What Is Steam Family Sharing?

SkinLords Steam Guides What Is Steam Family Sharing?

Family Sharing is one of the best features on Steam, allowing you and members of your Steam “Family” to share games from a single library, regardless of who is the original owner. It used to be a standalone feature on Steam, but Family Sharing has since been revamped slightly with the introduction of Steam Families, which puts all Family-related features in one umbrella.

Family Sharing on the Steam Client has become significantly easier to access and use thanks to the new Steam Families feature. Essentially, everyone in the same Steam “Family” can play games from other users’ libraries, regardless of whether they not they own games on their own Steam account. An additional plus is that, with this new feature, using someone’s game no longer requires the original owner to be offline or not playing a game themselves on Steam. Users can now play games regardless of whether or not the original owner is also playing at the same time.

How Does The Family Sharing Feature Work?

Joining a Steam Family

The first step in being able to access other family members’ game lists is to first join or create a Steam Family. Creating one can be done by accessing “Account Details” -> “Family Management” and completing the process from there, or simply by being invited to join one.

With that out of the way, checking your Steam library will also include the games owned by your Steam Family members. You can also opt to group the games by library, providing a clear separation from the games you own and games that you can access thanks to Steam Families. From there, simply download and play any game you want from the list.

What Games Can Be Shared & Which Ones Can’t?

Not every game can be shared through Steam Families as of June 2025. Valve has put some restrictions on the Steam Family Sharing feature, with the following criteria serving as reasons for a game to not be eligible for sharing:

1
Games that require an additional third-party key, account, or subscription in order to play
2
Free to play games and any purchased DLC for those games
3
Games or DLC that are restricted in your or another family member’s region
4
Games that do not support the other family member’s operating system
5
Games that the publisher has marked explicitly as unavailable for sharing
6
Games marked as private by the original owner
7
Games that are currently excluded from Family Sharing will continue to be excluded from sharing in Steam Families. This includes games that require an additional third-party account or subscription.