Steam: the parent’s guide
Steam Families parental controls — and the scam patterns targeting kid accounts.
Steam Families replaced the old Family View
Steam Families is now the single system: Valve replaced both Steam Family Sharing and the older Steam Family View with it. Parents approve purchases, share libraries and set parental controls from one place.
If you set Family View up years ago, note what changed: when a child account joins a Steam Family, the old Family View settings are carried over into Steam Families under Parental Controls, and the PIN is removed. Guides still telling you to set a Family View PIN — this one used to — are describing a control that no longer works that way.
Steam Families setup
- On the parent Steam account: Account Details › Family Management › Create Family.
- Invite the rest of the household — a Steam Family holds up to six people in total — and mark minors as children.
- Child purchases require parent approval.
- Family library sharing — kids can play parent-owned games (if parent isn’t actively playing).
- Playtime limits can be set per kid.
Where the controls live now
Parental controls for a child member are set by an adult in the family, from the family’s management screen rather than on the child’s client — which is the practical difference from the old Family View, where the settings lived on the kid’s own machine behind a PIN. Valve’s Steam Families guide carries the current screen-by-screen steps; we link rather than reproduce them because Valve has moved this interface twice in two years.
Steam settings worth changing
- Friends › Privacy: Private or Friends Only.
- Who can see my games: Friends Only.
- Invites from non-friends: off.
- Comments on profile: Friends Only.
- Steam Chat from non-friends: off.
- Trade holds: keep them enabled on a child account (they prevent item loss to scams).
Scam patterns on Steam
- “Vote for my team” phishing links in friend requests or Steam chat — steal accounts.
- Item-trade scams — attacker offers high-value items, switches at the last moment.
- Fake “Steam support” DMs — Steam never DMs you.
- Gift card scams via Discord communities attached to games.
Third-party chat and mods
Steam games often integrate Discord voice. And many games support mod downloads (Steam Workshop) that can include content the base game doesn’t. Review installed mods with your kid.
What was checked, and when. That Steam Families replaced Family View, and the PIN-removal detail verified against the vendor’s own documentation on 2026-09-08. Not reached in that pass: trade holds and the privacy menu labels.
Common questions
What happened to Steam Family View?
Steam Families replaced it. Valve folded both Steam Family Sharing and the older Family View into one system, so there are no longer two things to set up. When a child account joins a Steam Family, the old Family View settings carry over into Steam Families under Parental Controls and the PIN is removed — so if you relied on that PIN, check the controls again rather than assuming they still apply.
How do I set up Steam Families?
On your own Steam account: Account Details › Family Management › Create Family. Invite up to five members and mark minors as children. Their purchases then require your approval, and they can play games from your library when you are not using them.
What scams target children on Steam?
Four recur constantly: “vote for my team” phishing links sent through friend requests or Steam chat; item-trade scams where the attacker switches the item at the last moment; fake “Steam support” DMs, which are always fake because Steam never DMs you; and gift-card scams run through game Discord servers.
Which Steam privacy settings should I change?
Set the friends list to private or friends-only, games visible to friends only, invites from non-friends off, profile comments to friends only, and Steam chat from non-friends off. Enable trade holds, which prevent items being lost instantly to a scam.
Should I check what mods my child installs?
Yes. Steam Workshop mods can add content the base game does not contain and that its age rating never covered. Reviewing installed mods together is more effective than trying to block the Workshop outright.
When parental controls change
Parental controls get renamed and moved without announcement. Roughly monthly we send new guides, changes to controls like these, and scams worth knowing about.
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