How to share Steam games on different computers

Looking for how to share games on Steam? In the olden days that would be impossible because Steam games are digital files that can’t be taken to a friend’s house. Here in the modern world, however, we use Steam Family Library Sharing. It lets other people use your Steam library and play your collection of games.

As the title suggests, this is great for if you have a family and only want to buy one game for every brother, sister, parent, and grandparent in the house. When you share a library, the person you share it with can download and play your games on their computer.

If you’ve got a game growing dust in your Steam library that your friend or family member has had their eye on for a while, maybe you’ve recommended a game and someone’s strongly hinted that they want to borrow it… Well, that’s all made possible now Steam allows you to share your games with Steam Family Sharing. So, how does it work? Here’s how to get set up and how to share games on Steam.

How to share games on Steam

To share games on Steam, you’ll need to setup Steam Family Library Sharing. You first need to make sure your account uses Steam Guard security. You can turn this on by clicking on Settings in the Steam menu of Steam (it’s in the top left corner of the client). In the settings window, Steam Guard can be turned on in the Account tab.

With Steam Guard turned on, you can start activating other people’s computers to use your Steam library. To do this, log into Steam on a friend or family member’s PC, click the Steam menu and select Settings. In this window, click Family, and then tick the authorise Library sharing on this computer option.

Finally, log out of your Steam account and let your friend or family member log into their own Steam account. They will now be able to see your Steam Library in their own Games tab. Now they just have to download the games they want and play them.

Related: Here are the best free Steam games

There are restrictions to Steam Family Library Sharing. You can only authorise up to 10 computers to share your games with. Your library is also shared with a computer, rather than a Steam account, so games can only be played on the PCs that you authorise instead of any machine your friend logs into.

Most importantly: you can only use a shared library if the owner is not using it. This means that if you are sharing your library and currently playing a game, your friends and family can’t use your collection, even if they want to play a different game to the one you are using.

If someone is using your library and you want to play a game, Steam gives your priority. The other person using the library will be given the option to either buy the game to continue playing, or to quit to desktop.

Finally, some games in your library can’t be shared. A good example is The Division; since it is a Ubisoft game it actually launches through Uplay, even though you bought it from Steam. Uplay does not offer a similar system, and so can’t be shared.

That’s how to share games on Steam. Steam Family Library Sharing is one of the more complex features Steam offers, but it’s also one of the most useful. And by following these steps, you’ve just allowed up to ten of your friends and family to play some of your awesome games.

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.

How to set up Steam Family Sharing

How to share Steam games on different computers

While Steam Guard is necessary for Steam Family Sharing, everyone with a Steam account should turn it on regardless of whether they're sharing their libraries or not. If you've had your Steam account for a long time, you've probably spent a decent amount of money on games, so securing your account with two-factor authentication via Steam Guard is a no-brainer.

Once Steam Guard has been turned on, you can set up Steam Family Sharing on other machines. Log into Steam on the laptop or desktop you want to approve for Steam Family Sharing, then once again head into the Settings panel but this time select "Family" from the sidebar instead of "Account." Click the box next to "Authorize Library Sharing on this computer" and select the local users you want to share your library with.

How to share Steam games on different computers

The people you're sharing your library with need to have Steam accounts of their own and they need to be associated with the machine you're enabling sharing on. Valve says that you can enable Family Sharing on 10 different devices and share your library with up to 5 different accounts, so you and five friends can share your libraries with one another and expand your PC gaming horizons together.

What are the restrictions of Steam Family Sharing?

Steam logo by ValveSteam / Valve

Of course, you're not granting friends unlimited access to your library with no strings attached. Valve's FAQ on Steam Family Sharing tells us some of the limitations of this feature, and they're obviously weighted on the side of the person who actually owns the library in question.

When you decide to share your Steam library with friends, you're opting to share your entire library minus any games that don't participate in the program. There are no picking and choosing specific games here – when you add a machine and its users to your Steam Family Sharing lineup, those users will gain access to all of your games.

While many games on Steam are eligible for Family Sharing, some of them aren't. Valve says that games which "require an additional third-party key, account, or subscription in order to play cannot be shared between accounts," so you'll have to find some other way to convince your friends to give Final Fantasy XIV Online a try.

Users with whom you share your library must be online in order to play your games. Libraries can only be used by one person at a time, and the account holder always has access to their games. This means that if an approved users is playing one of your games via Family Sharing and you begin playing a game, that user will be kicked. According to Valve, they'll be given a few minutes to purchase the game and continue or save their progress and quit.

Finally – and this is very important – you should only share your library with users who won't cheat or conduct fraud while playing. If someone cheats in a game protected by Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) while playing your library, Valve says that your "Family Library Sharing privileges may be revoked and your account may also be VAC banned," making it clear that you should only share your library with trustworthy individuals.