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Steam Family View Guide: Set Up, Turn On, or Disable the Legacy Feature

Steam’s legacy Family View wizard uses a recovery email, PIN, and email confirmation. Here’s how to set it up or disable it—and where to find Steam Families parental controls.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Steam’s Family View setup is still documented in Steam Support, but Steam says the feature has been replaced by Steam Families parental controls. If you specifically need Family View, you can enable it through the legacy wizard with a recovery email, PIN, and email confirmation code. For current parental controls, use Account Settings > Family Management > Manage.

Family View and Steam Families: which instructions should you follow?

Family View is the older, PIN-protected account feature. Steam’s Family View FAQ labels it as replaced by Steam Families parental controls, while continuing to publish the Family View setup and disable steps.

Feature Legacy Family View Steam Families parental controls
Status Replaced; legacy instructions remain in Steam Support. Steam’s current successor.
How it is managed A PIN-controlled wizard on the account using the feature. An adult manages controls for a child account in a Steam Family.
Controls described by Steam Selected content and Steam features remain accessible while Family View is active. Game access, Steam feature access, and playtime limits.

For current controls, skip the legacy wizard and go to Account Settings > Family Management > Manage. Open the child’s entry, enable parental controls, then configure the available access and playtime settings. Steam says Steam Families can be managed in the client, on a mobile device, or in a web browser. See Steam’s Steam Families User Guide & FAQ.

How to set up and turn on legacy Family View

In the legacy workflow, “turn on” means completing the Family View wizard and confirming the email code Steam sends. Steam documents setup through either the desktop client or its website.

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Set up Family View in the Steam client

  1. Sign in to the account that will use Family View.
  2. Open Steam > Settings > Family.
  3. In the Family View section, select Manage.
  4. Follow the wizard to choose which content and features remain accessible while Family View is active.
  5. Enter a recovery email address. Steam says it can be different from the account’s email address.
  6. Choose and confirm a PIN.
  7. Retrieve the confirmation code Steam sends to the account’s associated email address and enter it to finish setup.

Set up Family View on the Steam website

  1. Sign in to the relevant account on Steam’s website.
  2. Open the account name menu and choose Account Details.
  3. Scroll to Family Settings and select Manage Family View.
  4. Complete the same choices, recovery email, PIN, and email-code confirmation steps as in the client wizard.

How to change or disable Family View

To reach the legacy controls while Family View is active, use its icon and enter the PIN to exit. Then open Steam > Settings > Family > Manage to change the wizard’s options or disable the feature.

Edit settings or change allowed games

Run the Family View wizard again to revise which content and features are available. If you limited access to a subset of games, Steam puts allowed games in a Family Games group. Exit Family View first, then either use a game’s Library Manage > Add to / Remove from Family Games control or adjust the selection in the wizard.

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Disable Family View

  1. Exit Family View using its icon and PIN.
  2. Open Steam > Settings > Family > Manage.
  3. Choose Disable Family View and confirm.

Steam says disabling removes the account restrictions. If you turn Family View on again later, the options you previously selected are retained.

Recover a forgotten Family View PIN

If you configured a recovery email, Steam says you can request an email containing a link to disable Family View. If you did not configure a recovery email, Steam directs you to Steam Support’s Family View FAQ for help; the email recovery route depends on having set that address up beforehand.

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What happens to Family View settings when joining Steam Families?

Steam says that when a child account joins a Steam Family, its existing Family View settings transfer to Steam Families parental controls and the PIN is removed; the settings otherwise remain untouched. The Steam Families FAQ also states that a Steam Family can have up to 6 members and that adult recovery of a child account is available only after the child has been a member for at least 30 days. Steam does not specify a year for those figures in the FAQ.

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