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Steam, among other annoying things, seems to add games to my library spontaneously. For example, it recently added the game "Contagion - 2 hours left" to my library which I have no interest in installing and I cannot figure out how to get rid of it.

Also, they tricked me by suggesting that there was some kind of "free" deal over the Labor Day weekend for getting a free copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts, but of course, after I spend 4 hours downloading it and try to click the "Ready to Play" button, it announces "Failed to Start (no licenses)".

How can I get this junk out of my library?

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    In the case of "2 hours left", it'll disappear after the time elapses. As for the Ghosts situation, right-click and delete?
    – Ben
    Sep 5, 2014 at 6:41
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    Yea, the X hours left are just free weekeds or the like.
    – Arperum
    Sep 5, 2014 at 6:44
  • I'd say duplicate, IF the limited time games can be hidden. The question about why the Call of Duty: Ghost doesn't work could be its own question.
    – DJ Pirtu
    Sep 5, 2014 at 6:56
  • @DJPirtu CoD:Ghost had the multiplayer part playable for free on Labor Day's weekend, that's why it's not playable anymore. Deleting it from the library should make it disappear.
    – Kappei
    Sep 5, 2014 at 7:43
  • Apropos of this post I just read that Apple took the liberty of putting U2's "free" album on their millions of users phone where it sits, undeletable in their library, just like this steam crap. Rapper Tyler, The Creator, allegedly said having this happen was "like waking up with an STD". Sep 15, 2014 at 20:27

2 Answers 2

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I think there are three different answers here, depending on the scenario.

  • Games that you have purchased but no longer want to see cannot be removed from your library. However, you can hide them by right click -> Set Categories -> "Hide this game in my library". They can then be found only by using the filter dropdown (next to the search box) and selecting "hidden".
  • Games that are free to play for a limited time will show up in your list, and cannot be removed. You could probably hide them as above, but they will vanish automatically when the free period ends.
  • Things that are free long-term (e.g. game demos) should vanish from the list when you uninstall them (right click -> delete local content, as given in another answer).
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    This used to be true, but Steam recently introduced a feature where you can actually hide games from your library. It works like grouping, but the group is not visible in any view except when explicitly looking at hidden games.
    – DJ Pirtu
    Sep 5, 2014 at 11:27
  • @DJPirtu thanks - I've edited the answer to reflect this.
    – Flyto
    Sep 5, 2014 at 13:47
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When Steam adds a weekend or freebie trial to your library it will be removed when the allotted time has completely elapsed.

If you install a game which you then no longer want in your library you can right click > delete local content. This will remove the game from your drive. Sometimes the game stays in the list until you reboot (Like for Blacklight: Retribution, because it is free it usually disappears) but some games if you have purchased them will still list - you should be able to show only installed games or group them into a category to hide ones you don't want to see.

Removing Games from Steam Library

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