Steam Family Sharing lets multiple people play games from one purchase on different computers, but it comes with real trade-offs around account access and game availability
Steam Family Sharing is a feature that lets you share your game library with up to five other people on your account. When you turn it on, anyone you authorize can read and play your games on their own computer — they don't need to own the games themselves. The catch: only one person can play at a time, and the person whose account owns the games can always kick everyone else off to play.
The feature exists because game publishers and Valve (the company behind Steam) wanted a middle ground between "you can only play on your own account" and "you can give your password to anyone." It's not a way to split the cost of a game with a friend. It's a way to let people in your household or people you trust deeply use games you've already bought.
Key Takeaways
- Steam Family Sharing requires you to give another person access to your entire account, not just individual games, which means they can see your purchase history and personal information.
- Only one person can play games from the shared library at a time, and the account owner can always force everyone else off to play themselves.
- The person sharing the account should use a strong, unique password because anyone with access to that password can change it and lock the owner out.
- Games with Denuvo anti-cheat or certain online multiplayer systems may not work on shared accounts, and some publishers disable sharing for their titles entirely.
- You can remove someone from Family Sharing at any time, and their access stops when ready — they keep any save files but lose the ability to play.
How to turn on Family Sharing in Steam
Open Steam on your computer and go to Steam menu (top left) → Settings → Family. You'll see a button that says Authorize Library Sharing on This Computer. Click it. Steam will ask you to confirm — this means anyone who logs into this specific computer can play your games.
Next, you need to add the people who can use it. Go back to Settings → Family and look for Family Library Sharing. You'll see a list of accounts. Click the toggle next to each person you want to let play your games. Steam will send them an invitation, and they have to accept it on their own account before sharing starts.
The person you're sharing with logs into their own Steam account on their own computer (or yours, if you want), goes to Library, and your games appear in their list. They read and play them like normal. You stay logged into your account on your computer, and they stay logged into theirs on theirs.
What happens to your account security when you share
When you turn on Family Sharing, you're giving someone access to your entire Steam account on their computer. That means they can see your purchase history, your friends list, your chat messages, and any personal information you've added to your profile. They can't change your password from their computer, but if they know your password, they can log in as you from anywhere and change it themselves.
This is why Family Sharing should only be used with people you trust completely — family members you live with, or very close friends. If you share with someone and the relationship ends badly, you should change your Steam password when ready and remove them from Family Sharing. They'll lose access to the games, but they could have already copied your account details.
Steam also watches for suspicious activity. If you're playing on your account in one place and someone else tries to play your games in another place at the same time, Steam will kick one of you off. This is a security feature to catch account theft, but it also means you can't both play at once — that's by design.
Games that don't work with Family Sharing
Some games are blocked from sharing. Publishers can choose to disable it for their titles, and many do. Games with strong anti-cheat systems — especially Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, and PUBG — don't work on shared accounts because the anti-cheat software can't verify that the person playing owns the game. Games with Denuvo anti-tamper software sometimes have the same problem.
Online multiplayer games are more likely to be blocked than single-player games, but not always. The only way to know is to try. If someone in your Family Sharing group tries to launch a blocked game, Steam will tell them it's not available for their account and suggest they buy it themselves.
Some games work fine on shared accounts but the publisher's terms of service say you shouldn't share them. Steam doesn't enforce this — it's between you and the publisher. But if you're sharing a game and the publisher finds out, they could ban the shared account from playing that game, or in rare cases, ban the whole account.
Removing someone from Family Sharing
Go to Settings → Family → Family Library Sharing and click the toggle next to the person's name to turn it off. Their access stops when ready. Any save files they created stay on their computer, but they can't play your games anymore.
If you want to remove someone but keep them in your Family group (so they can still see your profile and chat with you), you can do that too — just turn off the library sharing toggle without removing them from the Family list entirely.
What to do if someone else is using your games and you want to play
If someone in your Family Sharing group is playing one of your games and you want to play it too, Steam will ask them to stop. You'll see a notification that says someone else is playing, and you can click a button to kick them off. They'll get a warning that they have a few minutes to save their game before they're disconnected.
This is the main limitation of Family Sharing: it's not simultaneous. Only one person can play from the shared library at a time. If you have multiple people in your household who want to play the same game at the same time, they each need to own a copy, or you need to buy a second copy.
The privacy and trust side of sharing
Family Sharing is convenient, but it requires a level of trust that not everyone is comfortable with. The person you share with can see everything on your account. They can read your chat history, see what games you own and what you paid for them, and view your friends list. If you're not comfortable with that, don't use Family Sharing.
There's also the question of what happens if you share with someone and then you want to stop. You can remove them from sharing, but if they wrote down your password or saved your login information, they could log back in as you later. Change your password when you remove someone, and consider using Steam Guard (a two-factor authentication system) to make it harder for someone to log in without your permission.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I share my Steam games with a friend who lives far away?
Technically yes, but Steam's terms say Family Sharing is meant for people in your household. If you share with someone far away and Steam detects unusual login patterns, they might restrict the account. The safer option is to buy games together or take turns buying them.
What if I share my account and the other person buys games — do I get them?
No. Games purchased on your account belong to your account. Games purchased on their account belong to theirs. Family Sharing only shares what the account owner has bought. If they buy a game on your account (using your payment method), it goes into your library, and they can play it through sharing — but you're paying for it.
Can I use Family Sharing on more than one computer?
Yes. You can authorize sharing on multiple computers. Anyone you've added to your Family group can log in on any of those computers and play your games. But remember: only one person can play at a time across all computers.
Does Family Sharing work on Steam Deck?
Yes. You can set up Family Sharing on a Steam Deck the same way you do on a regular computer. The person you're sharing with can log into their account on the Deck and play your games.
What happens to my games if I stop paying for my internet?
Games you own stay in your library forever. You don't have to pay a subscription to keep them. But if someone else is using your games through Family Sharing and the internet goes down, they'll lose access until it comes back up.