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Steam has become the most loved platform for PC gamers worldwide offering a huge library of games from all genres. However, in the last couple of years games have become more and more massive in terms of file sizes and because of that gamers are searching on how to transfer Steam games to another computer to get rid of the pain point of redownloading the entire game again!
Gamers worldwide nowadays face a lot of problems. First, insufficient storage space. A 256 GB SSD has the capacity to store only 2 games, each AAA game is worth 100 GB in size. Second, download speeds and internet problems most commonly in third world countries. A game that’s worth 100~150 GB in size takes a long time to download, and once downloaded most people don’t want to download it again in case of story driven games like Red Dead Redemption 2.
Fortunately, once you download the game you can transfer it to another pc and that doesn’t mean starting over again and redownloading massive game integrity files. With the right methods and steps provided in this guide on how to transfer steam games to another computer, you can quickly move your games and continue enjoying them without problems.
How To Transfer Steam Games To Another Computer?
Method 1: Backup Steam Games & Restore Them
You may find your PC storage is running low on space after knowing how big are video games nowadays. If you want to change the game location from drive to drive or moving games from PC to PC you can do that with the Backup and Restore feature on Steam and it’s well worth the effort.
The game backup speed depends on the size of your game files or the speed of reading and writing of your disk drive. Generally, an SSD is faster than an HDD one so make sure to backup game files on the fastest disk drive you have.
Step 1: Backup Steam Games
Login with your Steam account on your old PC that has the games previously installed.
On the top left corner click on steam and select the “Backup and Restore Games…” option.
Next, check “Backup currently installed programs” and click on “Next” option. You may now select a specific game or multiple games you choose to bring to your new PC and click the “Next” option again.
In case you choose multiple games instead of one game, the process will be executed and the multiple games you chose will be backed up and transferred once.
Finally, you may now click the “Browse” option to choose the exact location where you want to back up the selected games’ files.
Always make sure to backup game files on the fastest disk drive you have to ensure a quick backup process.
You can create a folder and name it “Backup Games” on your selected disk drive, select the folder you just created earlier and click the “Next” option.
Now, you will wait for the process to complete, once completed, click on the “Finish” option.
Step 2: Restore Steam Games From The Backup
For the next step, you have to unplug any hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) either external or internal from your old PC with the games in it. Connect it to the new PC you want and login to your Steam account.
Once you logged in and opened the Steam platform on the new PC you have to select now from the top left corner again “Backup and Restore Games…” option.
Select “Restore a previous backup” and click on the “Next” option.
Next, you have to click on the “Browse..” option to browse and select the folder on your disk drive where you stored the backup to find the Steam game you want, afterwards click on the “Next” option.
Next, locate and choose a location in the disk drive where you want to install and restore the games on the new PC you choose and click on the “Next” option.
Finally, click on the “I agree” option to accept the process to restore the games to the new PC and wait for the process to complete. Once done, click on “Finish”. Now, restart your PC and you are good to go!
Method 2: Copy Steam Game Folders Manually
Unlike the last method that consists of the backup of Steam games, this method is much faster than the first one and it is suitable for moving different games to another PC.
If you in any means have insufficient or low space in your disk drive, the Backup and Restore feature mentioned earlier is the better choice for you because the game data is compressed in the process but the downside is it takes quite some more time.
Step 1: Copy Your \steamapps Folder
First, you have to find the Steam apps file located in your (C:) drive. The directory should look like this C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps. Make sure your disk drive is plugged into the old PC. Copy the entire thing to your chosen disk drive. Please note that if you need to copy multiple Steam AAA games then your disk drive should be larger than the Steam game library.
Step 2: Transfer steamapps Folder from the old PC to the new PC
On your new PC, plug the disk drive that has the games and download and install the Steam app for Windows. Once installed you should now see that the Steam folder was created. Now, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps directory and paste the content of steamapps folder here including the \common folder that has the games and the appmanifest files.
Step 3: Run Steam on the new PC.
Next, run the Steam app on the new PC and the games you copied should show up in your steam library straight away in ready to play state. You may have to verify the integrity of game files or download a small update. Finally, you may now play and enjoy!
Conclusion
To sum up, transferring Steam games from on computer to another computer is a straightforward process that saves time and bandwidth compared to the re-downloading process. For more tips, tricks, and guides, explore the resources available on the “PC is Awesome” website.
