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You now have to spend at least $5 to access some Steam features Valve battles spamming and phishing. Deputy Editor Steam users must now spend at least $5 to access some of the platform's most popular features. Valve hopes its new system will combat spamming and phishing on Steam. Valve has limited access to features such as sending friend invites, voting on Greenlight and gaining Trading Cards in a bid to combat spamming and phishing.

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'Malicious users often operate in the community on accounts which have not spent any money, reducing the individual risk of performing the actions they do,' Valve explained in an update on. 'One of the best pieces of information we can compare between regular users and malicious users are their spending habits as typically the accounts being used have no investment in their longevity. Due to this being a common scenario we have decided to restrict certain community features until an account has met or exceeded $5.00 USD in Steam.' Here are the features 'limited users', as they're called, can no longer access:.

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Sending friend invites. Opening group chat. Voting on Greenlight, Steam Reviews and Workshop items. Participating in the Steam Market.

Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions. Gaining Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards.

Submitting content on the Steam Workshop. Posting in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions. Accessing the Steam Web API. Using browser and mobile chat It's worth noting that CD keys, retail purchases and gifts do not remove limited user restrictions. You will need to spend at least $5 within the Steam store itself.

For example, you can add the equivalent of $5 (Valve will work out the currency conversion) or more to your Steam Wallet, buy a game or games equal to $5 or more from the Steam store, add a Steam Wallet card to your Steam account, or buy a Steam gift equal to $ or more from the Steam store. Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. For more information, go.

Let’s cut to the chase: For many people, PC gaming is synonymous with Steam. Valve’s ubiquitous gaming client is both storefront and service, delivering a one-stop shop for buying games, managing those games, and even building out a friends list to chat with while you play.

And then there are those. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Steam’s rife with hidden features that can help you get more out of your PC gaming experience—tricks that few people ever touch. Here are some of the most useful, starting with obscure (yet helpful) library management tools on this page before diving into more exotic tips.

Optimize your Steam library Add non-Steam games to your library From DRM-free indie titles to EA games sold exclusively through Origin, not every PC game graces Steam’s digital shelves—which can be a problem if you game and socialize exclusively through Valve’s service. Fortunately, Valve lets you add non-Steam games to the Steam client. Steam still won’t keep the rogue title up to date or save your game to Steam Cloud, but adding non-Steam games to your library lets your friends see when you’re playing the game, and unlocks the Steam overlay feature ( Shift + Tab), including full screenshot and in-game chat functionality. Now open the Steam client and head to Games Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library. The process is straightforward from there.

If you want to add a custom image for the game in your Library’s grid view, just right-click it and select Set Custom Image, then go from there. The fine folks in on Reddit will whip up custom images for games if you’d like. You can find a ton of custom grid images on or, as well. Manage where your games land Maybe you want to shift all your titles onto a blazing-fast SSD, or maybe you installed a spacious new traditional hard drive that’s just begging to be filled with gaming goodness.

Either way, Steam makes it a cinch to add new folders in which to store your games. IDG Open Steam and head to Steam Settings Downloads, then click the Steam Library Folders button. From here, you can add as many folders for game installations as you’d like.

Once you’ve added folders, you’ll be given a Choose location for installation option when you’re installing a new game. The best SSD for most people. Even better, it’s dead simple to move your previously installed games between directories now.

Moving game installs (from, say, an SSD to a hard drive) used to require arcane trickery, but now all you have to do is right-click on a game, select Properties, then Local Files, and at the bottom you’ll see a Move Install Folder button. Clicking it brings up all your available Steam folder locations. Batch install or uninstall games Good news for folks migrating to a new PC or simply looking to clear out a lot of space in a short amount of time: Steam can. IDG Open your Steam library in Detail or List View and select the games you’d like to install by Crtl + clicking on each. (The games you choose will appear highlighted.) When you’re done, simply right-click on one of the games and select the Install option. You’ll be greeted by bulk installation options for the entire mass of games.

Conversely, you can also select multiple games that are already installed on your hard drive, then right-click and choose Delete Local Data to wipe them all off your PC in one fell swoop. Sort your installed games by size Speaking of deleting stuff, if you’re trying to free up storage for new games, the ability to sort your Steam games by install size can help you find the biggest space-suckers. It’s hidden in a fiendish spot, however. IDG You want “Size on disk” selected in this drop-down menu. Enter your library and set it to List View using the View options near the upper-right corner. Once that’s enabled, click the little + icon at the far right of the screen, just underneath the View options.

You’re going to want to click the “Size on Disk” option at the bottom of the list that appears. IDG That adds a new “Size on Disk” column to the list view. Click it once to sort in ascending size order, and again to sort by descending size order. Categorize your Steam library By default, Steam arranges the games in your library alphabetically. Easy enough, right? Not if you’ve amassed a catalog of hundreds (or thousands!) of games, or if you simply want to browse games in a certain genre. Fortunately, the service offers categorization tools, though it’s all manual work.

Brad Chacos/IDG Select one or more games in your library, then right-click and choose Set Categories. A separate window opens, and you can create a category name for the chosen games (or add them to existing categories if you’ve already made some). Go nuts sorting your games by genre, series, ones you’re currently playing, ones you want to play soon, or anything else you come up with. Back up your games The best external drive. Sure, the Steam Cloud keeps your save games nice and secure on Valve’s servers, but it only backs up your save games—and only on titles that support the feature. Backing up your games themselves protects against life’s “Oh crap!” moments, ensuring that you don’t risk corruption or angering your Internet provider by re-downloading your entire library if your hard drive gives up the ghost.

Steam can handle your game backups, too. Head into your library, right-click on any installed game, and select Backup Game Files. Dac 2 driver for mac. A dialog box will pop up with a list of all your installed games, allowing you to select which titles you’d like to backup. The process is straightforward from there. IDG Restoring those backups is just as easy.

Simply log into your Steam account, then open the backup folder and run the steambackup.exe file (which you can if you’ve lost it). Follow the on-screen prompts from there. Note that the executable should auto-run if you’ve backed your games up to a CD or DVD. If you run into trouble, check out. Steam’s backup isn’t flawless.

It won’t, for example, back up mods, custom configuration files, or games that utilize third-party installers, such as MMOs and many other free-to-play games. Nor will it back up any games that don’t call Steam home. You’ll have to handle those manually. But most importantly, Steam’s game backup feature won’t backup your local save games. Check out to be certain that the princess comes with you to another castle. Next page: Family sharing, in-home streaming, and more.