To make Steam unpack games faster, you can try the following effective methods:

• Pause and Restart Steam or the Unpacking Process
  Sometimes simply pausing the unpacking or restarting the Steam client can resolve slow unpacking issues

• Set Steam’s Process Priority to High
  Increasing Steam’s priority in Task Manager allocates more system resources to it, speeding up unpacking:

  1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc)
  2. Go to the Details tab
  3. Find steam.exe, right-click it, select "Set priority" > "High"

• Delete Files in the Depotcache Folder
  Clearing temporary Steam cache files can improve unpacking speed:

  1. Exit Steam completely
  2. Navigate to the depotcache folder (usually at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\depotcache)
  3. Delete all files inside

• Ensure Sufficient Free Disk Space
  Having at least 20-30 GB free on your drive is crucial, especially for SSDs, as unpacking requires extra temporary space

• Optimize Your Storage Drive
  • If using an HDD, defragment it to improve file access speed

* For SSDs, disable write caching temporarily or optimize the drive for performance

• Close Unnecessary Background Programs
  Free up system resources by closing other applications that may slow down unpacking

• Check Your Drive for Errors
  Running disk error checks can help if the drive has issues affecting performance

• Upgrade to an SSD
  If you are using an HDD, upgrading to an SSD significantly speeds up unpacking and loading times

Implementing these steps should noticeably improve Steam’s unpacking speed and reduce waiting times when installing games.