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Where Is the Steam Library Folder?

Where Steam installs games by default, how to list every library folder including ones on other drives, and what libraryfolders.vdf holds.

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Steam can spread games across several drives, and each of those is a library folder with its own steamapps directory. The default one lives inside the Steam install folder, while anything you added later can sit anywhere on disk, which is why a single path is never the whole answer.

The full list is stored in one file, steamapps\libraryfolders.vdf, and the same list is drawn as a bar chart in Steam > Settings > Storage. That settings page is the easier route: it shows used and free space per drive and adds a library without any editing.

Where Steam stores this, by platform

Windows
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common

Games from the default library land in common. Every library you have is listed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\libraryfolders.vdf, and Steam also keeps a copy under Steam\config which is the file it rewrites on startup. Steam > Settings > Storage shows them all with free space and a + button to add another.

macOS
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps

Installed games sit in the common folder inside it. Library is hidden in Finder, so use Go > Go to Folder and paste the path, or right-click any game in Steam and choose Manage > Browse Local Files. Libraries you add in Settings > Storage appear in the same list.

Linux
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps

Default location for current installs. Older ones used ~/.steam/steam (sometimes reported as ~/.steam/root) and Flatpak Steam lives at ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/. The Storage screen reads whichever directory your client actually uses, so it beats checking the path by hand.

Frequently asked questions

where is my steam library folder

Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps. Linux: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps. Games themselves are in the common folder inside it, and Steam > Settings > Storage lists every library you own.

how do i find all my steam library folders

Open Steam > Settings > Storage. Each drive with a library appears with its installed games and free space, and the + button adds another one. The same list sits in steamapps\libraryfolders.vdf if you need it outside the client.

where does steam store extra library drives

In steamapps\libraryfolders.vdf next to the Steam client, with a mirror under Steam\config that Steam rewrites when it starts. Hand-editing works, but the Storage screen does the same job and avoids having your edit overwritten.

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