How to Set Up a Steam Family to Share Games: Step-by-Step Guide

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The ultimate guide to sharing your Steam library

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: January 5, 2026 Fact Checked

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Creating a Steam Family

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Joining a Steam Family

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Steam Family FAQ

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Does your friend own a game that you really want to play, but you don't want to shell out the money to buy it for yourself? Steam has recently released its Steam Family feature from beta, and it's now available to all users. Steam Families are an easy and quick way to share your Steam library with your friends or family. Read on to learn how.

How to Share a Steam Library

To share Steam games, use Steam Families. You must either create or join a Steam Family to share your games with a friend or family member, and they can access your games as well. Separate games can be played at the same time, but only one person can play a game at any given time (unless you have multiple copies).

Section 1 of 3:

Creating a Steam Family

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To do so, click Steam at the top of the Steam window, then click Settings.
It's in the top section, and it has an icon of three people.

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This will open a page in the Steam app.
If you want to join a Steam family that someone else has created, jump to our section on that below.
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Enter a name for the family. This doesn't have to be your family name, and it can be anything you want. The family name will be visible to other family members and invited members. The name can be changed at any time.
- Click Create to create the family.
It's at the bottom of the "Manage" tab, which is the default tab you'll be taken to after creating your family.
You can only invite people to your family who are on your friends list.
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Click the person you want to invite. You can choose to invite someone as an adult or as a child, though child accounts are meant for actual children.
- Adult accounts have full access to all the games shared in the family group.
- Child accounts can only access certain games in the family group, and adults can limit which games appear for child accounts.
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Invite other members as needed. You can have up to six people in a Steam Family (you plus five others). You'll have to wait for your friend to accept the Steam Family invite before their games will be added to the Steam Family Library.^{[1]
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- To rename the family, click the pencil icon by the family's name at the top of the "Manage" tab.
- To delete the family, click the dropdown next to your name in the "Manage" tab of the Steam Family settings, then click Delete Family.

Section 2 of 3:

Joining a Steam Family

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To do so, click Steam at the top of the Steam window, then click Settings.
It's in the top section, and it has an icon of three people.
This will open a page in the Steam app.
You must have been invited to a Steam Family already to join one. If you haven't been invited yet, ask your friend or family member who created the family to invite you.
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Click Accept. You'll immediately be added into the Steam Family, and your eligible games will be added to the Steam Family library.^{[2]
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- To leave a family, go to the "Manage" tab and click the dropdown next to your name, then click Leave Family. However, there is a cooldown to create or join a new family for one year after you joined the previous family (so, if you joined a family and stayed in it for six months, then leave, you'll have to wait an additional six months to join a new family). Child accounts cannot leave families.

Section 3 of 3:

Steam Family FAQ

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How does Steam Family work? When you're in a Steam Family, you can access any games that are eligible to be shared in the family's library. Steam Family members can play separate games concurrently, but the same game cannot be played by multiple people at once, unless there are two copies of the game in the family's library.^{[3]
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Is a Steam Family just for actual families? While the Steam Family system is intended for typical families, Steam doesn't currently have any measures in place to ensure all family members live in the same house. So, you can invite anyone to a Steam Family, as long as your Steam Family has room and the person you're inviting isn't in another Steam Family. Steam may change the requirements for Steam Families in the future, however.^{[4]
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Can I leave or delete my Steam Family? Yes, you can leave or delete a Steam Family if you joined the family as an adult. However, if you do so, you must wait a year from when you joined your last Steam Family to make or create a new one (so, if you joined a family and stayed in it for six months, then leave, you'll have to wait an additional six months to join a new family). You can rejoin your last Steam Family at any time.
- Child accounts are not allowed to leave Steam Families.
- You can also be kicked out of a Steam Family.
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What games can I share through a Steam Family? Many games can be shared, but not all. Here's the games that can't be shared:
- Games that require a third-party account or subscription to play
- Free-to-play games
- Games that are restricted in a region that you or another family member live in
- Games that don't support the OS of a family member
- Games that have been marked unavailable for sharing by the developer or publisher
- Games marked private by the original owner
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What happens if someone cheats while playing a Steam Family game? If caught, the cheater will be banned from the game, as well as the game's owner.