How to Use Steam Family Sharing & the Steam Families Beta

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Use Steam's built-in library sharing tools to share games

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: October 21, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Setting Up: Authorizing a User
|
• Setting Up: Requesting Access
|
• Managing Devices & Accounts
|
• Steam Family Sharing Limitations
|
• Enabling Steam Families Beta

|Show more |Show less

Does your friend own a game that you really want to play, but you don't want to shell out the money to buy it for yourself? Try Steam's Family Sharing feature, which allows you to share Steam libraries with other users. Steam's library-sharing features have changed recently, and they continue to change with the onset of the Steam Families beta. In this article, we'll teach you how to use Steam Family Sharing and how to try the Steam Families beta before it officially goes live.

How to Share a Steam Library

To share a Steam library, enable Family Sharing in your Steam settings, then authorize up to 5 friends or family members to share your library. To do this, they must log into their Steam account on your computer at least once. You can also try the Steam Families beta for more library-sharing features.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Setting Up: Authorizing a User

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1. 1
   Make sure all accounts have Steam Guard enabled. This is required to do Steam Family Sharing. You can enable Steam Guard by going to Steam > Settings > Security in the Steam Client.
2. 2
   Log in with your friend's account. First, log out of your account. Then, have your friend log into their Steam account on your computer (or type it in yourself if you aren't in the same room). Once you do this, you can log out and log back into your account.
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3. 3
   Open Steam settings. Make sure you're logged into the Steam account that you want to use for game sharing.
4. 4
   Click the Family tab in the left-hand sidebar. It's near the top of the sidebar and has an icon of three people.
5. 5
   Toggle on "Authorize Library Sharing on this device." This allows you to select up to five additional users to share your library with. The users you can select from are located under the Eligible Accounts header.
6. 6
   Select up to five eligible users to share your library. To do this, click the toggle next to the desired user(s).

   • If you want to access your friend's games, have them repeat the steps in this section or request access.
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Section 2 of 5:

Setting Up: Requesting Access

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1. 1
   Make sure all accounts have Steam Guard enabled. This is required to do Steam Family Sharing. You can enable Steam Guard by going to Steam > Settings > Security in the Steam Client.
2. 2
   Log in with your friend's account. First, log out of your account. Then, have your friend log into their Steam account on your computer (or type it in yourself if you aren't in the same room). Once you do this, you can log out and log back into your account.
3. 3
   Find a game you want to play in your friend's library. Borrowable games have a Borrow button.

   • Note that not all Steam games are compatible with Family Sharing, so you may not see a Borrow button on every game your friend has.
4. 4
   Click Borrow. Once you do this, your friend will have to click the link sent to their email to approve the request and give you access to their Steam library.

   • Even though you're only requesting to borrow one game, you'll have access to your friend's entire Steam library (that's compatible with Steam Family Sharing) once you're approved.
   • If you want to share your library with your friend, have them repeat the steps in this section or authorize them as a user.
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Section 3 of 5:

Managing Devices & Accounts

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1. 1
   Go to Settings > Family > Manage. This menu lets you view all the computers and accounts authorized to share your Steam library. You can also click Show excluded games at the bottom of this screen to see which games in your library are not eligible for Family Sharing.

   • The Settings option is in the Steam menu.
2. 2
   Click Revoke next to a computer or account to revoke access. That particular user won't be able to access your library anymore.

   • You can also revoke access by going to Settings > Family and deselecting the account under "Eligible Accounts."
   • Alternatively, you can revoke access from the Steam website as well. Simply log in here and go to your Account Details page, then select Manage Family Library Sharing.
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Section 4 of 5:

Steam Family Sharing Limitations

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1. There are several limitations to the Steam Family Sharing system. These limitations are:

   • Not every game can be shared. Games that require a subscription, third-party account or key, free to play games (and any purchased DLC), free DLC, games that are restricted in the region you or the borrower are in, games where you are banned, games that the borrower already owns, and games that aren't supported on the borrower's operating system are not able to be shared.
   • Only one user can play a game in a shared library at a time. If your friend is playing a game in their library, you won't be able to play a different one until they stop, and vice versa.
     • You can avoid this by switching to the Steam Families beta.
   • You can only share a library with up to 5 accounts and up to 10 devices in a 90-day period.
   • If a borrower cheats or commits fraud while playing a shared game, you may lose your Family Sharing privileges, and you may also be VAC banned.

Section 5 of 5:

Enabling Steam Families Beta

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1. 1
   The Steam Families beta adds more features to the Steam Family system. In the Steam Families beta, you can create a Steam Family of up to 6 members with access to each other's games. This system is slated to replace the Steam Family Sharing system but is still in beta.

   • While you can technically add anyone to a Steam Family, Steam says it's meant for a household of up to 6, and they may change the Steam Family participation requirements or member count in the future as needed.
2. 2
   The Steam Families beta allows you to play games concurrently. In the current Steam Family Sharing system, only one person can use a shared library at a time. If the guest user is using the library and the library owner starts to play a game, the guest will be kicked out of their game. However, with the Steam Families beta, members of a Family can play games in the same library, just not the same game at the same time.
3. 3
   Go to Settings > Interface to enable the beta. Next to Client Beta Participation, select Steam Families Beta from the dropdown.

   • Once you select the beta, click OK and accept the prompt to restart Steam.
4. 4
   Set up a Steam Family. To do this, click your display name in the upper-right corner of the Store page and select Account details: [display name], then click Family Management in the sidebar.

   • Click Create a Family and enter a name for the family.
   • Click Invite a Member and search for people you want to invite to your family. Remember that you can only have 6 people in a family.
     • When adding a new member, you can select if they are an adult or a child. Child members have extra parental controls applied, while adult members do not have these restrictions.
     • Child members cannot leave a Steam Family, but adult members can. However, if someone leaves a Steam Family, there is a 1-year cooldown to invite someone else to take that spot, but the previous family member can rejoin with no cooldowns.
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