7 Ways to Resolve the “Missing File Privileges” Error on Steam

Restart your computer.

A simple restart might do the trick. Go to the Start menu, select the Power icon, and click Restart. Once your PC boots up again, open Steam to see if the issue was resolved with the restart. If not, continue to the next troubleshooting step.

Run Steam as an administrator.

This gives Steam all the permissions of an administrator. To do this, right-click the Steam icon and select Run as administrator. You can do this each time you open Steam automatically by right-clicking the Steam icon, selecting Properties and clicking Run this program as an administrator in the Compatibility tab. You also should ensure administrators have permissions for the Steamapps folder by right-clicking the Steamapps folder in the Steam directory, going to Properties > Security > Advanced and ensuring administrators have full control.

Close igfxEM Module in Task Manager (Intel Graphics cards)

There's a chance this is interfering with Steam. You will only see it if you're using an Intel graphics card. First, open Task Manager. You can right-click an empty space in your taskbar and select Task Manager, or you can press Ctrl + Shift + ESC. Right-click "igfxEM Module" and select End Task.

Delete Download Cache

Clogged cache files can cause bugs that interfere with Steam. Once you clear the cache, the "Missing File Privileges" error should go away. Go to Settings > Downloads > Clear cache.

Check file integrity.

This process will take a few minutes and any corrupted or missing files will automatically be replaced.

Repair Steam's library folder.

Repairing a folder will prompt Steam to download any missing files. This will get rid of the "Missing File Privileges" error. In Steam, go to Settings > Storage, click the three-dot menu next to your current storage location, and select Repair library.

Reinstall the game.

A fresh install will make the error go away. In Steam, you can right-click a game to uninstall it, then you can reinstall it from the library. If you're using Steam VR, this is the only solution available.