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How to Share Games on Steam: Exploring the World of Shared Gaming

Steam is the world’s largest digital game distribution platform, with over 30,000 games in its catalog. One of Steam’s most useful features is the ability to share your game library with family and friends through Steam Family Library Sharing. This allows others to access and play games from your library while you are not playing. Here is an in-depth guide on how Steam game sharing works and how you can set it up.

What is Steam Family Library Sharing?

Steam Family Library Sharing allows you to share your Steam games with other accounts. Up to 5 accounts can access your shared library[1].

To use Family Library Sharing, the account owner needs to enable sharing on their account. Then, other accounts can access the shared library from different computers, as long as the owner is not currently playing any of the shared games[2].

Benefits of Steam Family Library Sharing:

  • Share games without having to purchase multiple copies
  • Let friends and family try out games before buying
  • Only share with accounts you trust
  • Owner maintains full control and can revoke access

Requirements for Steam Game Sharing

To share your Steam library, your account must meet these requirements:

  • Have Steam Guard enabled[3]
  • Have logged in via the Steam client on each computer at least once
  • Only share with accounts in good standing

The computer accessing the shared library must:

  • Be on the same local network or LAN
  • Have the Steam client installed and logged in

Restrictions:

  • Only one shared library can be accessed at a time[4]
  • If the owner plays a shared game, access is temporarily disabled for others
  • Shared libraries cannot be accessed remotely over the internet

Step-by-Step Guide to Sharing Steam Games

Follow these steps to share your Steam library with family and friends:

1. Enable Steam Guard

Steam Guard provides additional account security by requiring a special access code to log in. This prevents unauthorized access to your shared library.

To enable Steam Guard:

  • Open the Steam client and go to Settings > Account
  • Select “Enable Steam Guard” and follow the on-screen instructions

2. Authorize Library Sharing

Designate which accounts can access your shared library:

  • Go to Settings > Family and click “Authorize Library Sharing”
  • Check the boxes next to each account you want to share with
  • These accounts must have logged into your computer via Steam before

3. Log Out and Let Others Log In

  • Log out of the Steam client on your computer
  • Have the other user log into their Steam account on the same computer
  • They will now have access to your shared library

The user can now download and play games from your library on that computer. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each computer you want to share from.

4. Disable Sharing When Needed

As the account owner, you can revoke library sharing at any time:

  • In Steam, go to Settings > Family
  • Uncheck the box next to the account you want to disable sharing for
  • Sharing will be immediately disabled for that account

Tips for Smooth Steam Game Sharing

Here are some tips to help make sharing your Steam library easy and convenient:

  • Leave Steam running on your computer when not playing games
  • Set your computer to not automatically sleep/hibernate
  • Enable Wake-on-LAN to remotely wake your computer
  • Connect computers via Ethernet for faster downloads
  • Set up Steam family options to control younger users’ access

Game sharing is a great way to get more out of your Steam library. Follow this guide to start sharing your games today!

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