Treasure of Nadia Screenshot with "Private" box

You Can Now Make Your Steam Games Private and Hide Them From Your Nosy Friends

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Published: March 4, 2024 10:28 PM

Steam has allowed you to set your library as private for quite a while, yet, it was an all-or-nothing setting that forced you to choose between privacy and sharing across all of your games. This has changed. 

A new update to Valve's online store not only allows you to mark games as private, but now you can even mark them as private before you purchase them. 

That way, your friends and family will never have a chance to see that game you may not be too proud of... Or perhaps you just enjoy your privacy. Don't want your friends who love Pokemon a little too much know you enjoy Palworld? That's no more an issue. 

Screenshot of Identity
Some games are so bad that you may want to hide your purchase even if they're fully safe for work.

More changes include the ability to gift a game to multiple friends at the same time, and the persistence of your cart across all of your devices. 

Below you can read the update notes.

  • Inline gifting: Gift to multiple friends in one go, with streamlined messaging for hassle-free checkout.
  • One cart across all devices: Your cart now follows you seamlessly anywhere you're signed in to Steam (including Deck and mobile), ensuring a unified shopping experience wherever you go.
  • Private purchasing: Maintain your privacy by marking games as private before purchase, giving you control from the start.
  • Private Apps: Mark selected games as private so they are only visible to you, giving you more control over what you share with friends. This lets you keep your Steam Library visible to your friends, so they can see what you are playing and join in, yet also keep a few of those games just to yourself.

In more Steam news, we recently learned that a feature page has been opened by a Japanese government-related organization to promote games made in Japan.

Lately, we also got an updated list of the most played games on Steam Deck for February, with Palworld finally dethroning Baldur's Gate 3. 


Giuseppe Nelva Profile Picture
| Former News Editor

Started as News Editor at TechRaptor in January 2023, following over 20 years of professional experience in gaming journalism both on print media and on the… More about Giuseppe