How to share games on Steam

Steam provides the Steam Family Sharing feature that allows users to share their Steam accounts and games. Of course, you cannot play the same game simultaneously, but it will enable people to share their games with lots of flexibility and simplicity.

Terms and limitations

Steam, the best online games store to buy games features the Steam Family Sharing which is designed for those users who live under the same roof so that each one can play the other's games while maintaining their own account, saved games, achievements, etc.

Here are some of the main limitations:

You can only share your games with a maximum of 5 different accounts.
Two users cannot play games from the same library simultaneously (the owner has the priority).
Not all games are supported, some simply cannot be shared.

Configure Steam Guard security

Log in to your Steam account on your computer.
Click on Steam in the top menu bar (the upper left of Steam on Windows, or in the menu bar above Steam on OSX).
Go to the Account section on the left panel.
Click on Manage Steam Guard Account Security on the right panel.

Steam Guard by email

If you want to enable your Steam Guard by email:

Select the Get Steam Guard codes by email button.
You will receive a code sent by Steam to confirm your email.
Enter the validation code on Steam to validate the Steam Guard process.

Steam Guard by mobile app

Select the Get Steam Guard codes from the Steam app on my phone button.
Download and install the Android Steam app or the iOS Steam app on your phone.
Log in with your Steam account credentials.
Tap the menu icon at the top left to expose the app's main menu.
Select Steam Guard from the top of the menu.
Select Add Authenticator.
Specify your phone number and you will receive a validation code by SMS.
Enter the validation code on Steam to validate the Steam Guard process.

Log into your Steam account on the computer where you'd like to share your games.
Make sure that you have Steam Guard security enabled via Steam > Settings > Account in the Steam Client. If not, configure it and follow the activation process. Then keep following the sharing process.
Go to the Steam > Settings > Family tab (or in Big Picture mode, Settings > Family Library Sharing). Here you can select users who have also logged into this computer to share your library with.
Click on the Authorize Library Sharing on this Computer box.

If it does not work, try to log in one last time to your friend's account, that should be enough to correctly load your games into their library.

Go to the Steam > Settings > Family tab (or in Big Picture mode, Settings > Family Library Sharing).
Click on Manage other computers and manage who has access to your games.

any more questions about steam? check out our forum!

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