Valve has integrated a feature into its Steam platform that allows a handful of different accounts to share a single person’s game library. It’s great if you have children or siblings, or if you want to try out a friend’s game before buying it for yourself. Here’s how to share games on Steam
1. How to share games on Steam: Enable Steam Guard Account Security
Before you start authorising accounts to use your Steam library, you’ll first need to switch on Steam Guard Account Security. This is an extra layer of security for your Steam account, and is useful to have turned on even if you’re not giving other people your account details.
To turn it on, go to the Steam setting menu | Account, and select “Manage Steam Guard Account Security”.
2. How to share games on Steam: Log onto your account with the computer you want to authorise
Next, you’ll need to log onto your account with the PC or Mac you want to give permission to access your library. Once you’ve logged in, go to the Steam setting menu | Family.
There you’ll find an option to tick a box that says “Authorise Library Sharing on this computer”. After that’s been checked, you’ll also have the option to authorise accounts that have been logged into the same computer.
3. How to share games on Steam: Log back into your friend or family member’s account
After your friend or loved one’s computer has been authorised, log out of your account and log back into theirs. They should then have the option to download and play games that are from your library.
A few things to note: You can authorise up to 10 computers, split between up to five accounts, to access your Steam games library. There are also some games that, for some reason or another, can’t be shared. These tend to include games that need a subscription to play.
Valve has also set up Family Sharing so that a game can only be accessed by one person at a time. That means you can’t all log into, say, Borderlands 2, and play multiplayer co-op. If you try that, Steam will nudge you to buy a copy of the game.
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