Valve fixed Steam transfers no more bandwidth worries

One of the greatest joys of gaming companions is sharing the spoils. For flatmates or friends setting up their digital libraries, synchronizing game ownership across multiple devices is the ultimate form of cooperative living. The dream? Leveraging local network transfers to seamlessly share games between a desktop PC, a laptop, and a handheld like the Steam Deck—all without relying on slow internet speeds.

Unfortunately, this digital harmony was recently disrupted by a technical glitch. Users attempting to utilize Steam’s built-in local network game transfer feature often found that instead of transferring files locally, the system defaulted to downloading games over the internet. This proved less than ideal, especially when dealing with limited bandwidth or precious data plans.

Fortunately, Valve has listened to the community’s requests and delivered a much-needed correction. On Monday, they shipped an update to the stable channel of the Steam Client that resolves this frustrating behavior.

Now, players can once again take full advantage of local network transfers. This means sharing content residing on one device with another is significantly smoother, allowing gamers to easily manage their collections across different machines without sacrificing speed or data.

To ensure this functionality works flawlessly, users simply need to make sure they are running the latest version of the Steam client on all their devices. Whether you are on a desktop PC or a Steam Deck, keeping your software current is the key to unlocking seamless sharing.

If you want to be certain everything is up to date, a quick check will save you time and frustration. On a PC, open the client, navigate to Steam in the top left corner, and select Check for Steam Client Updates…. You may need to restart the client after the update is applied.

For those using the Steam Deck, updates are usually visible immediately within the settings cog at the top of the screen, often signaled by a bright yellow exclamation point. Alternatively, you can manually check by accessing the settings cog or pressing the device’s physical Steam button and selecting Settings.

Once you are in the settings menu, look for the System section and then check under Updates. If a yellow exclamation point appears next to Software Updates, tap apply. After the download and application process is complete, remember to restart your Steam Deck to finalize the changes.

By ensuring all client versions are synchronized, gamers can now easily share whatever content is already stored on their local storage, turning what used to be a technical hurdle into another easy win for cooperative gaming.