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Fridge 1 Sep @ 2:03pm
Install Steam on multiple windows user accounts?
I'm not sure why, but steam behaves very weirdly when you use one steam account on multiple windows user accounts on the same system. Specifically with steam cloud sync. When you first install steam on the new user account, you get all your game progress like normal. But then apparently it makes two separate instances of your save progress from that point? Steam cloud sync will show up as working when you finish the game. But then when you go over to your other account, the progress isn't synced and instead you just get where you were when you last played on that windows user account?

And this just continues on. The games sync just fine between other devices, but between the two windows accounts you're left with these second zombie save files that refuse to sync up with everything else. I can fix this manually by copying over the user data from one account to the other, but this is annoying to do every time and defeats the whole purpose of having a cloud sync.

Surely this is a known issue? Are there any known workarounds to force cloud sync to share the progress between two windows accounts like it would anything else?
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rawWwRrr 1 Sep @ 2:15pm 
Correct.

Since your Windows' user folders are unique for each Windows user, those save files are not shared between them. The ideal way is that Windows-User1 has their own Steam-User1 account, and Windows-User2 has their own Steam-user2 account. It's just as confusing when two people are trying to use the same Steam account and save files are being overwritten by the other's progress.
#1
Fridge 1 Sep @ 4:16pm 
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
Correct.

Since your Windows' user folders are unique for each Windows user, those save files are not shared between them. The ideal way is that Windows-User1 has their own Steam-User1 account, and Windows-User2 has their own Steam-user2 account. It's just as confusing when two people are trying to use the same Steam account and save files are being overwritten by the other's progress.
And there's no way to turn this off? Or are there any other known solutions? Besides installing a new instance of steam in a sandbox.
#2
Ettanin 1 Sep @ 4:26pm 
Section 1 C Steam Subscriber Agreement. You are not meant to share a Steam account.

Use Family Sharing if you want to share the library to multiple Steam users on the same system. Because it is now stored on the server side instead of the local machine, it should work with multiple Windows user accounts.
Last edited by Ettanin; 1 Sep @ 4:29pm
#3
rawWwRrr 1 Sep @ 4:48pm 
Originally posted by Fridge:
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
Correct.

Since your Windows' user folders are unique for each Windows user, those save files are not shared between them. The ideal way is that Windows-User1 has their own Steam-User1 account, and Windows-User2 has their own Steam-user2 account. It's just as confusing when two people are trying to use the same Steam account and save files are being overwritten by the other's progress.
And there's no way to turn this off? Or are there any other known solutions? Besides installing a new instance of steam in a sandbox.
The games decide where save files are stored. Steam does not control that decision. Steam only backs up the files into the cloud.

If a game is designed to save a file to %AppData%\Roaming\GameName, there's where it is saved, and that's where it tells Steam to get it.

Steam can't see if Windows is resolving %AppData% to Fridge or Freezer, it only knows to look into %AppData%. So if it's Fridge's files or Freezer's files, it will save them as if they were the same file if you're the same Steam account across both Windows logins.
Last edited by rawWwRrr; 1 Sep @ 4:50pm
#4
Fridge 1 Sep @ 4:48pm 
Originally posted by Ettanin:
Section 1 C Steam Subscriber Agreement. You are not meant to share a Steam account.

Use Family Sharing if you want to share the library to multiple Steam users on the same system. Because it is now stored on the server side instead of the local machine, it should work with multiple Windows user accounts.
I see. If that's really the reason, it's pretty funny how me using a basic windows feature on a PC that I own is such a crime, but if I gave my friend my steam login on another machine then that's perfectly okay. Oh well, nothing I can do about it then.
#5
rawWwRrr 1 Sep @ 4:51pm 
Originally posted by Fridge:
if I gave my friend my steam login on another machine then that's perfectly okay.
It's not actually. You're breaking the same rule just by another means.

Create a Steam Family. Have them create their own Steam account. They're free. Then have them join your Steam Family and you can share games from your library with them.

Do it the right way.
#6
JPMcMillen 1 Sep @ 4:54pm 
Originally posted by Fridge:
And there's no way to turn this off? Or are there any other known solutions? Besides installing a new instance of steam in a sandbox.
It's not a Steam setting. It's the games themselves that almost always store the save files inside the current windows user directory. Usually somewhere in that hidden appdata folder.
#7
Fridge 1 Sep @ 5:03pm 
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
Originally posted by Fridge:
if I gave my friend my steam login on another machine then that's perfectly okay.
It's not actually. You're breaking the same rule just by another means.

Create a Steam Family. Have them create their own Steam account. They're free. Then have them join your Steam Family and you can share games from your library with them.

Do it the right way.
Who's "them?" I have two separate accounts for myself for the sake of convenience. Every other program I use plays nice with this.
Last edited by Fridge; 1 Sep @ 5:03pm
#8
JPMcMillen 1 Sep @ 5:18pm 
Originally posted by Fridge:
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
It's not actually. You're breaking the same rule just by another means.

Create a Steam Family. Have them create their own Steam account. They're free. Then have them join your Steam Family and you can share games from your library with them.

Do it the right way.
Who's "them?" I have two separate accounts for myself for the sake of convenience. Every other program I use plays nice with this.
Those programs may be storing settings either in their own directories, or someplace that is shared among all users on that physical machine, such as the shared documents, pictures, etc... folders.

Most games on Steam do not do this.
It's the games themselves that almost always store the save files inside the current windows user directory. Usually somewhere in that hidden appdata folder.
#9
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Date Posted: 1 Sep @ 2:03pm
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