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How to share games on Steam with Steam Family Sharing

How to share games and avoid paying twice!

Updated: Dec 8, 2023 12:30 pm
How to share games on Steam with Steam Family Sharing

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The guys over at Steam are constantly thinking of new ways to make your user experience as good as it can be – and knowing how to share games on Steam can be a real money saver. Their developers could be fixing bugs in-game or offering new Steam features to make your life easier. Or simply working towards the next Steam sale. One step towards the ultimate user experience is the Steam Family Sharing facility.

Steam understands that not everyone can get their hands on the latest games available. For that reason, Steam decided to design a feature that would allow users to share their games with close friends and family. However, it does come with its limitations. Before we explain what this feature can’t do, lets first show you how to share your games, and what you can do.


How to share games on Steam : step-by-step guide

We’ll be covering how to enable game sharing, as well as how to request access to it from another PC.

Step

1

Make sure Steam Guard is enabled

Before you are able to share any of your precious games with your close friends and family, you must first make sure you have the Steam Guard Security feature Enabled. You can check this feature is enabled by completing the following steps:

Start by opening the Steam settings (Steam>Settings). Once inside the Settings window, select the “Account” tab and find “Manage Steam Guard Account Security“. Once you have located this, click on it. If the “Turn off tab” is selected, Steam Guard is not enabled. Click one of the above-enabled options.

Step

2

Authorize your PC for Steam family sharing

Once Steam Guard is enabled, the next step is to authorize your family members’ accounts. This step is required to allow the sharing of your selected games.

The next step requires your Steam account to be logged onto your family member or friend’s PC. Once you have logged on and passed the Steam security questions, you can follow the next steps to authorize their PC.

From the settings window, select the “Family” tab. Once inside the Family tab, find the “Family Library Sharing” section. Underneath this section, you should see a tickbox labeled “Authorize Library Sharing on This Computer”, select it.

At this stage, you will see a list of users that can be authorized for game sharing.

Select the user(s) that you would like to share with on that computer. Once you have selected the user, click OK.

Step

3

Launch a shared game

Start by logging onto your Steam and making sure Steam Guard is enabled. Follow steps from above.

Once this is done, if the authorization process worked, you should see a list of games in your library that have been added from the sharing Steam account. Select one of the new games and click “Play”.

Step

4

Request access

You should be greeted with a pop-up window which will look something like this:

Steam will then ask you to either “Request Access” Or “Buy the game”. In this scenario, we will request access.

Step

5

Confirm PC name

After you request access, Steam will ask you to confirm the PCs name and send the request. Confirm the PCs name and click “Send Request”.

By clicking Send Request, you are sending an email to the sharing Steam account asking for their permission to share that game. As the sharer, you will have to accept the offer via your emails. Once accepted, you have given permission to that person to use and share that game, the process is complete.

How to share games on Steam video


Steam Family Sharing limitations

Now, let’s discuss those limitations that we mentioned in the intro. We’ve put together a quick list of what you’re limited by:

  • Firstly, it’s worth noting that you can only share with up to five different computers and ten users. That is the max amount of users that Steam allows.
  • Secondly, and more importantly, is that only one person can play shared games at any one time. Unfortunately, you can not play at the same time, and if the owner wants to play, they will have priority over the sharers. There is sort of a way around this though (see below).

So, the Family Sharing feature is great if you want to share games between multiple accounts but won’t be playing at the same time. For example: on a shared computer with multiple users. This you don’t have to buy the game multiple times to get access for each and every single account on your family’s computer.

Can you share games on Steam and play at the same time?

Yes, it is possible to an extent to share games on Steam and play them at the same time. However, there are limitations put in place by Steam when it comes to sharing games. If you have a game that you both share and want to play at the same time, the game owner will need to play in offline mode or cut internet access to Steam. This is because both people cannot be online and playing on effectively the same shared copy of the game.

While this is not ideal, it will still allow two people to play the same game at the same time while using the same account. It takes away the need of having to have two separate accounts and paying for the game twice.

If you are looking to play this game online together, then having the game on separate accounts would be the more suitable option for you. In addition to this, when playing a game offline, this does disable you from being about to save your game to the cloud as you would if you were online, which can be an additional issue too. If a game requires a player to be online in order to play, offline mode would not be possible either.

Benefits of Steam Family Sharing

There are many glaringly obvious benefits to the Steam Family Sharing facility. The most obvious is having the ability to share games with friends and family without having to purchase the game for themselves. You can share up to a maximum of 10 users at any one time as well. It’s also a great way of re-using some of your older games that you no longer play. For example, if you’ve finally completed a story-driven singleplayer game and won’t be revisiting it any time soon – then share it with others so they can enjoy it.

How to deauthorize users (stop sharing)

If for whatever reason, you feel like a sharer has lost there sharing privileges, you can easily deauthorize them. Do this by going into your Steam Settings again. Go to the family tab and select “Manage another computer“. In this section, Steam will allow you to deauthorize computers and users who you have sharing relationships with.

If you have any questions regarding the Steam sharing process, feel free to drop us a question in the comments section below, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. It’s a pretty straight forward process though and one that is achieved easily by following our guide!


More Steam guides

Steam game share FAQs

Can I borrow games on Steam?

Yes, and that’s exactly what the Steam Family Sharing feature is for. We think that ‘borrowing’ is probably a good term for it, as you cannot play a shared game at the same time. Users that share their games can deauthorize users whenever they want as well, for when the time for borrowing comes to an end.

Can you transfer games on Steam?

It is possible to transfer games on Steam. This is great news if you have purchased a new computer and want to transfer all of your data, and games. You can add the games to local files, and then you can move the folders around.

However, if you are looking to transfer games from Steam to another separate account, then this is not possible. However, if you set up Family Sharing. More than one person will be able to have access to the game and is able to play it and save their own progress.

Final word

There you have it, our comprehensive guide on how to share games on Steam. Steam is a company that is growing by the day and features like this only increase their likability factor. Hopefully, this guide helped you understand the sharing process and you can get on with enjoying some games your friends recommend!


For as long as he can remember, Charlie has always been interested in computers and gaming. It all started with the Sega Mega Drive and then evolved into PC gaming in his early teens.

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