How to game share on Steam

You share Steam games through Steam Families, the system Valve rolled out in 2024 that replaced the old "Family Library Sharing." You create or join a family group, and members can play eligible games from each other's libraries without buying them again. The catch worth knowing up front: a single shared game can only be borrowed by one person at a time, and the moment the owner starts playing, the borrower gets bumped. Below is how to set it up and what the limits actually mean in practice. If you are also curious how much your own library is worth, our Steam account value tool adds it up.

Steam Families in one paragraph

A Steam Family can include up to six accounts. Once you join, the games in other members' libraries that are eligible for sharing appear in your own library, and you can install and play them with your own saves and achievements. Not every game can be shared, because some publishers exclude their titles, and games tied to certain third-party accounts or subscriptions may not qualify. The older name "Family Library Sharing" still shows up in searches, and it is essentially the previous version of this same feature, so if you read an old guide, know that the setup has changed. For the full breakdown, see our dedicated Steam family sharing guide.

How to set up Steam Families

Open the Steam client and click the Steam menu in the top-left, then choose Settings.
Go to the Family section.
Choose to create a family (if you are the organizer) or accept an invite to join an existing one.
To add someone, invite them from the Family settings. They accept the invite from their own account.
Once members are in the family, eligible shared games appear in each member's library, usually grouped so you can see which titles are shared.
Install a shared game like any other and launch it.

The organizer of a family controls invites and can see who is in the group. There is a cooldown on leaving and rejoining families, so people cannot hop between groups constantly to farm access. If a member leaves, they lose access to the shared titles.

The limits that trip people up

Game sharing is generous, but it has firm rules. These are the ones that cause the most confusion.

One person per shared game at a time. Any single game from a shared library can only be played by one borrower at once. Two people cannot both borrow the same game copy simultaneously. Steam Families did improve on the old system by letting different people borrow different games from the same library at the same time, but the same title is still one-at-a-time.
The owner has priority. If you are borrowing a game and the person who owns it launches it, you get a short warning and then get kicked out, or prompted to buy the game. The owner never has to wait for a borrower.
Not every game is eligible. Publishers can opt titles out of sharing, and games that need a separate third-party account or subscription often will not share. Do not assume an entire library is available.
Bans carry weight. If someone playing a borrowed game gets a VAC or game ban, that can reflect on the lending account's standing, so only share with people you trust.
Region and family limits. Families have caps on how many members can join and how often the group can change, which keeps sharing to genuine households and friend circles rather than public pools.

That "owner interrupts the borrower" behavior is the single most common complaint in community threads. It is working as intended. The system is built so the person who paid for the game always gets first claim on it.

What sharing does not do

It is not two people in the same game copy online together. Sharing lets a friend play a game you own, on their account. It does not conjure a second license for co-op. For that, both of you generally need the game.
It is not a way to dodge purchases forever. The one-at-a-time and owner-priority rules mean shared games are best thought of as "try before you buy" or occasional access, not a permanent free copy.
It does not merge inventories or wallets. Each account keeps its own items, saves, and wallet. Sharing covers game access, nothing else.

FAQ

What replaced Family Library Sharing on Steam? Steam Families, introduced in 2024, is the current system. It works similarly but lets different members borrow different games from the same library at the same time, which the older feature did not.

Can two people play the same shared game at once? No. A single shared game can only be played by one borrower at a time. Different people can borrow different games from the same library simultaneously, but not the same title.

What happens when the game owner starts playing? The owner has priority. If you are borrowing their game and they launch it, you get a brief warning and then have to stop or buy the game yourself. The owner never waits.

How many people can be in a Steam Family? Up to six accounts can be in a family group. There are cooldowns on joining and leaving to prevent people from hopping between families.

Are all Steam games shareable? No. Some publishers exclude their games from sharing, and titles that rely on a separate third-party account or subscription often cannot be shared. Check whether a specific game shows up as shareable before you count on it.