Steam Family Trouble? Here’s How to Share Games Between Different Households

After making Steam Family available in beta in March of this year, Valve finally rolled out the functionality to all members of the platform recently. The sharing feature can be used by up to six people in the same household, who can share their respective Steam game libraries.

However, some users of the platform are facing problems with Steam Family because they don’t live in the same house — resulting in an error when trying to use the new feature. Well, fortunately, there is a way around the problem and Voxel will explain to you how!

How do I use Steam Family if I don’t live in the same house as my family members?

When someone joins Steam Family, they will receive either an “Adult” or “Child” badge. However, one of the biggest drawbacks of the feature is that it is that only family members who live in the same house can use it.

When trying to invite someone from outside, Steam alerts the group owner with the following message: “Failed to accept the invitation. You are currently unable to join this Steam Family because your Steam activity does not indicate that you live in the same household as the other members of this family.”

Error message when trying to use Steam Family while not in the same household as the other five family members.Source: Games Journal

Well, fortunately, there is a way to get around this situation. Check out the step-by-step guide below (courtesy of Games Journal):

1. Choose one person from the group to create the Steam Family. To do this, go to the platform settings and then click on Family and Sharing;
2. After creating the group, the person in charge needs to send invitations to the members who will join the family, this can be done within the options Steam Family;
3. With the invitations sent, the person responsible for the group must now obtain the login details of the other members (username and password) who received the notification to join the group;
4. The person responsible for the Steam Family must log in with each player’s account on their computer, one at a time;
5. After that, open each player’s account, download one of the available games and play for a few minutes;
6. Then enter the tab again Family and Sharing of each player and try to accept the invitation to participate in the Steam Family.

Well, it’s certainly a laborious process, but it’s functional and can “save” the lives of many players who want to know How to use Steam Family even if you don’t live in the same house as other family members.

Did you like the tutorial? Comment on social media Voxel if you are using Steam Family to share games!