How to Share Steam Library With Friends (Steam Family Library Sharing)

It's not a controversial thing to say that gaming is an expensive hobby. Even with the deep discounts we often see in Steam sales, PC games can still cost a lot of money over time. One way to ease the burden of buying new games is by sharing your Steam library with others through a feature called Steam Family Sharing. Here's how to set up Steam Family Sharing along with some limitations you should be aware of before you start sharing your Steam library.

Enable Steam Guard for two-factor authentication

Steam’s Family Sharing feature will not work if you don’t use two-factor authentication. Here’s how to enable it.

1. Go to Steam’s website and log in. In the upper-right corner, select your Username.

2. From the drop-down menu, choose Account Details.

3. Then, scroll down and from the Account Security section, click Manage Steam Guard.

You can choose to get the code sent to your phone using the Steam Mobile app, or you can use email. We recommend you use the Steam app for added security.

How to share your Steam library with friends

Now, the Steam Family Sharing feature is unlocked, and it gives you the option to authenticate any account that’s logged in to the same computer. You can designate up to five users to have access your library from across ten authorized devices. You can only set up this feature from the Steam app, though, not the browser. To share games with a friend, log in to your Steam account on their computer (and vice-versa).

There’s also a catch: Only one user can play a shared game at a time. You’ll get priority as the game owner, and if you start playing a game, the other person will have two minutes to save their progress. You’ll have to share the entire library with your friend—you can’t pick and choose what to share and what not to.

1. Open the Steam app on their computer and go to Steam > Settings.

2. Go to the Family tab.

3. Check the Authorize Library Sharing On This Computer button.

4. In the list below the sharing option, check the boxes for accounts you want to share with.

Once you perform these steps and save your settings, other Steam users can access your Library and play games you own.

If you want to stop sharing, you can go to Username > Account Details > Manage Family Library Sharing and then click the “Revoke” button next to the account’s name.

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