The person you want to remove needs to be deleted from your Steam Family group, not just unfriended

Removing someone from Steam Family is different from blocking or unfriending them. When you remove a person from your Family group, they lose access to the games you've shared with them through that feature, but they keep their own Steam account and any games they own. The removal happens in your account settings, not in a chat or friend menu.

Steam Family lets you share your game library with up to five other people on the same household network. When you remove someone, they can no longer play your games on their account, though they'll still be able to see you as a friend if you haven't unfriended them separately.

Key Takeaways

  • You remove family members from the Family Library section of your account settings, not from a friend list or chat window.
  • The person loses access to your shared games when ready, but keeps their own account and any games they personally own.
  • You can remove someone even if they're currently playing one of your shared games — the access ends right away.
  • If you want to stop sharing with someone but keep them as a friend, remove them from Family but don't unfriend them.

Where to find the Family Library settings

Open Steam on your computer and go to the top menu. Click Steam, then select Settings. In the left sidebar, click Family Library Sharing. You'll see a list of everyone currently in your Family group, including their usernames and the date they were added.

If you don't see the Family Library Sharing option, your account may not have set up Family yet, or you may be on a different account. Only the account that created the Family group can remove members. If someone else set up your Family, you'll need to ask them to do the removal, or they can transfer ownership to you first.

The steps to remove someone

Find the person's name in your Family Library list. Next to their username, you'll see a button or option to remove them — this is usually labeled Remove or shown as an X icon. Click it.

Steam will ask you to confirm. Click the confirmation button. The removal takes effect when ready. The person will no longer see your games in their library, and if they're currently playing one of your games, they'll be disconnected.

What happens after you remove them

The person you removed will notice your games are gone from their library the next time they open Steam or refresh their library. They won't receive a notification that you removed them, but they may figure it out when they try to launch one of your games and get an error message.

If they ask why they lost access, you can tell them directly, or you can straightforward not explain. There's no message Steam sends on your behalf. If you want to avoid awkwardness, you might tell them beforehand that you're making a change to your Family settings.

If you want to remove them but stay friends

Removing someone from Family and unfriending them are two separate actions. You can do one without the other. If you remove them from Family but don't unfriend them, you'll still see them in your friends list, you can still message them, and you can still see what they're playing — you just won't share your games with them anymore.

If you want to unfriend them as well, go to your friends list, find their name, right-click it, and select Remove Friend. This is a separate step from removing them from Family.

If you need to add them back later

You can add someone back to your Family group at any time, as long as you haven't reached the five-person limit and they're on the same household network. Go back to Steam > Settings > Family Library Sharing, and look for an option to add a new member. You'll need their Steam username or account name.

When you add them back, they'll regain access to all your games when ready. There's no waiting period or approval process — as soon as you confirm the addition, they can start playing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will they know I removed them?

Steam doesn't send a notification. They'll only know if they try to play one of your games and can't, or if you tell them. You can remove someone silently, but if you share a household or gaming group, they'll probably notice eventually.

Can I remove someone if they're playing my game right now?

Yes. The removal takes effect when ready, even if they're in the middle of playing. They'll be disconnected and won't be able to launch that game again unless you add them back to Family.

What if I'm not the one who set up the Family group?

Only the account that created the Family group can remove members. If someone else set it up, ask them to remove the person, or ask them to transfer Family ownership to you in the settings.

Do they lose games they already own?

No. Removing someone from Family only affects the games you shared with them. Any games they bought themselves stay on their account forever.

Can I remove someone and add them back the same day?

Yes. There's no cooldown period. You can remove and re-add people as many times as you want, though doing it repeatedly might confuse them or cause technical issues.