What Steam Family Share does

Steam Family Share lets you share your Steam game library with other people on your computer and with people on other computers. When you set it up, anyone with an account on your PC can play your games while you're not using them. You can also authorize another person's computer so their account can play your games there — and you can play their games on your computer in return.

The catch is that only one person can play from a shared library at a time. If you're playing a game you own, nobody else can play any of your games until you stop. The same rule applies to whoever you're sharing with.

Steam Family Share is free. You don't pay extra to turn it on, and there's no subscription. It's built into Steam itself.

Key Takeaways

  • Steam Family Share works in two ways: letting anyone with an account on your computer play your games, and letting one other person's computer access your library remotely.
  • Only one person can play your games at a time across all shared computers combined, so if you're playing, nobody else can play anything from your library.
  • You authorize a specific computer, not a person, so you need to know which device you're sharing with and have access to it at least once to set it up.
  • The person sharing with you can see your entire library and play any game in it, so only share with people you trust.
  • If you stop sharing with someone, they lose access immediately, but any progress they made in games stays on their account.

Setting up Family Share on your own computer

To let other people on your computer play your games, open Steam and go to Settings (the gear icon in the top right). Select Family from the left menu. You'll see a toggle for Steam Family Library Sharing — turn it on.

Once it's on, anyone with a user account on your Windows or Mac computer can launch Steam on that machine, log in with their own account, and play any game in your library. They'll see your games listed in their library under a section labeled with your account name. Their own games appear there too, so they can switch between what they own and what you've shared.

You don't need to do anything else on your end. The person using the shared games doesn't need your password — they just need their own Steam account and access to your computer.

Authorizing another person's computer

To let someone play your games on their own computer, you need to authorize that specific computer. Go to Settings in Steam, then Family, and look for the section labeled Authorize Library on Another Computer. You'll see a code on your screen.

The other person needs to sit down at their computer, open Steam, and go to the same Settings > Family menu. They'll find a field to enter the code you showed them. They type it in, and their computer becomes authorized to access your library. The code expires after a few minutes, so you need to do this while you're together or on a video call.

After authorization, they can log into their own Steam account on their computer and see your games in their library. They don't need to use your account at all. You can authorize up to 10 computers this way.

Understanding the one-person-at-a-time rule

Steam's biggest limitation is that only one person can play your games at any moment. This applies across all computers you've shared with — if you're playing a game you own on your PC, someone on an authorized computer can't play any of your games at the same time, even if it's a different game.

The person playing doesn't have to be you. If you authorize your friend's computer and they're playing one of your games, you can't play any of your games until they stop. This is Steam's way of preventing one person from sharing a library with dozens of people who all play simultaneously.

Your own games aren't affected by this rule. If you own a game outright, you can always play it whenever you want, regardless of who else has access to your library.

What happens with game saves and achievements

When someone plays a game from your shared library, their progress, saves, and achievements are tied to their own Steam account, not yours. If they earn 50 achievements in a game, those show up under their account. If they save their progress, that save file belongs to them.

If you later stop sharing with them, they keep all the progress and saves they made. They just lose the ability to launch the game. If they buy their own copy later, they can pick up right where they left off.

Some games store saves in the cloud (Steam Cloud), so they sync automatically. Others save locally on the computer. Either way, the saves belong to whoever was playing, not to the account that owns the game.

Stopping Family Share with someone

If you authorized another person's computer and want to revoke access, go to Settings > Family and look for the list of authorized computers. Find the one you want to remove and click the X or delete button next to it. Access stops immediately.

If you want to turn off Family Share on your own computer entirely, go back to Settings > Family and toggle off Steam Family Library Sharing. Anyone with an account on your computer loses access to your games right away, but they keep any saves and achievements they earned.

You can also deauthorize your own computer from another location. If you log into your Steam account on a different device, you can remove your home computer from the list of authorized machines, which stops all sharing from that PC.

Things to know before you share

Steam Family Share doesn't hide what you own. Anyone you share with can see your entire library, including games you might not want them to know about. They can't play anything you don't own, but they can see the titles and descriptions.

If you share with someone and later have a falling out, you need to deauthorize their computer manually — they don't lose access on their own. So only share with people you trust to respect that boundary.

Some games have restrictions on sharing. A small number of titles, usually because of licensing agreements or anti-cheat systems, won't work through Family Share. Steam will tell you which games can't be shared when you try to set it up. Most games work fine.

Family Share doesn't work across different Steam accounts on the same computer if you want to keep libraries separate. If two people share a PC and both want to play different games at the same time, you'd need two computers or two copies of the games.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can two people play the same game at the same time if they're on different computers?

No. Steam's rule is that only one person can play anything from a shared library at any moment, even if they're playing different games. If you're playing Game A on your computer and your friend tries to play Game B on their authorized computer, they'll get a message saying the library is in use and have to wait.

What if I want to share games with someone who doesn't live with me?

You can authorize their computer remotely using the code method described above. You don't need to be in the same room — a video call or text works fine. Just make sure you trust them, because they'll have access to your entire library.

Do I need to give someone my Steam password to share games?

No. If they're on your computer, they log in with their own account. If you're authorizing their computer, they enter a code, not your password. You should never share your password with anyone.

What happens to shared games if I get banned from Steam?

If your account is banned, anyone sharing your library loses access to your games immediately. This is rare and usually only happens for serious violations like fraud or hacking. Regular account suspensions don't affect Family Share.

Can I share with more than one person?

Yes. You can turn on Family Share for your own computer so multiple people with accounts on that PC can play your games. You can also authorize up to 10 different computers, so you could share with up to 10 different people remotely. The one-at-a-time rule still applies to all of them combined.