When I first started using Steam, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of games in my library. Some were games I was excited about, while others were titles I had accumulated over time but didn’t have any intention of playing soon. As my collection grew, I found myself needing a way to manage it better. One feature that caught my attention was the ability to hide or unhide games, which became incredibly useful for keeping my library organized. Here’s a detailed guide on how I learned to hide and unhide games on Steam.I initially stumbled upon the need to hide games when my Steam library became cluttered with titles I no longer wanted to see all the time. For example, there were games I had purchased on sale but had no interest in playing, or titles that I had played only once and didn’t plan to revisit anytime soon. Seeing these games every time I opened Steam was overwhelming. I realized that hiding them could help streamline my view and focus on the games I was genuinely interested in.To hide a game, I first opened the Steam client on my computer. From the main interface, I navigated to my Library. The Library is where all my games are listed, and it’s where I needed to be to start managing them. I then located the game I wanted to hide. I did this by scrolling through the list or using the search bar at the top to quickly find the game. Once I found it, I right-clicked on the game’s title to bring up a context menu.In the menu, I selected the “Manage” option, which revealed another menu. Here, I clicked on “Hide this game.” This action effectively removed the game from my Library view, which was a relief. The game was still installed on my computer, and I could access it anytime by searching for it in my installed applications, but it no longer cluttered my main Library screen.Sometimes, I realized that I might want to revisit a game I had hidden. Unhiding a game was just as straightforward as hiding it. To do this, I went back to the Library and clicked on “View” in the upper-right corner of the Steam window. In the dropdown menu, I selected “Hidden Games.” This action showed me a list of all the games I had hidden. From there, I could browse through this list and locate the game I wanted to unhide.Once I found the game, I right-clicked on it, just as I had done when hiding it. Instead of selecting “Hide this game,” I chose “Remove from hidden games.” This action restored the game to my main Library view, making it visible and accessible once again. I found this feature incredibly helpful for managing the games I wanted to keep track of but not see all the time.There were a few additional tips and tricks I learned along the way. For instance, if you have a lot of games and are using filters or categories to organize them, hiding games will not affect these filters. Hidden games remain in the same categories but simply don’t appear in the main Library view. This means that you can still use categories or collections to keep track of which games are hidden and which aren’t.Another important point is that hiding a game does not uninstall it from your computer. It only affects how the game appears in your Library on Steam. If you want to remove a game from your system entirely, you would need to uninstall it separately. This distinction is important because hiding games is purely a matter of visibility and organization, not an action affecting the actual files on your computer.I also discovered that managing my Library by hiding games helped me maintain focus on the games I was actively playing or wanted to play. It reduced the mental clutter and made my gaming experience more enjoyable. Instead of scrolling through a long list of games, I could concentrate on the titles I cared about at that moment.As I continued using Steam, I became more adept at managing my game library. Hiding and unhiding games became second nature, and it significantly enhanced my overall experience with the platform. I could easily customize my view and ensure that my Library was always organized in a way that suited my current interests and needs.In summary, hiding and unhiding games on Steam is a simple but powerful feature that can help manage a growing game library. By following the steps I outlined—navigating to the game, using the context menu to hide or unhide it, and checking the hidden games list—you can keep your Library organized and focused on the games you want to see. This feature has made a big difference in how I interact with Steam and has been an invaluable tool in maintaining an enjoyable gaming experience.
How to Hide or Unhide Games on Steam [Tutorial]
