You can remove a family member from Steam in your account settings, and it takes about two minutes

Steam Family Sharing lets you share your game library with people you live with, but you can stop sharing with anyone at any time. The person you remove loses access to your games immediately, though any saves they made stay on their account. You do this through your own Steam account settings — you don't need their password or permission.

The process is the same whether you're removing a child account, an adult, or someone who no longer lives with you. Once removed, they can't play any of your games on their devices, but they keep any games they own themselves and any achievements they earned.

Key Takeaways

  • You remove a family member from your own Steam account settings under Family, not from their account.
  • The person loses access to your shared games immediately, but keeps their own games and all their save files.
  • You can remove someone without their knowledge, but they will notice when they try to launch one of your games.
  • If you want to stop sharing but keep them in your family group, you can disable Family Sharing instead of removing them entirely.
  • Steam limits you to five accounts per family group, so removing someone frees up a slot if you need to add another person.

Steps to remove someone from your Steam family

Open Steam on your computer and sign in to your own account. Click your username in the top right corner and select Settings. In the left sidebar, click Family.

You'll see a list of all the accounts in your family group under "Family members". Find the person you want to remove and click the X button next to their name. Steam will ask you to confirm — click Remove and they're gone. That's it. You don't need to restart Steam or do anything else.

If you don't see a Family section in Settings, your account may not have Family Sharing set up yet. In that case, you won't have anyone to remove.

What happens to their games and saves after removal

The person keeps every game they purchased themselves and all their achievements, playtime, and progress. They lose access only to games that belong to your library. If they were in the middle of playing one of your games, their save file stays on their computer, but Steam won't let them launch the game anymore.

If they want to keep playing a game you own, they would need to buy their own copy. Some games are cheap during sales, so it's worth checking the Steam store if they really want to keep playing something.

The difference between removing and disabling Family Sharing

Removing someone deletes them from your family group entirely. Disabling Family Sharing turns off the whole sharing feature for your account, which affects everyone in your family at once — not just one person.

If you want to stop sharing with one specific person but keep sharing with others, removal is the right choice. If you want to stop sharing with everyone temporarily, disable Family Sharing instead. You can turn it back on later.

What to know before you remove someone

They will notice immediately when they try to play one of your games. Steam will show them an error saying the game is no longer available to them. If they're currently playing when you remove them, they can finish their session, but they won't be able to launch the game again after they close it.

Removing someone doesn't delete their account or affect their own games. It only cuts off their access to your library. If you want to add them back later, you can do that through the same Family settings — Steam doesn't have a waiting period or penalty for removing and re-adding people.

If someone is removed but still has access to your games

This usually means they're still logged into a device where they were already playing. Steam caches game access on the device itself, so removing them from your account doesn't instantly log them out of computers or phones where they're already signed in. They'll lose access the next time they try to launch a game or when their session expires.

If you want them off immediately, you can also change your Steam password. This logs them out of all devices. Go to Settings, select Account, and click Change password. They'll need to sign back in with the new password, which they won't have.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can they see that I removed them?

Not directly — Steam doesn't send a notification. But they'll figure it out when they try to play one of your games and get an error. If you want to tell them yourself, you can, but you don't have to.

Will removing them delete their saves?

No. Their save files stay on their computer and in their Steam Cloud storage. They just can't play the game anymore unless they buy their own copy.

Can I remove a child account I created?

Yes, the same way. Child accounts are part of your family group, so you remove them the same way you'd remove an adult account. The child account itself stays active — you're just removing them from your family sharing.

What if I remove someone by mistake?

You can add them back immediately through the same Family settings. There's no waiting period. Just click the button to add a new family member and enter their account name again.

How many people can I have in my Steam family?

Steam allows up to five accounts per family group, including your own. So you can share with up to four other people. Removing someone frees up a slot if you need to add someone else.