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How to set up Steam parental controls (Steam Families) on PC and Steam Deck: games, chat, playtime and spending

Set up Steam Families parental controls on PC and Steam Deck: choose games, restrict Store and chat, set playtime limits, approve purchases and lock Desktop Mode.

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Verified: Last checked on Monday 5 October 2026 against Steam Support's Steam Families User Guide & FAQ, Valve's "Steam Families is here" announcement and Steam Support's Age Assurance under the UK Online Safety Act page. Covers Steam Families parental controls (which replaced the old Family View PIN) on the Steam app for Windows/Mac, the Steam website and mobile app, and the Steam Deck. Steam Deck lock-screen steps are based on Valve's Steam Deck update notes as reported by IGN, and Internet Matters' Steam guide.

Note: we checked these steps against Valve's current written instructions. We haven't tested them on a PC or Steam Deck for this edition, so menu names may be a little different after Steam updates.

⏱ Time to complete: about 20–30 minutes (plus 5 minutes on the Steam Deck itself)
🔧 Difficulty: Medium. The settings are simple once your child is in your Steam Family. Getting them into the family (friend request, invite, email confirmation) is the fiddly bit.

The short version (for very busy parents)

  1. Make sure your child has their own Steam account and that you have yours. Add each other as Steam friends.
  2. On your account, create a Steam Family and invite your child as a Child (not an Adult).
  3. Open Family Management → Manage, expand your child's entry and turn on Enable parental controls.
  4. Choose Only games I choose, turn off Steam Store, Community and Friends Chat access if you want, and set playtime limits.
  5. On a Steam Deck: set a lock screen PIN and require it when switching to Desktop Mode, so the controls can't be sidestepped.
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"Family View" has gone. Valve says Steam Families replaces both Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View. If you used a Family View PIN in the past, the settings move across when your child joins your family, but the PIN is removed.

What you'll need

  • Your own Steam account (you'll be the Adult in the family).
  • Your child's own Steam account. Don't let them use yours, and keep their password and recovery email in your hands if they're young.
  • Your child's account on your Steam friends list (Internet Matters notes you need to be friends before you can invite them).
  • Access to your child's email inbox, as joining a family can involve a confirmation email.
  • The Steam app on a PC or Mac, the Steam mobile app, or a web browser. Valve says families can be managed from any of these.
  • The Steam Deck (if they have one) for the device lock.
  • 20–30 minutes.

Step-by-step

Step 1: Create your Steam Family

Steam Support says: go to Account Details on the Steam Store page, then the Family Management section. In the Steam app, Internet Matters describes the same place as Steam → Settings → Family.

  1. Sign in to your Steam account.
  2. Open Account Details → Family Management (or Steam → Settings → Family in the desktop app).
  3. Click Create a Family and type a family name. You can change it later.

[Screenshot: Family Management page with "Create a Family" button]

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Choose carefully. Valve limits a Steam Family to 6 members. Adults who leave a family have to wait 1 year before joining or creating another, and each slot has a 1-year cooldown once someone leaves it.

Step 2: Invite your child as a Child

  1. In Family Management, select Invite a Member.
  2. Pick your child from your friends list (or search for them).
  3. Choose Child. Valve says Child accounts are "subject to parental controls and do not have permissions to manage the family".
  4. Your child gets an alert on their account. They accept it, and may need to confirm by email.

[Screenshot: Invite a Member with "Adult" / "Child" choice]

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Tip: Children can't leave a Steam Family themselves. Only an adult in the family (or Steam Support) can remove them. That's a good thing for parental controls.

Got the wrong role? If you invited your child as an Adult by mistake, remove them and re-invite as a Child (or contact Steam Support).

Step 3: Turn on parental controls and choose their games

Steam Support's steps: Account Settings → Family Management → Manage, expand the child's entry, then toggle Enable Parental controls.

  1. Go to Family Management → Manage (desktop app: Steam → Settings → Family → Manage your Steam Family).
  2. Expand your child's entry (click the arrows next to their name).
  3. Turn on Enable parental controls for this user.
  4. In the panel that appears, choose which games they can play. You can allow All games or Only games I choose and tick specific titles.

[Screenshot: child's entry expanded with "Enable parental controls" toggle on]

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Family library = your games too. When your child joins, they can see shareable games owned by everyone in the family. If you play PEGI 18 games on your account, use Only games I choose so they don't automatically appear for your child.

Step 4: Restrict the Store, Community and Friends Chat

Valve says parental controls can "Restrict access to the Steam Store, Community or Friends Chat".

In the same parental controls panel, decide:

Area (Valve's wording; toggle names may vary slightly) What it means DeviceDaddy starting point
Steam Store access Whether they can browse and buy in the Steam Store Off for younger children. Use purchase requests instead (Step 6).
Community / community-generated content Forums, workshop items, user reviews, screenshots and so on Off for under-13s
Friends Chat Steam's built-in messaging and voice chat with friends Off, or on only if you know everyone on their friends list

[Screenshot: parental controls panel showing Store, Community and Chat toggles]

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In-game chat is separate. Steam's Friends Chat setting covers Steam's chat. Many online games (for example Call of Duty, Fortnite or Roblox) have their own voice and text chat with their own settings. Check each game.

Step 5: Set playtime limits

Valve lists playtime limits (hourly/daily), playtime reports, and the ability to approve or deny requests for more playtime.

  1. In your child's parental controls, turn on Set playtime limits.
  2. Click a day to set a daily time limit.
  3. Set the times of day they're allowed to play. Internet Matters explains that blue blocks are allowed time and grey blocks are not, and you can set more than one play "window" in a day.
  4. Click Confirm.
  5. Check their usage from the Playtime section of Family Management.

[Screenshot: playtime limits grid with blue and grey time blocks]

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Requests come to you. When they hit a limit, children can ask for extra time or access to a blocked feature, and you can approve it temporarily or permanently from your phone.

Internet Matters points out that these limits only apply to Steam. They don't limit YouTube, browsers or other apps on the same PC.

Step 6: Spending — use Child Purchase Requests

Valve's Child Purchase Requests let a child put games in their cart and ask an adult in the family to pay. You approve and pay from your phone or email, and the games go straight onto their account.

  1. Don't save your payment card on your child's account.
  2. Ask your child to send purchase requests rather than borrowing your card.
  3. Approve or decline each request from the Steam mobile app or the email Steam sends.

[Screenshot: Child purchase request notification on the Steam mobile app]

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Gift cards and wallet funds: we couldn't confirm in Valve's documentation whether Steam Wallet money (for example from a gift card) on a child's account can be spent without your approval. If Store access is on, assume it can, and keep an eye on their purchase history.

Step 7: UK mature content — leave it locked

In the UK, Valve says you must opt in to see store pages and community hubs for mature content games, and the opt-in needs age verification. Valve uses a credit card stored on the account (it says debit cards don't count, because under-18s can have them).

  • Don't add a credit card to your child's account. Without one, a UK account can't unlock those mature content pages.
  • This is a store filter, not a full block on violent games. Use Only games I choose (Step 3) for that.

Step 8: Lock down the Steam Deck

Parental controls follow your child's Steam account, so they apply when your child signs in on a Steam Deck. But the Deck also has Desktop Mode (a full Linux desktop with a web browser), so lock that too.

  1. On the Deck in Gaming Mode, press the Steam button and go to Settings → Security.
  2. Set a 6-digit PIN that your child doesn't know.
  3. Turn on the option to require the PIN when switching to Desktop Mode. You can also require it on boot, wake and login.

[Screenshot: Steam Deck Settings → Security with lock screen PIN options]

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Tip: Valve's update notes say the lock screen is specific to each device. If you have two Decks, set it on both. Do this in Gaming Mode, not Desktop Mode.

Step 9: Test it (2 minutes)

  1. Sign in as your child and look at the library. Only the games you chose should be playable.
  2. Try opening the Store and Friends Chat. They should be blocked (or ask for permission).
  3. Set a short playtime limit and check that it ends play and sends you a request.
  4. On the Deck, try switching to Desktop Mode. It should ask for the PIN.

Keep it working

  • Check monthly: look at the Playtime report and the games list. New family purchases can show up in their library.
  • New account = no controls. If your child makes a second Steam account, none of your settings follow it. Only the account in your family is protected.
  • Account recovery: Valve lets an adult recover a child's account after they've been in the family for 30 days (Family Management → Manage → Recover Account).
  • Birthdays and big changes: review settings as your child gets older, and loosen them step by step.
  • Cheating risk: Valve warns that if a family member cheats in your shared game, your family privileges can be revoked and accounts can get VAC bans. Only invite your own household.
  • Worried about contact from someone? Block and report them on Steam, and contact CEOP (ceop.police.uk) if a child has been asked for images, personal information or to meet.

Related guides (links to follow)

  • 🎮 Call of Duty & Warzone parental controls — [link to add]
  • 🎮 Fortnite parental controls — [link to add]
  • 🎮 Xbox Family Settings (Windows PCs use Microsoft Family Safety) — [link to add]
  • 🗺️ DeviceDaddy family plan one-sheet — [link to add]
🔁
Spotted a change? Tell us. Valve updates Steam and the Steam Deck often. If something doesn't match, [report a change: add DeviceDaddy contact form or email link here]. Tell us whether you're on Windows, Mac, the Steam app or a Steam Deck, and what's different. The ✅ stamp shows when we last checked.

Sources (checked 5 October 2026)

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