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I downloaded ESO from a friend's account on Steam to test whether or not it is playable on my computer. However, I intend to buy and download from the official website for various reasons. Is there any way I could avoid re-downloading the game files because they are over 80GB? Or is my only option to uninstall from Steam and re-download all over again?

Edit: clarification, I have it downloaded on Steam from a friends account, and want to play from the Bethesda client without redownloading if possible, not the other way around

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  • So, you're playing it through Steam Family Sharing already?
    – l3l_aze
    Commented May 31, 2021 at 7:10
  • @l3l_aze no. my friend came over, logged in, downloaded the game, run it to make sure it runs okay and can be played on the computer, logged out. Now I have the game files in my computer and because I bought the game through the bethesda website, I am wondering if i can somehow skip re-downloading all the game files.
    – riverwastaken
    Commented May 31, 2021 at 10:09
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    Ah, interesting. I can't test personally, but found this "article" describing how to move the game between two drives when it's installed via Bethesda. It may be possible to manually recreate that folder structure and make it work, but not without knowing how it's supposed to be. Also doesn't move save files.
    – l3l_aze
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 4:54

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You can move the folder to C:/Program Files/Steam/steamapps/common and then log into your account, buy the game and restart Steam and then it'd register and let you launch it.

I'm not too sure about this, I've never really done something like that before.

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  • I don't think that folder would work: it's not one where Steam will look for downloaded files, it's usually in a uniquely named folder within the Download folder.
    – Joachim
    Commented May 26, 2021 at 13:22
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I am pretty sure you're completely stuck with launching the game via Steam if you've downloaded it through Steam itself. Steam will not let you bypass its platform in any way if that's your method of accessing the game. You'll need to re-download the standalone client if you'd prefer to not use Steam.

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