How to find a Steam App ID in 30 seconds

The App ID is the only thing our generator really needs — everything else (the name, the capsule, the manifest pair) gets looked up from there. Here is the fastest way to get one, in three different situations.

1. The URL bar (works 99% of the time)

This is the simplest and most reliable way. Visit any Steam store page in your browser and look at the URL:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/Portal/

The number right after /app/ is the App ID. In this case, Portal's App ID is 400. For Portal 2 it would be 620, and so on.

The trick: make sure the URL is on store.steampowered.com. If you are on a regional store like store.steampowered.com it works the same — the App ID is global, not region-specific.

2. The Steam desktop client (works offline too)

If you have the game installed:

1. Open Steam.
2. Right-click the game in your library → Manage → Browse local files.
3. The folder you end up in has a manifest named appmanifest_<APPID>.acf. The number is the App ID.

This also works for games you have uninstalled, as long as the manifest file is still in steamapps/.

3. SteamDB (works for everything, including removed apps)

For anything unusual — apps that have been delisted, free weekend trials, beta branches, soundtracks, DLCs — go to SteamDB:

1. Search the game name.
2. Click the App tab.
3. The App ID is in the URL: https://steamdb.info/app/400/.

SteamDB is also useful for finding the right branch name if you need a non-public branch (like beta or experimental).

Edge cases worth knowing

• DLC, soundtracks, and tools all have their own App IDs. If you want the manifest for a soundtrack, search the DLC store page, not the base game page.
• Free weekends create a separate "demo" App ID with its own manifest. Same game, different ID.
• Removed apps still have an App ID in SteamDB, but the manifest may no longer be available on Steam's CDN. The generator will tell you when that is the case.

Pasting the App ID into the generator

Once you have the ID:

• The dropdown will hide automatically — that's expected, since the search field only suggests when you type a name.
• Click Generate (or hit Enter). The result card shows the resolved game name and the manifest + Lua pair.
• If the field complains the App ID is not found, double-check the digits — Steam IDs are pure numeric and never start with a 0.

That is the whole loop. Most people will be back at the SteamTools desktop in under a minute after reading this.