Most Steam users barely scratch the surface of what the platform offers. Here’s how to improve your gaming experience with features designed to boost performance, keep you connected with friends, secure your account, and more.

1Steam Overlay

TheSteam Overlayis an in-game interfacethat lets you access various Steam features without exiting or minimizing your game. you may chat with friends, browse the web, capture gameplay moments, and more. To enable it, go to Settings, navigate to “In-Game,” and toggle on “Enable the Steam Overlay While In-Game.”

Once activated, simply press Shift+Tab during gameplay to open the overlay and access a wide range of features without interrupting your gaming session.

Steam Overlay running in a Steam game with all its features marked.

2Record Your Gameplay

Steam now includes abuilt-in feature for recording your gameplay. To enable it, navigate to Settings > Game Recording and choose between “Record in Background,” which starts automatically when you play, or “Record Manually,” activated by a shortcut. The default shortcut is Ctrl+F11 to start or stop recordings, but you can customize it.

Your recorded clips are saved in the folder specified under “Recordings Folder,” and you can change the default folder at any time.

Turning on manual game recording and changing default recordings folder in Steam.

3Use the FPS Counter

Steam canshow your game’s frame rate in real time, which allows you to monitor hardware performance and troubleshoot the issue to eliminate frame drops. To enable this feature, go to Settings > In-Game, open the dropdown menu next to “In-Game FPS Counter,” and choose the desired position for the counter.

For better visibility, enable the “In-Game FPS Counter High Contrast Color” toggle to make the counter stand out against your game’s background.

Turning on the in-game FPS counter in Steam.

Steam Link (Remote Play) lets you stream Steam andnon-Steam gamesto various devices, including your TV, tablet, or smartphone. First, enable the feature in the Steam client on your host computer by navigating to Settings > Remote Play and toggling on “Enable Remote Play.” Next, download and launch the Steam Link app on your target device.

Follow the on-screen instructions to pair the target device with your host PC. When a pairing code appears, return to your host computer, select “Pair Steam Link,” and enter the code.

Enabling Remote Play in Steam.

Downloading games while playing Steam games can lead to latency issues. To ensure smooth gameplay in online titles, you mustlimit download speeds. Steam makes it easy to do this. Go to Settings > Downloads, enable the “Limit Download Speed” toggle, and set your preferred speed in Kbps based on the bandwidth you want to allocate.

Also, turn off the toggle for “Allow Downloads During Gameplay” and toggle on “Throttle Downloads While Streaming” to further optimize your gaming experience.

Limiting the download speed in Steam settings.

6Big Picture Mode

Big Picture Mode offers a console-like experience on your PC with a controller-friendly interface, making it easier to navigate Steam’s library and features on large screens. It provides quick access to your game library, friends list, and settings, making it ideal for use with a controller.

To activate it, click the monitor icon in the top-right corner, and Steam will switch to the new intuitive interface. You can easily exit it through the interface settings.

Entering big picture mode in Steam settings.

7Steam Family Sharing

Steam Family Sharing lets you share your game librarywith family members. They can then play your games on their accounts without buying them again. To set it up, navigate to Settings > Family > Create or Join a Steam Family, then follow the on-screen instructions based on whether you want to share a game with others or access games shared by others.

Other users can download and play your games, but remember that only one person can play a specific game at a time unless they own it themselves.

Setting up Family Sharing in Steam settings.

8Steam Guard

Steam Guard helps protect your account from unauthorized access by requiring you to verify your identity whenever you log in from a new device. you’re able to opt to receive a code via email or use the Steam Mobile app as an authenticator to generate codes directly from your smartphone, which is the safest method.

To activate this feature, go to Settings > Security and click “Manage Steam Guard.” You can choose your preferred method for receiving the verification code from there.

Opening the Steam Guard settings in Steam.

9Use Multiple Accounts

Steam allows you to use multiple accounts to keep separate lists of friends, game libraries, play history, and more. If you’re a professional gamer or streamer, you can have one account for personal gaming and another for professional gaming or streaming. Although you can add multiple accounts, you can only be logged into one account at a time.

To switch accounts, click on your profile name in the top-right corner, select “Change Account,” and enter the password for the account you wish to switch to.

Switching account in Steam.

By default, Steam connects you to the server nearest to you when downloading games or updates, ensuring fast speeds. However, if the server is crowded, your download speed may be slower than a server that’s further away. If you experience slow downloads, you can try switching to a different download region to connect to a less congested server, potentially improving your download speed.

To change your download region, go to Settings > Downloads, and select your preferred region from the dropdown menu next to “Download Region.”

Changing download region in Steam settings.