How to Add Free Steam Games to Your Library

To add a free Steam game to your library, sign in to Steam, open the game's store page while the free offer is running and click Add to Account. That's it: the game stays in your library after the offer ends, and you can install it whenever you like. Below are the exact steps, how to tell a free-to-keep offer from a free weekend or a free-to-play game, and what to do when the button doesn't work.

Three kinds of "free" on Steam

Steam uses the word free for three different things, and only one of them gives you a game to keep. The button on the store page tells you which one you are looking at.

Free to keep: a paid game given away for a limited time. The buy area says it is free to keep until a date, and the button says Add to Account. Claim it before that date and it is yours.
Free weekend: a paid game you can play for a few days. The page shows a Free Weekend banner and a Play Game button. When the weekend ends, the game locks again unless you buy it.
Free to play: a game that is always free, with optional purchases inside it. The price says Free To Play and the button says Play Game.

Our guide Free to Keep vs Free Weekend vs Free to Play explains the differences in more detail.

How to claim a free-to-keep Steam game

You can do this in the Steam app on your PC or in any web browser at store.steampowered.com. A free Steam account is all you need.

Sign in to Steam, or create a free account.
Open the game's store page while the offer is running. Our daily posts link straight to it.
If Steam asks for your date of birth (it does for mature games), enter it to see the page.
Scroll down to the buy area. Look for the box that says the game is free to keep until a certain date.
Click Add to Account.
If a license agreement appears, read it and accept it. Closing the window without accepting means the game is not added.
Steam shows a confirmation, and the game now appears in your Library.

There is no cart and no checkout: a free-to-keep game is added in one click. If Steam shows you a price or asks you to pay, you are on the page of a different edition or the offer has ended.

Install it now or later

Claiming and installing are two separate steps. Claiming adds the game to your account; installing downloads it to your PC. You don't have to install anything to keep the game, so claim first and install whenever you have the time and disk space.

Open the Steam app and click Library.
Find the game in the list on the left (the search box helps in a big library).
Click Install, choose a drive with enough free space and wait for the download.
Click Play.

On the go? You can claim from the Steam Mobile app or from a phone browser. The game will be waiting in your library the next time you open Steam on your PC.

Free weekends: play now, decide later

During a free weekend, click Play Game on the store page. Steam adds the game to your library for the event and starts the download. You can play as much as you like until the end time shown on the page.

After the event the game stays in your library list, but it won't start unless you buy it.
If you buy it later, your achievements stay with your account, and your progress usually carries over when the game saves to Steam Cloud.
Free weekends often come with a discount, so check the price before the event ends.
Not buying? Free up the disk space: right-click the game in your Library and choose Manage > Uninstall.

Free-to-play games

Click Play Game to add a free-to-play game to your library and start the download. It costs nothing to play, and the game stays free; the publisher earns money from optional extras such as cosmetics, battle passes or in-game currency.

Some free-to-play games ask you to sign in to the publisher's own account the first time you launch them. The store page lists this as a third-party account.
If a child uses the computer, Steam Families lets a parent approve purchases and limit which games a child can see and play.

Check that the game was added

Search for the game in your Library. For a full record, open your account menu in the top-right corner of Steam, choose Account details and then View licenses and product key activations. Every game on your account is listed there with the date you added it.

If something goes wrong

There is no Add to Account button: the offer has ended, it isn't available in your country, or you opened a DLC or another edition. Go back to the link in our post.
Steam shows a price: stop. Free-to-keep games never need a checkout.
The button does nothing: refresh the page, sign out and back in, or switch between the Steam app and the website. Pausing an ad blocker for the Steam store also helps.
The Steam Guard code fails: codes come by email or from the Steam Mobile app. App codes change every 30 seconds, so type the one shown right now, or ask for a new email code.
The age check keeps coming back: your browser may be blocking cookies for the store. Allow them, or claim in the Steam app instead.
The game isn't in your Library: make sure you are signed in to the same account you claimed with, then restart Steam.

FAQ

Do I have to install a free Steam game to keep it?

No. Clicking Add to Account is enough. The game stays in your library and you can install it any time.

Do I need a credit card?

No. Free-to-keep games, free weekends and free-to-play games don't ask for payment details.

Can I claim the game after the offer ends?

No. When the offer ends, the game goes back to its normal price. Add it to your wishlist, and Steam can let you know when it goes on sale.

Do I keep a free weekend game?

No. You can play it during the event only. To keep playing afterward, you need to buy it.

Where can I find free Steam games right now?

Our Free PC Games Right Now page lists every free-to-keep game we found, on Steam and other stores, with the ones ending soonest first.

Related guides

Looking for games to claim? See Free PC Games Right Now and our daily free game posts.

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