Having a publicly viewable Steam game inventory allows other players to see the items you have collected in games. This is useful for trading items with other players or showing off rare items you’ve acquired. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make your Steam inventory public:
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Why Make Your Steam Inventory Public?
Here are some of the key reasons you may want to make your Steam inventory publicly viewable:
- Trading Items: Making your inventory public allows you to trade items with other Steam users more easily. They can browse your inventory to see what items you have available for trade.
- Show Off Rare Items: If you’ve collected rare cosmetic items, weapon skins, or other in-game items, making your inventory public lets you show them off to other players.
- Reputation For Trading: Having a publicly viewable inventory establishes reputation and trustworthiness as a trader. Other users can verify items you claim to have for trade.
- Participate In Steam Marketplace: Selling items on the Steam marketplace requires your inventory to be public so potential buyers can browse your available items.
- Required By Some Games: Some games require public inventory to transfer item gifts or trading. Keeping it public avoids issues.
Steps to Make Your Steam Inventory Public
Making your Steam inventory viewable only takes a few quick steps:
1. Access Your Steam Profile Page
The first step is to access your public Steam profile page while logged into your Steam account:
- Launch the Steam client and log into your Steam account if you haven’t already.
- Click on your username displayed at the top right of the Steam client.
- Select “View my profile” from the dropdown menu.
This will open up your public Steam profile page.
2. Click “Edit Profile”
Next, you need to click the “Edit Profile” button located along the right side of your Steam profile:
Steam Edit Profile Button
This will take you to your profile customization page.
3. Open Privacy Settings
In the menu column on the left side of the page, click on “Privacy Settings”:
Steam Privacy Settings
This will display your current privacy configurations.
4. Set Inventory To Public
Under the “Privacy Settings” you will see an “Inventory” option. Set the visibility for your Steam inventory to “Public”:
Steam Public Inventory
This makes your entire Steam item inventory viewable by anyone.
5. Save Your New Privacy Settings
Finally, make sure to click “Save” along the bottom of the page to confirm the changes to your privacy settings. Once saved, your Steam inventory is now publicly accessible to anyone online.
Customizing Your Inventory Visibility
If you don’t necessarily want your entire inventory public, Steam does allow you to customize visibility on a per-game basis. You can set inventory visibility uniquely for each game.
To change visibility settings just for a specific game’s inventory:
- Go to your Steam inventory page
- Right click on the game
- Select “Manage”
- Set custom visibility rules for that game
This way you can keep rare CS:GO skins public while hiding other game items.
What to Consider When Making Inventory Public
Here are some things to consider when deciding whether or not you want to show your Steam inventory publicly:
- High value inventories could make you a target for scammers and phishing attempts. Exercise caution trading valuable items.
- If you have games/items associated with banned accounts, those won’t be visible publicly due to VAC bans.
- Malicious browser extensions can spy on your inventory, so be careful what you install.
- Public inventories accumulate reputation over time, improving trustworthiness for trading.
In most cases, the benefits outweigh potential risks. But it’s good to be informed before publicly sharing your Steam inventory.
Displaying Your Inventory on Steam Profiles
In addition to global visibility in Steam, you can also highlight selected items from your inventory directly on your Steam profile using the “Showcase” feature.
This allows you to pick 5 or 6 items from your inventory to prominently display on your profile as trophies. It gives added visibility to your rarest items or accomplishments.
To setup a Steam showcase:
- Click “Edit Profile” on your Steam profile
- Click “Featured Showcase” on the left side menu
- Select up to 6 items to showcase from dropdown menus
- Save changes
The items you select will then be featured on your profile for all to see!
In Closing
I hope this guide gives you a better understanding of how to configure your Steam privacy settings to publicly share your game inventory. Having an open inventory unlocks features like trading and showcases. It also builds reputation as an active Steam community member. So what are you waiting for? Go public and start putting those hard-earned gaming items on display! Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.