passed. and this bug has yet to be fixed by valve.
its getting rather annoying to have to open big picture, navigate to my game, change a setting, and then close big picture, any time i want to change something.

UPDATE:
i have discovered that removing the "-no-browser" from steam's switches allows me to access the game properties without the use of big picture.
however, doing this also completely ruins the performance, stability, and aesthetics of the steam client. so it looks like im stuck using big picture to change my games' properties.

Passing -no-browser is unsupported and will likely disable more and more essential functionality moving forward. The Steam client UI is progressively migrating to using "web" tech exclusively.

Could this be reconsidered? CEF is a massive ressource hog which often causes multiple gigabytes of memory usage by the steamwebhelper alone and therefore the Steam client to have a larger memory footprint than many games launched through it.

CPU usage is also through the roof with 10-15% CPU usage with web rendering functionalities enabled and 0.2% with them disabled. Could at least something like a launch argument to get the legacy UI back or a proper Steam minimal client (which offers just installing/launching games as well as the legacy chat) be considered?

@UFeindschiff passing "-no-browser +open steam://open/minigameslist" almost works for that. the only things that dont work are uninstalling a game, and changing properties.

still not fixed as of July 2021.
given how much performance will need to be squeezed from the Steam Deck's advertised specs, i hope the browserless mode gets fixed by then.

I do have the exact same problem on Ubuntu 20.04. Big Picture mode lets me do the properties, everything else is partially broken/not showing -- including the store! This bug makes Valve lose money as I cannot buy anything on steam.

As of today's update, I am experiencing same issue (no properties) without the no-browser. Also on Debian Bookworm.

Same issue, started after the update. Reinstalling Steam did not help. Debian Bookworm as well.

Same exact issue on archlinux with the latest update.

I cannot use the context menus of various kinds in the steam client under Fedora 38, Gnome, with nvidia drivers.
Basically I can open context menus but can't (usually) click anything in them. The click tends to "fall through" the menu and hit whatever is underneath. I cannot for instance enable the steam beta, because that's in a context menu of sorts in the settings.

I can access these menus by using the big picture mode, however.

This also affects me, unable to access any game's properties in my library.

same here on Linux Mint 21.1

same issue on Ubuntu 22.04.2

I also have this issue; only able to use the laggy & inconvenient big picture mode to access any game properties menu.

Also seeing this. Right click on game in my lib, click properties....and nothing pops up. Running Ubuntu 23.04 on Wayland.

It seems that the issue is quite common-spread. I would like very much to see it resolved - is there something specific that can be done from our side, to help the debugging?

@Cat-Lady we (Valve devs) are more likely to look at an issue if it's a fresh report instead of a necro bump of an old -no-browser problem. I see Wayland mentioned .. is this Wayland specific?

same issue on Ubuntu 22.04.2

Im using x11 and the latest beta update of steam. To clarify, the properties popup menu cannot be accessed for any game (or anything from the gear icon menu) unless using big picture mode

@Cat-Lady we (Valve devs) are more likely to look at an issue if it's a fresh report instead of a necro bump of an old -no-browser problem.

I would post it as a fresh issue, but it is, already, choke-full of fresh reports. I guess someone with proper rights can split/rename/whatever the issue.

I see Wayland mentioned .. is this Wayland specific?

All details are in the reports - it affects both X and wayland, and is encountered by people using wide range of distributions.

There is a new setting Enable context menu focus compatibility mode in Settings -> Interface with latest beta client. Does this have any impact on your issue?

@TTimo that setting solved it for me on mint 21.1 (Ubuntu 22.04)

Update:

@TTimo See issue here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/9273#issuecomment-1627703608

Second-level menus are not fixed by the compatibility mode.

Sam problem, latest stable client. I'll try the beta client.

I had the same problem on my Fedora 38, but i figured out that changing option "Enable context menu focus compatibility mode" fixes the problem for me. Maybe give a try?

(Option on the most end of list)

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7564#issuecomment-1666175420

thanks, that helped me many :D

As mentioned by many, "Second-level menus are not fixed by the compatibility mode."

so for me it worked with the snap version

probably a dependcy problem?

There is a new setting Enable context menu focus compatibility mode in Settings -> Interface with latest beta client. Does this have any impact on your issue?

This fixed it for me on Fedora 38, Flatpak Steam client 1694466342. Thanks @TTimo!

Steam client version (build number or date): 23 09 06
Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Linux Mint 19.1 Victoria
Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] Tried on both
Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] yes

Properties windows, and other secondary windows, start with just maybe 50 pixels height. Some widows I can maximise, so I can see those. The ones I cannot, I cannot use. Steam seems to function normally otherwise. I didn't have the issue with Ubuntu and gnome.

There is a new setting Enable context menu focus compatibility mode in Settings -> Interface with latest beta client. Does this have any impact on your issue?

This fixed it for me. Mint 21.2 cinnamon w/ nvidia

There is a new setting Enable context menu focus compatibility mode in Settings -> Interface with latest beta client. Does this have any impact on your issue?

This fixed it for me. Mint 21.2 cinnamon w/ nvidia

I have all this in place and still have the issue. I think it might (although probably not) be due to monitor geometry, due to the position of the windows. I have 2x2, the borked windows are flat to the bottom of the top screens. I've just done a test on the settings window (which is rescalable now fortunately), when Steam is open on bottom right, then on top right. Top right is borked, bottom right is not.

Edit: I've had the steam window on the bottom left monitor, and when it opened the offers window it was correct. So I am confident that this is the issue; when steam is on a monitor with a monitor below it, it opens some windows flat to the bottom of that monitor, and only the header is displayed. So users can resolve this by having steam on the bottom row of monitors.

It didn't happen in MS Windows, but I haven't opened steam there for 8 months so that info might be out of date.

For a time the 'Enable context menu focus compatibility mode' setting worked, but now it doesn't anymore. Steam version 1701825895. It's the beta, but the problem is present in the stable release as well. Mint 21.2, NVIDIA 545.29.06.

It never worked fully (always failed for the second-level context entries) - but, the "workaround" of holding ctrl while clicking works for me. You can try if it is the same for you.

No, the Ctrl workaround doesn't work either. Only changing the windows focus mode on the OS to click works.

I have the same issue as well. I click on the button, but nothing happens. I'm running Steam on Garuda Linux cinnamon with the latest kernel.

OK so I'm sure it's monitor geometry, at least for me. Having the steam window on the bottom two windows works fine, on the top two it produces this error.

Furthermore, another program, GTK has just encountered the same error, solved by moving the main GTK window to one of the bottom monitors.

What geometry do others have? What linux distro? If it's doing it with other programs, then it's not a steam issue, or at least something specific to the code with relation to some element of linux. Which is of course multifarious.

I have Mint Cinnamon, 2x2 monitors.

Just single monitor, the issue is persistent on all machines. The "hold ctrl trick" bypasses it for me, since... Looong time.

"Enable context menu focus compatibility mode" has fixed in my system Ubuntu 20.04.6.
Thanks !!!

Looks like this is being triggered by the focus mode of the window manager, if it's set to anything other than click to focus, the context menus are unpredictable.

I had the same problem on my Fedora 38, but i figured out that changing option "Enable context menu focus compatibility mode" fixes the problem for me. Maybe give a try?

This essentially fixed my problem on LXDE. I have only this option enabled now.

So, August 2024 and this issue still persist. Valve are you there?

Encountered the same issue today on Debian 12 with a Gnome 43 Wayland session. The "Enable context menu focus compatibility mode" fixed the first level of menus, but couldn't click on second level menus. Everything works fine on a X11 session.

Steam version: 1733265492

Still an issue in 2026-03 :(

I have to activate the small mode or big picture to have Properties actually opened.

"Enable context menu focus compatibility mode" does NOT help.

Debug info:
Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS on X11

About Steam
Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1769025840
Steam Client Build Date: Wed, Jan 21 18:12 UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Wed, Jan 21 20:41 UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient023

Use Shift or Ctrl to open the bugged context menus. The cause may be CEF. The framework is "forced" to create a new window on another "tab" but since the launcher has a single "tab" only it may try to create another "tab" ending up opening the window.

FYI, holding SHIFT or CTRL has no effect