People are brought closer together when they share a common interest or hobby. Whether it is watching sports, baking cakes, or spending time in cafes, loving the same things keeps families and friends bonded. So, if you and your siblings or friends love video games, you might ask, “Can I share PC games?” Well, if you’re using the Steam desktop gaming client, you are free to do so.
Steam Family Library Sharing explained
The great thing about this tool is that it allows friends and family members to simulate a shared gaming console. With no additional fee, people can play the same games, using a feature called Steam Family Library Sharing. Through a two-factor security verification process, you can grant access to your friends and family, allowing them to earn their own achievements and save their progress to the Steam Cloud.
You can grant access to your Steam library to a maximum of five accounts and ten computers. On the other hand, you should know that there are games that require a third-party key, subscription, or account. These games wouldn’t be available for Steam Family Library Sharing.
So, are you ready to start playing? Keep on reading this article to learn how to share Steam games!
How to share Steam games on Windows 10
Click Next and Steam will create the local game files on your Mac. Click Finish and then Play Game again to open it - or open the game from the Library tab (see next section). Open your Steam client and head over to the “ Library ” section. Here all of your games are listed. Right click on the game you want to back up and select the option “ Backup game files ”. In the next window, select all the games you want to back up. Sharing Steam Games via Steam Family Sharing Once you’ve enabled and authorized access to your game library for a particular Steam account, the particular user has to simply log on to Steam with their username and password to access your shared library. The shared games will show up in the “Library” page alongside the user’s own games.
The steps in setting up your Steam Family Library Sharing feature are quite easy. Just follow our instructions below:
First Step: Enabling the Steam Guard security feature
Before you can enable the Family Library Sharing feature in your Steam account, you have to enable the Steam Guard security first. With that said, follow the instructions below:
- Open your Steam account and submit your login details.
- Go to the upper left corner and click Steam.
- Select Settings.
- Click Account, then select Manage Steam Guard Account Security.
- Choose either or both of these verification options:
Get Steam Guard codes from the Steam app on my phone
Get Steam Guard codes by email
This should enable the Steam Guard security feature. The next step is to enable the Family Library Sharing feature on your Steam account.
Second Step: Sharing your Steam games
Learning how to share Steam games with your friends and family is simple. Just follow the steps below:
- On your family’s or friend’s Windows 10 PC, log into your Steam account.
- Go to the upper left corner of the window and click Steam.
- Click Settings.
- Select Family.
- Make sure that the box next to Authorize this computer (or Authorize Library Sharing on this computer) is checked.
- Save the changes by clicking OK.
- Log out of your Steam account.
- Once your friend or family logs into their own account, they should be able to play the games you shared.
It is worth noting that your own game progress won’t be interfered when you share your library with other people. Their game achievements will be saved in their own account. Moreover, the shared games can be accessed by a single account at a time. So, if you own the game and you’d want to play it, other people using it will be given a couple of minutes to save their progress and quit the game. Otherwise, they will be prompted to purchase the game.
How to disable the Steam Family Library Sharing feature
If for some reason, you’ve decided to stop sharing your games, you can do so by following these steps:
- Log into your Steam account.
- Go to the upper left corner and click Steam.
- Select Settings, then click Family.
- Deselect the box next to the user you wish to remove from the sharing feature.
- Save the changes by clicking OK.
How to get the most out of your Steam gaming experience
There are many good reasons why a lot of people choose Windows 10 for their Steam games. Microsoft continues to boost users’ PC gaming on this operating system by introducing features like DirectX 12, Game Mode, and even a free tool that records games. However, as a consumer, you also have to do your part to ensure that you can maximize your Steam gaming experience. As such, we’ve prepared some tips that will help boost your PC performance while you play your favorite games.
Tip 1: Installing the latest patch
From time to time, gamers experience bugs on their Steam games. Game developers fix these by releasing patches which users can download and install. In order to avoid lags, errors, and crashes, you should make sure that you have the latest patch of your games. Moreover, you should always update your Steam software.
Tip 2: Updating your graphics card drivers
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Unstable PC performance is often caused by outdated or corrupt drivers. Auslogics Driver Updater diagnoses driver issues and lets you update old drivers all at once or one at a time to get your PC running smoother
If you do not want to have issues while playing your favorite Steam games, you have to ensure that there are no missing or outdated drivers on your computer. Moreover, it is especially important that you keep your graphics card driver updated. Of course, you can manually do this by going to the manufacturer’s website and searching for the latest and compatible versions. However, we recommend automating the process, using Auslogics Driver Updater.
It is worth noting that you might only cause errors and crashes when you install the incorrect drivers. On the other hand, when you use Auslogics Driver Updater, the tool will automatically recognize your system and find the right drivers that are compatible with your device and operating system. With just a click of a button, you can download and install the correct graphics card drivers for your PC.
Did our method work for you?
Let us know in the comments below!
Want to play the installed games of your friend or family? Valve’s new feature Family Library Sharing now allows you to play the games installed by your friends, and share your games with your friends to play, such as PUBG and Fortnite.
To know how to share games on Steam, check the step-by-step tutorial to set it up!
What is the Family Library Sharing feature
Steam Family Library Sharing feature allows Steam users to play one another’s games earning their own achievements and saving game progress to the Steam Cloud. You can just grant the access to your family or friends to do that.
You can share your Steam library up to 10 computers and 5 accounts. Once shared, you share the whole library to your friends and family. However, some Steam games, such as games that require third-party key, account or subscription may be unavailable to share. Each another’s game progress won’t be interfered and you’ll have the priority to play the games if you’re the owner.
How to set up to share games on Steam
It’s rather easy to set up to share games on Steam. To do so, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Enable the Steam Guard security
Before enabling the Family Library Sharing feature in your Steam, you should first enable the Steam Guard security.
1) Log into your Steam account
2) Click Steam at the upper left corner, and click Settings.
3) Click Account, and click MANAGE STEAM GUARD ACCOUNT SECURITY.
4) Make sure to select Get Steam Guard codes from the Steam app on my phone or Get Steam Guard codes by email, or both.
Then you should’ve enabled the Steam Guard security, and you can enable the Family Library Sharing on your Steam.
Step 2: Share your Steam games
You can now start sharing games on Steam with you friends and family.
1) Log into your friends’ or family’s computer with your Steam account.
2) Click Steam at the upper left corner, and click Settings.
3) Click Family, and check the box next to Authorize this computer (or Authorize Library Sharing on this computer), then click OK to save.
4) Log out your Steam account. Then your friend or family can play your shared games on this computer after logging into his Steam account.
You can also send a request to play the games installed in your friend’s computer by double clicking the installed games you would like to play. For example, if you’d like to play PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS of your friend’s, you can log into your Steam account on your friend’s computer, and double click PUBG, and click REQUEST ACCESS.
You won’t be interfered your game progress by sharing game library with others. Any game achievements will be saved to the account that plays the game. The shared games can only be accessed to one account at one time, so if you’re the owner of the game and would like to play the game that is played by others, other users will have several minutes to save and quit the game, or prompted to buy the game.
How do I stop sharing games?
You can also stop sharing the game library. Just follow this:
1) Log into your Steam account.
2) Go to Steam > Settings > Family.
3) Uncheck the box next to the authorized user, and click OK to save the setting.
Tips to improve the gaming experience
As a game player, we all want to enjoy best possible gaming experience. Here are some tips we can try to improve:
1. Install the latest patch
The game developers always keep releasing the latest patch to fix some bugs, so you should install the latest patch of your games.
In addition, you should also keep your Steam software up to date.
2. Update the graphics card drivers
The missing or outdated driver can cause issues when playing games, so you should keep your graphics card driver up to date.
There’re two ways to update drivers: manually and automatically.
Free Mac Steam Games
Manually– You can manually update the graphics card driver from themanufacturer’s website, andinstallit in your computer. This requires the time and computer skills.
Automatically– If you don’t have time or patience to manually update drivers, you can do that automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for your exactdevice, and your Windows version, and it will download and install them correctly:
Steam Games Available On Mac
1) Downloadand install Driver Easy.
2) Run Driver Easy and clickScan Now. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3) Click theUpdatebutton next to a flagged driver to automatically download and install the latest audio driver (you can do this with theFREEversion).
Or clickUpdateAllto automatically download and install the all the latest correct drivers that is missing or outdated in your system (This requires the Pro version. You will be prompted to upgrade when you clickUpdate All).
4) Restart your computer to make it take effect.
There you have it – an easy guide on how to share games on Steam. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to leave a comment below.