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The current way to share eligible Steam games with people in your household is Steam Families. Open Store → Account Details → Family Management → Create a Family, invite up to five other close family members, and choose whether each account is an Adult or Child. Steam Families replaced the older Family Sharing and Family View systems in September 2024.
It does not let several people play one copy of the same game simultaneously, and it is not intended for casually sharing a library with remote friends. For that, use Remote Play Together; if someone needs permanent ownership, send a Steam gift.
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How to set up Steam Families
- Open the Steam Store.
- Open your account menu and select Account Details.
- Select Family Management.
- Select Create a Family.
- Enter a family name.
- Select Invite a Member.
- Search for or select the Steam account you want to invite.
- Choose Adult or Child.
The invited account receives a Steam notification and must accept the invitation. Steam Families can be managed in the Steam client, on a mobile device, or in a web browser. Valve describes the feature as intended for a household of up to six close family members, not as a general library-sharing arrangement for unrelated friends.
Steam Families became available to all Steam users on September 11, 2024. The old instructions that say to open Settings → Family → Authorize Library Sharing describe the retired Steam Family Sharing system, not the current process. See Valve’s Steam client update and the Steam Families FAQ.
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- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
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- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
Adult and Child accounts
Choose Child only when the account should be managed with parental controls. Adult members can manage invitations and restrictions. Child members cannot manage the family themselves.
To configure a child account, open Account Settings → Family Management → Manage, expand the child’s entry, enable Enable Parental controls, and configure the available controls. These can cover game access, Steam feature access, and playtime limits. Steam Families’ parental controls replace the older Family View system.
How to play a family member’s games
After joining a Steam Family, each member automatically receives access to eligible games owned by the other members. There is no general per-game opt-in list for Adult members. Adults can restrict which games Child members may access through parental controls.
To distinguish shared games from your own library:
- Open Library.
- Open the grouping control at the top of the game list.
- Enable Group By Library.
Steam then displays games from family members in a separate library group. You play a shared game from your own Steam account, so your achievements and Workshop activity belong to you rather than to the game’s owner.
Can two people play the same shared game at once?
Yes, but only if the family owns multiple copies of that game. One copy provides one simultaneous license. If two family members own the same title, two members can play it at the same time. Members can also play different games from the family library simultaneously, and an owner can play a different game while another member uses a title from that owner’s library.
For example, if only one family member owns Portal 2, only one family member can use that copy at a time. If two family members own Portal 2, two members can play simultaneously.
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
When multiple family members own the same game, Steam may ask which copy you want to use and remember that choice. If those copies include different DLC, switching between them can affect save compatibility. If the only available copy is already being used, Steam shows who is playing it; you must wait, use another copy, or purchase an additional copy.
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What happens to saves, achievements, DLC, and Workshop content?
- Achievements: earned on the borrowing player’s own Steam account.
- Saves: behavior depends on the individual game and its save-system support.
- Workshop: access and progress are associated with the player’s account.
- DLC: you receive the owner’s DLC only when the publisher has marked that DLC as shareable.
Be especially careful when a family owns multiple copies with different DLC. A save created with one copy’s expansion content may be incompatible or unavailable when you switch to another member’s copy, depending on the game.
Which Steam games cannot be shared?
Steam says that a game or DLC may be unavailable through Steam Families when it:
- Requires an additional third-party key, account, or subscription.
- Is free to play, or is DLC purchased for a free-to-play game.
- Is restricted in the borrower’s or owner’s region.
- Does not support the borrower’s operating system.
- Has been explicitly excluded by its publisher.
- Has been marked private by the owner.
- Was already excluded under the former Family Sharing system.
Publisher eligibility settings carried over from the previous system, but publishers can change sharing eligibility later. A Steam store page may identify supported features in its information panel, but the absence of a warning does not guarantee that every DLC item or account-dependent feature can be shared.
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Can shared games be played offline?
A family member can play a shared game offline if that game supports Family Sharing. Offline use is not guaranteed for every title. Games that require third-party services, subscriptions, or online authentication may still need an internet connection even when the Steam license itself is available.
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- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
Why can’t someone join my Steam Family?
Steam may reject an invitation when an account’s activity does not indicate that it belongs to the same household as the existing members. Valve also lists account cooldowns and family-slot cooldowns as possible causes.
Members must have compatible Steam country or store-region information. Valve staff have said that an account whose country has not yet been determined may need to wait for Steam to assign one or make a purchase that establishes it. To check an account’s country, open Store → account menu → Account Details and look for Country.
Being physically related, living at the same address, or being Steam friends does not guarantee acceptance. Steam does not publish a precise activity threshold or a guaranteed waiting period for passing its household check. Its Steam Families FAQ is the authoritative place to check the current requirements.
Important one-year cooldowns
Steam Families is not designed for repeatedly swapping friends in and out. Adults may leave a family at any time, but after joining a family they must wait one year from the date they joined before joining or creating another family.
Each vacated family slot also has a one-year cooldown before a different account can occupy it. An account that accidentally leaves can rejoin its previous family without waiting, provided that family has fewer than six members. Child members cannot leave by themselves; an adult member or Steam Support must remove them.
Before inviting someone, make sure the arrangement is genuine and long-term. Removing an account can leave both the account and the vacated slot unavailable for a year.
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Do not share your Steam password
Steam Families shares eligible licenses without sharing account credentials. Do not give another person your Steam password. Valve recommends inviting only trusted household members because cheating or fraud involving a shared game can have serious consequences.
If a family member cheats while using a shared game, Steam may revoke Family privileges, and the game owner’s account may also receive a VAC ban. Other family members are not necessarily affected. Some VAC-protected games are not shareable in the first place.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to share a game with a remote friend
Steam Families is not the appropriate method for casually lending a library to someone in another household. Invitations can fail because of household, country, account-activity, and cooldown checks even when the other person is a relative or Steam friend.
For remote cooperative play, use Remote Play Together. The owner runs a supported local multiplayer game, while the invited player connects remotely without owning or launching the game themselves.
- Start a game that supports Remote Play Together.
- Make sure the friend is signed in to Steam on a supported device.
- Open the Steam Overlay with Shift+Tab.
- In the Friends list, right-click the friend.
- Select Invite to Remote Play.
- The friend accepts the invitation.
Check the game’s Steam store-page feature information for the Remote Play Together label. This is streaming and input-sharing from the owner’s computer, not a transfer of game ownership. The owner’s computer runs the game, so performance and connection quality affect the other player’s experience. More details are available in Steam Support’s Remote Play documentation.
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If the recipient needs their own permanent license, buy the game as a Steam gift:
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- Visa Virtual eGift Cards are designed for online use only. Gift Cards are subject to Terms and Conditions: a.co/5bw3qXJ
- When you access your Visa Virtual eGift Card for the first time, you’ll need to register your name, address, phone number, and email address via activationspot.com. These details should also be used as your billing address for online purchases, as many merchants require address verification for purchase authorization.
- This Visa Virtual eGift Card is non-reloadable. No cash or ATM access. Visa Virtual eGift Cards are emailed active.
- Funds do not expire but your Visa Virtual eGift Card has a ‘valid thru’ date (9 years from date of purchase). If funds remain after this date has passed, please call the Toll Free number found on your Visa Virtual eGift Card for a replacement card. A one-time purchase fee applies at the time of checkout.
- This item is not eligible for refund, resale, or return. Available for sale within the United States only. Not available to residents of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and the US Virgin Islands.
- Open the game’s Steam Store page.
- Select Add to cart.
- Choose This is a gift from the drop-down menu.
- Select Continue to gift options.
- Choose the recipient from your Friends List.
- Select As soon as possible or Schedule delivery.
- Select Continue to payment and complete checkout.
After redemption, the game belongs to the recipient’s Steam account. Scheduled delivery can be set up as far as 12 months after purchase. Steam does not allow an already-owned game to be transferred between accounts; only a new purchase can be gifted. See Steam Gifts Support.
Which sharing option should you use?
| What you want to do | Use | What it provides |
|---|---|---|
| Share eligible games within a genuine household | Steam Families | Family members access eligible library games through their own accounts. |
| Play a local multiplayer game remotely with a friend | Remote Play Together | The owner streams the game and shares remote input; the friend does not own the game. |
| Give someone permanent ownership | Steam Gift | A new license is added to the recipient’s account after redemption. |
| Move a game already owned by one account | Not supported | Steam does not transfer existing licenses between accounts. |
Common misconceptions
“Family Sharing lets everyone play one copy simultaneously.”
It does not. One copy supports one simultaneous player. Multiple family-owned copies are required for multiple people to play the same title at once.
“The owner cannot use Steam while someone borrows a game.”
That was an old limitation. With Steam Families, the owner can play a different game while another family member uses a title from the owner’s library.
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Third-party accounts and subscriptions, regional restrictions, operating-system incompatibility, publisher opt-outs, private games, free-to-play titles and their purchased DLC, and other limitations can prevent sharing.
“You need to share your password.”
You do not. Steam Families, Remote Play Together, and Steam Gifts are designed to work without giving another person access to your credentials.
“Family View is still Steam’s current parental-control system.”
It is not. Family View was replaced by Steam Families’ parental controls.
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