Technologies

Level Up Your Gaming With These 7 Steam Tips and Tricks

Whether you’re new to PC gaming or an old hand, these tricks can help any Steam user.

Steam is a popular gaming platform that has about 120 million active monthly users, according to Finances Online. Steam lets you play PC games alone or with friends, and it’s compatible with third-party controllers. Plus, there are always sales on games, so you never run out of something fun to play.

If you know where to look, the service has more to offer than a massive selection of games and bundle deals. Here are a few tips and tricks every Steam user should know to get the most out of the platform.

Share your library with friends

If you have a massive gaming library through Steam, it’s possible to share with friends and family. You can select up to five users who can access and use your library across 10 devices that you’ve authorized.

Open the Steam app and click Steam in the top left corner of the screen. Select Settings (Windows) or Preferences (Mac) and choose Family in the side menu. Click the box that says Authorize Library Sharing on this computer.

You can also revoke access by clicking your username in the upper right corner of the Steam app and choosing Account Details in the drop-down menu. From there, scroll down to Family Settings and click Manage Family Library Sharing. Under Sharing Status, click Revoke on any devices or accounts you no longer wish to have access.

Turn on Steam Guard and two-factor authentication

Steam Guard can serve as a useful tool to provide an additional level of security against unauthorized access. To set it up on the desktop app or browser, click your username in the top right corner. Click Account Details in the drop-down menu and choose Manage Steam Guard under Account Security.

When Steam Guard is enabled, you can have codes sent to your phone or email, as well as deauthorize other computers or devices other than the one you’re currently using that might have saved your login information. Steam recommends sending Guard Codes to your phone to also serve as two-factor authentication.

Set up Family View

Family View can serve as a useful tool for adults who share an account with younger users. The feature lets families customize which parts of Steam are accessible to other users. To get started, log into the Steam account that your child will use, click the Steam menu in the top left corner and choose Settings (Preferences on Mac). Choose the Family tab and click Manage Family View.

Choose what the protected account can access in Family View like Only Games I Choose or All Games, as well as online content and social features. Once you’re satisfied with your choices, click Next.
If you selected Only Games I Choose, Steam will generate a list of all your games and you can individually click which games you want PIN-protected.
Click Next, verify your recovery email address and click Next again.
Create, enter and re-enter your PIN and click Next. Steam will send a verification code to your recovery email, enter that code when prompted and click Next to finalize the process.

To turn off Family View, return to Manage Family View and click Disable Family View.

How to use Remote Play Together

Steam’s Remote Play feature lets you play local multiplayer games with friends and family. One player owns and runs the game, and up to four players can join in. To find a list of compatible Remote Play games, open the Steam app, click Categories and choose Remote Play under Special Sections.

To start a session, launch your game, make sure your friends are logged in to Steam from their devices and open Steam Overlay in-game. Find your friends list and right-click the names of the people you want to play with, then click Remote Play Together. You can start playing after all your invitees have accepted.

How to make a Library Collection

Steam keeps your games in alphabetical order on the left-hand side of the screen, but if you’ve got a massive library or want even more organization, you can create a Collection. In the Steam app, click Library and choose Collections. Name your collection and choose Create Collection. From there, just drag and drop any games you want to include. The collection will save automatically. Those games will be organized under the name of your collection in the left-hand side menu instead of the larger alphabetical list.

You can also choose Dynamic Collection by following the same steps. Dynamic Collections use filters to create collections that continuously update as you add more games to our library.

Add and play non-Steam games

You can play games that aren’t native to Steam on the platform pretty easily. To add a non-Steam game to your library, open the Steam app and click Add Game in the lower left corner of the screen. From there, click Add a Non-Steam Game.

Steam will open a window that lists all the games found on your device. Check the box next to the game you want to add and click Add Selected Programs. If you don’t see the game you want, click Browse and Steam will expand your search results. Find the program you want and click Open. Make sure the program or game is checked in the Add a Game window and click Add Selected Programs.

You should then be able to see the game or program you added in your alphabetical library list on the left side of the screen. When you click the game, the page will likely have little to no information since it’s not native to steam.

Customize bandwidth

Because Steam uses the internet to download games, getting your gameplay going can take little to no time. But if your internet connection is slow, Steam downloading a game likely won’t leave any download speed for anything else. So, if you want to multitask during a download, you can limit Steam’s download speed.

Click Steam in the top left corner of the app and choose Settings (Preferences on Mac). Click Downloads and then check the box next to Limit Bandwidth To. From there, you can type in your preferred download speed and click OK. You can adjust or remove the limits at any time.

For more information, check out CNET’s review of the Steam Deck and how to install Steam on a Chromebook.

Technologies

WhatsApp’s New Update Lets You Encrypt Chat Backups Using Passkeys

Use your face, finger or code instead of a password or 64-digit key.

Face, finger or lock-screen code: These passkeys are all you will need to encrypt your WhatsApp chat backups in the near future, the messaging app announced Thursday. Meta-owned WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in the world, said it would be rolling out the changes over the upcoming months.

«Now, with just a tap or a glance, the same security that protects your personal chats and calls on WhatsApp is applied to your chat backups so they are always safe, accessible and private,» the company said.

A representative for WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Passkeys are rapidly overtaking passwords as an easier and more secure way to allow computer users to log in or sign on. Instead of remembering our average of 301 passwords, passkeys use facial or fingerprint recognition — or a lock screen code — to sign in. According to recent research, passkey adoption is growing quickly, speeding up sign-in times and reducing IT help desk incidents.

What are passkeys?

We explain the concept in depth here, but the simplest explanation is that passkeys are password-less logins. To log in, you must look at the screen (facial recognition), tap on the screen (fingerprint recognition) or enter a multi-digit lock screen code.

Many smartphone users already use facial recognition or codes to get into their devices.

In 2021, WhatsApp initially allowed customers to secure their encrypted chat backup with either a password or a 64-digit encryption key.

How to do it, and why

Many WhatsApp consumers have a vast trove of messages, images, videos, and voice notes stored on their phones dating back years. They can either live only on your device or be backed up to Google Drive (for Android devices) or iCloud (for iPhones).

If you haven’t set up a backup schedule, here are the steps:

Go to Settings
Select Chats
Select Chat Backup
From there, you can back up to iCloud or Google Account, if you have one, and set your auto backup schedule.

You can still encrypt your chat backup now with a password or 64-digit key, but WhatsApp’s upcoming passkeys rollout will eliminate the need for those.

Technologies

Here’s How to Watch the New ‘Scream 7’ Trailer and Stream All the Past Movies

You like scary movies, right? The original Scream from 1996 is streaming for free with ads.

Do you like scary movies? Scream fans will recognize that line, and they received an early Halloween treat on Thursday with the release of a new trailer for Scream 7. Neve Campbell’s return as series heroine Sidney Prescott battling a new Ghostface killer could be the reason to revisit earlier spooky films in the franchise.

The upcoming Scream 7 revolves around Prescott’s facing a masked, knife-wielding murderer (yeah, you know what the mask looks like) who targets her family. It doesn’t hit theaters until Feb. 27, but if you’d like to get prepared and nab some Halloween scares, here’s how to stream Scream 1-6.

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How to stream the Scream movies on Halloween

Scream (1996) — Pluto TV (free with ads), Paramount Plus, Peacock
Scream 2(1997) — Pluto TV (free with ads), Paramount Plus, Peacock
Scream 3 (2003) — Pluto TV (free with ads), Paramount Plus, Peacock
Scream 4 (2011) — Tubi (free with ads), Paramount Plus, Peacock
Scream(2022) — Hulu, Paramount Plus
Scream VI (2023) — Paramount Plus
Scream 7 (2026) — Due out in theaters on Feb. 27, 2026.

Technologies

ARC Raiders Beginner’s Guide: 7 Tips You’ll Need to Thrive Above Speranza

When a new extraction shooter drops, players quickly learn how brutal death can be. Here’s how to avoid the sting of losing hours of progress.

Developer Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders is the latest extraction shooter that’s set to take the gaming world by storm. As genre veterans and newcomers alike emerge from the underground town of Speranza to take on killer robots — and their fellow humans — players quickly learn how brutal it is to lose loot on death.

Luckily, ARC Raiders is the most «casual» extraction shooter I’ve ever played. That isn’t to say that it’s an easy game, but there are built-in mechanics that make the hardcore gameplay loop far more accessible to a wider audience.

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This guide will equip you with the knowledge you need to make real progress in ARC Raiders before, during and after a raid. Read on to find out about what keybinds you need to learn, what loot to focus on first and how you can quickly recoup some wealth after a string of failed runs.

Figure out your shoulder swap keybind before you ever load into a match

ARC Raiders is a third-person shooter with high-stakes player-versus-player combat. If you want to stand a chance against an enemy player in a serious firefight, you need to know how to swap your camera view from aiming over your character’s right shoulder to aiming over their left shoulder so you can peek around corners without exposing yourself too much.

The default bind for this action on PC is «X,» so get used to pressing that key — or swap it to something you’re more comfortable with. Switching the camera from shoulder to shoulder will help you peek around corners before you expose your body, eliminating blind spots and giving you a competitive advantage. In a game where one death could eliminate hours of progress, you certainly don’t want to give up crucial lines of sight.

Nothing to lose, everything to gain: Utilize the free loadouts

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve just suffered consecutive squad wipes, you’ll never be without a gun, simple medicine and other basic supplies. You can opt to enter a raid with a «free loadout,» which will provide you with a hodgepodge of low-grade gear. Unlike in other extraction shooters (looking at you, Escape From Tarkov) there’s no cooldown period on taking a free loadout into a match — you can do so whenever you like.

You can’t carry as much weight or pack out as much loot as you’d be able to with any other class mod on, but this is a great way to try to hit a heavily trafficked zone without the risk of losing your good weapons. As a bonus, if you manage to extract with a free loadout, you can trade the «free loadout» mod for a basic green-tier class mod at the vendor named Lance in Speranza.

Focus on completing quests for the denizens of Speranza

ARC Raiders largely cuts you loose to raid, engage in gunfights with other players and loot whatever you like at the start of the game. But it’s highly recommended to follow the guided progression path to get some extra equipment, learn what activities you can get involved in topside and unlock harder missions with more valuable rewards.

Always check in with Speranza’s traders after each raid to see what quests you can take on (or turn in). Some quests will require you to bring certain items back from a raid, and others will have you battling ARC robots or completing objectives throughout the world. Make sure to keep completing quests in order to discover all of the secrets ARC Raiders has to offer.

Loot the dog collar ASAP

Scrappy is a rooster that sits around Speranza collecting crafting materials while you’re out fighting killer machines. He brings the scrap back home to you because he’s a very good boy. Reward him with a dog collar so he feels loved — and so that he levels up and brings you loot even more quickly.

The looting rooster can be upgraded multiple times, but you should focus on finding the dog collar while on a surface run to bring him up to level two at first. The dog collar can be found in random containers, but during the press previews I had the good fortune of finding one at The Dam map’s research and administration area.

When you’re searching for scrap, prioritize big pieces of loot

You’ll find lots of metal scrap, plastic tubing and miscellaneous wires as you rifle through loot containers topside. These are definitely worth stuffing into your pockets; they’re the bread and butter of crafting materials and something you’ll want to stash away early on.

You’ll probably run into what’s a «good problem» to have sooner or later: running out of carry space mid-raid. Raw materials can quickly overflow your inventory, forcing you to extract early. Instead, focus on larger pieces of tech like TVs, radios and big chunks of ARC robots.

Once you successfully extract these items from a match, you can break them down into their parts to gain a variety of crafting components. In a way, they act like compact storage units for multiple raw materials at once.

Grow your net worth. No, seriously

I know, this sounds like the mantra for a bad internet con artist. But building up a small nest egg in ARC Raiders is a great way to ensure you can throw together backup loadouts if you meet an untimely end multiple times in a row. This is bad enough on your own, but if you’re squadding up with friends, you don’t want to be the only one without a good loadout.

If you can’t find the specific materials you’re looking for during a raid, it’s well worth looking for valuables instead. Jewelry, vases and other creature comforts fetch a pretty penny when you sell them to the traders in Speranza. Once you’ve saved up a couple thousand coins, you can trade them in for new weapons, attachments and even stash upgrades.

Guns aren’t the end all, be all of ARC Raiders combat

While it’s incredibly gratifying to run into the thick of battle and wipe a squad out with a strong submachine gun or pick off straggling raiders from afar with a leveled-up bolt-action rifle, you can’t always rely on your guns to win a fight. ARC Raiders features tons of gadgets and deployable equipment that can quickly turn the tide of a fight if used correctly.

Grappling hooks and ziplines add a new level of verticality to gunfights, while high-explosive grenades can flush enemies out of cover. Deployable walls and smoke grenades can counter these tactics or let players safely blitz a wide-open area. If you want to get really clever, you can bring throwable noise lures that will cause ARC robots to converge on your enemies — the AI will do the dirty work and won’t even loot the bodies.

Your strategies are limited if you don’t bring a couple pieces of gear. Consider leaving that extra stack of shield rechargers in your stash — if you need 10 of them in a single match, you probably have bigger problems — and grab a couple of grenades for your next raid instead.