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I have installed a game using Steam and it is already on my PC.

How do I copy the game into an external hard drive?

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    Note that the game will always require a running, logged-on Steam client to work. If you take the hard drive to another PC which does not have Steam installed, or the logged-on Steam user doesn't have that game in their library, the game will not run.
    – Vilx-
    Oct 9, 2019 at 9:08

1 Answer 1

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  1. Steam → Settings → Downloads → Steam Library Folders
  2. Click "Add Library Folder" (Add your external drive)
  3. Save and Close
  4. Go to your Library
  5. Right click on the game → Properties → Local Files
  6. Click "Move Install Folder..."
  7. Choose your external drive, and click Move

You can play off the external, you can even move the external drive to another PC and link the library to that PC's steam and now you have it installed on whatever Steam is currently booted with the external.

Adding steam library folder

Moving game to another library

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  • Can i play both on PC and in the hard drive as well?
    – alchemistgeek
    Oct 8, 2019 at 5:10
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    On 2 different PCs sure, but not on the same time. If all you're doing is trying to avoid re downloading, just do the move once, then copy the data back to the first drive.
    – Viper_Sb
    Oct 8, 2019 at 5:49
  • You can have steam folders both places. You still need steam.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Oct 9, 2019 at 14:09
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    @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen Not necessarily always, though it is sometimes true. Some games can be launched directly from their .exe files and run directly (Steam won't log the play time, and you can't get achievements). Though some games do cause the Steam client to launch even when started this way.
    – Upper_Case
    Oct 9, 2019 at 15:04
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    @Viper_Sb If the goal is to avoid re-downloading, OP should be using "backup game files" as opposed to move folder.
    – xiaomy
    Oct 9, 2019 at 19:08

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