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Alright, so I signed up for the Steam Family Sharing Beta. I followed the instructions to share my games on my family member's computer.

I now see "BlueRaja's games" under their account. But, when I click it, it's empty. So how do I install one of my games from their account?

Surely there's a way to install games without having to log back into my account every time...? (otherwise there's no point in sharing to begin with)

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You are probably applying one of the many games list filters (ie: installed games) - choose the game library you wish to view from this menu at the top of the steam window (the same way you would filter to show only installed games) and this will present you the available games from that library:

enter image description here

(On a train at the moment so higher quality screenshot will be added later)

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    As I mentioned in the question, I did click on "BlueRaja's Games" in the dropdown. But, I was not seeing any games, not even grayed out.
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 16:07
  • are you running the correct client on both machines and have confirmed that the machine you're using is fully authorised? - As you can see from the above screenshot, the system works exactly as I have described it - I am running 138203571131 built Oct 17 at 10:41:59 and 1382654526 built Oct 24 at 15:26. Does your "new" account actually contain any games at all or is it a blank account? Remember that many Steam functions are disabled for accounts that have nothing on them (ie: chat functionality unless old adds new)
    – kalina
    Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 10:36
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Per the FAQ, it seems the account that is enrolled in the beta must be logged in on a shared machine (i.e.- a machine you have access to as well). Games from that accounts library must already be installed on the machine. And that account must have authorized your user for shared library access.

It seems Family Sharing is just that, intended for multiple gamers in the same household to play the same games using individual accounts. Likely laying groundwork for Steam Machines to exist in the living room for a family to access.

A similarly geared feature is Family Options, which adds parental controls to Steam (again, another step towards Steam Machines).

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