Do you want to share Steam library with your friends? Here’s how to share your games on the gaming platform with friends and family.
Steam has been the ultimate platform for all things gaming for more than a decade. The gaming giant encompasses thousands of games, mods, and guides. It also offers a ton of features like Steam Family Sharing. This amazing feature allows you to share your Steam library with your family members. It is also possible to share your Steam games with friends.
It is a highly effective feature that helps people try out new games. As its name implies, it is designed by Steam for family members to gain access to each other’s games. Let’s dive in and see how to share your Steam library.
How to Share Steam Library?
The feature is quite simple. Those who want to share their games will have to enable Authorize Library sharing on this computer setting on Steam. You can find and enable this option in the Family settings on Steam. Here’s a thorough explanation with detailed steps.
- Run Steam and log into the account you want to grant library access to.
- Click on Steam at the top-left corner of the screen.
- Choose Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Navigate to the left side of the screen and click on Account. Ensure that your email address is verified. If you have already verified your email address on Steam, proceed with the following steps.
- Go to the Family settings at the left corner of the screen.
- Check the box next to Authorize Library Sharing on this computer.
- Once you check the box, a window will appear in the same window.
You can then see Eligible Accounts which can be shared via Steam Library Sharing. Check the boxes next to the accounts you want to grant access to.
After completing the steps above, the eligible accounts that have your permission can play your games. This is how you can share Steam library with friends and family members.
Once you have performed these steps, you will see that your game library lists even more games. That’s because now the libraries have merged together. And you can see both your games and the games of the account you shared your library with.
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How to Request Access to a Game on Steam?
You might also want to play a game in your friend’s or family member’s Steam library. For that, you need to request access to the game. After the account owner confirms your account, you will then be able to install the game and play it without any issues.
- Click on the game you wish to play and select Request access.
- This will send an email to the owner of the account to ask for their permission.
- Once the account owner grants access to your computer, you will be able to download and play the game.
Most players who do not live in the same household use the Steam Family Sharing feature. But as mentioned earlier, Steam offers it to family members or to those who live in the same home. That’s why it might be a little bit risky to make use of these features to avoid buying new titles.
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What You Need To Know About Steam Family Sharing
There are also important things to keep in mind while sharing Steam library with friends. Consider the following:
- Two users will not be able to play the game at the same time.
- The account owner has priority in playing the games. You will be logged out from the title if the account owner decides to run it on their computer.
- You can’t grant access to specific games. Once you share your Steam library with your friends, they will be able to play all of the games in your collection.
- Games with subscription systems will not be available to secondary account owners. It means that Family Library Sharing will not allow you to play titles with paid subscriptions.
- You might be sharing your Steam games with a friend who lives in another country. If a certain game is region-restricted and if your friend lives in a restricted country, Steam Family Sharing will not give them the chance to play that title. Put simply, region restriction can not be eliminated through the library sharing feature.
Here’s everything you need to know about this great feature. Even though there are downsides to it, Steam Family Sharing is a great way to share your games on Steam with friends.
This post was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
