When you buy multiple games in one purchase from Steam, you have the option to set them all to be installed, and the Steam client automatically queues them all at once.
However, Is there a way to do this manually? For example when you've just re-installed Steam, can you select your 30 favorite games, and click "Install" once? Installing each game individually can get really tedious.
Since a recent update, you can select multiple games by holding down control and clicking them. Or, if they are adjacent in the list, select the first, hold shift and then select the last.
Then right click the selection, which will allow you to install them all at once:
You should be able to just start installing them as normal, and the Steam client will download them automatically afterwards. Have you checked the Downloads portion of the client? If your downloads are pausing when you choose to install another game, just hit Resume All.
Log into your account at steampowered.com (While connected to your steam client) navigate to your profile: Games -> All games.
You can now "One click" install the games you want to install. Steam will now automatically download and install the selected games.
PS: It will install to default steam install path. So if you have several SteamLibraries, then you are out of luck.
Example:
Note: m0ha's answer is better if you have only a few games, but this one might work out better for you, if you have lots of games or simply have trouble finding each and every one from your library (or you don't want to have to remember which games you want to install every time you have to).
You can create a file .bat file under Windows in the following format
start steam://install/[app_id_of_favorite_game_#1]
pause
start steam://install/[app_id_of_favorite_game_#2]
pause
creating a new line for each game you want to install. Make sure you place pause between each installation. (Replace [app_id_of_favorite_game_#] with the app id of the game).
To get the app_id of the games, go to their store page and you will see the app_id in your address bar (store.steampowered.com/app/[app_id]).
You'll still have to click through the installation prompt to select the installation folder and whatnot, and click back to the command line running the script after finishing each prompt to get the next prompt.
The pause is required for you to have time to go through each of the installation prompts, which ask you for installation directory and shortcut preferences.
On Linux you can do the same, but use the Linux equivalent of start (xdg-open for most distributions it seems) and pause (seems to be read -p 'Press enter to continue').
This is now possible after an update to the Steam client (August 14th, 2014):
You can now select multiple games and install them in one go!
The changelog says:
- Added install option to context menu for multiple selections
I'm re-saving my Steam backups via copying the steamapps\common folders. As such, I have a lot of Steam backup versions to re-install first. It seems with this version of Steam (beta - Oct 18 - 2013), you can start installing multiple backups at the same time. Just click on a 2nd or 3rd install .exe file and click "continue install." I know it'll take a long time to install 3 games from the one directory at the same time, but at least I can queue a few up (100 more installs to go).
EDIT: It only installs the last game you click on.
So I just did this easily by creating a new collection and then adding each one that needed to be installed to that new collection that I named 'need to be installed'. I installed an 8 terabyte hard drive last night and am moving 76 games over to it while I'm staying in a hotel and using their internet, instead of paying for all that data myself. You can click on the top one under your need to install collection on the left hand side and then shift click the bottom one, then right click on that whole file and install every single one of them in a queue. You need to do this with big picture mode minimized so that you get the tool bar on the left hand side of the page. It works very easily.
If you set Steam to Big Picture mode you can queue up as many games as you want (never downloaded too many so there MIGHT be a limit), and then you can leave Big Picture mode and they will still be in your download queue
Create a +New Collection or Favorite's! Hold "shift" and "Left-Click" on the game you would like to install! Then select "Install Selected Games" and click I agree!
Ok if you meet these requirements this is for you
1.) Is On PC
2.) Needs to mass reinstall games
Click on game at top of list/section
-->
hold space and right-click game at
bottom of list/section
-->
left click install
-->
MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO INSTALLED GAMES SELECTED OR IT
WONT WORK IF THIS IS THE CASE!!!
-->
click "I Agree" and whatever and it will AUTOMATICALLY go
though the list and install all the games
:)
