How to run your Steam library from an external drive

Samsung T7 Touch Source: Windows Central

Today'southward best PC games are massive. And not everyone has fancy cyberspace connections capable of downloading them in minutes. And if you're a PC gamer, perhaps you lot have both a desktop and laptop you desire to play on.

In this case, or for outliers similar us laptop reviewers, moving your Steam library — or even just a copy of it — to an external drive could save you a heap of fourth dimension and problem, and it'south not actually that hard to do. Likewise, if you lot're setting up from scratch, it's a super simple process, and you're able to manage games just as you would on any internal bulldoze.

You aren't limited to a single external SSD or hard drive, either. You can set up multiple library folders across multiple external drives that will all feed into the same Steam library on your PC.

Here's what you need to know.

How to gear up a new Steam library on an external drive

The SSD. Source: Windows Central

This process is important whether you're copying an existing Steam library to an external drive or setting up a make-new 1 from scratch to download all your games. The fundamental is to tell Steam where it needs to shop your games, so it can install them in the right place and knows where to find them when you lot want to play.

Open Steam.
Open the Steam bill of fare in the meridian left corner.
Select settings.

Source: Windows Primal
Click on downloads in the left-hand pane.
Select Steam library folders.

Source: Windows Fundamental
Click on +.

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Find your external bulldoze in the driblet-down box.
Click on New folder.

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Proper noun your folder.
Click OK.

Source: Windows Primal

Information technology's handy to make sure you've done this first if you're copying an existing library as information technology will create the necessary destination on the bulldoze for you to dump all the files in. If you copy your library first, though, only follow these steps to add that binder as the library.

How to copy an existing Steam library to an external drive

Steam Library Source: Windows Primal

This is the easy, but also a time-consuming part. In File Explorer on Windows x, you lot need to become to the location of your existing Steam games library.

To copy it, just literally drag the whole thing to your external drive, and then get grab a drinkable while it completes. How long it will take depends on many factors.

Steam Library Source: Windows Central

SSDs will copy the files quicker than HDDs, and a standard similar USB 3.ii volition speed things up compared to USB 3.0. I copied near 200GB of games in just under 20 minutes to an external SSD over USB 3.two.

Once it's on there, though, you're all set. If Steam is pointed to that bulldoze, information technology will treat it as any other yous might install games on. So, if in that location are updates to be downloaded, those will exist handled, and yous can move between machines every bit you lot see fit.

Best external drive for your Steam library

If your budget tin stretch to it, an SSD is the way to go, just as information technology would exist for an internal bulldoze on your PC. Prices are relatively reasonable these days, just the size of your library will undoubtedly be a factor. If you're looking at carrying 1TB or less on it, then an SSD is the way to become.

For more extensive libraries, yous'll probably want to trade data transfer speeds for sheer capacity. Whichever you'd adopt, nosotros've got a couple of great recommendations for you.

Pocket storage

Samsung T7

Pocket-sized and hella fast

The Samsung T7 is a perfect domicile for Steam libraries with a tiny size backed with incredible operation and fast USB data transfer speeds.

For big libraries

Western Digital My Passport

Compact, affordable, and much storage

It won't measure upwardly to SSDs in terms of speed and size, simply the WD My Passport should make an excellent option for those with large Steam libraries.

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