What is Steam Family Sharing?

Steam Family Sharing (now part of Steam Families) allows you to share your game library with up to 5 family members. Shared users can play your games, earn their own achievements, and save their own progress — all without needing to buy the games themselves.

The feature was overhauled in 2024 with the introduction of Steam Families, which replaced the older Family Library Sharing and Family View systems with a unified, more flexible approach.

How to Set Up Steam Families

Open Steam Settings and navigate to the Family section. Click “Create a Family” to start a new family group, or accept an invitation to join an existing one.

Once your family is set up, each member’s library is automatically shared with the group. There’s no need to authorize individual computers anymore — sharing works across all devices where family members are signed in.

You can manage your family at any time through Settings > Family. Here you can invite new members, remove existing ones, and configure parental controls for child accounts.

Limitations to Know About

Not all games support Family Sharing. Games that require third-party accounts or keys, some free-to-play games, and titles that the developer has opted out of sharing won’t be available. You can check a game’s store page for sharing compatibility.

Two family members cannot play the same game simultaneously from one person’s library. If the owner starts playing a game that a family member is also playing, the family member gets a few minutes to save and quit.

VAC bans earned while playing a shared game affect the borrower’s account, not the owner’s. However, the borrower may lose access to the shared library entirely if they receive a VAC ban.

Common Issues and Solutions

If shared games aren’t appearing, make sure both accounts are in the same Steam Family group and that the game supports sharing. Try restarting the Steam client on both ends.

For “This game is currently unavailable” errors, check if the library owner is currently playing any game. Even if they’re playing a different game, some sharing configurations require the owner to be idle.

Region restrictions can affect sharing. If family members are in different countries, some games may not be available due to regional licensing restrictions.