How to change your Steam password or reset it

Steam password
(Image credit: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com)

Steam is the world's most popular PC gaming storefront, with nearly 40,000 games for sale and over 14 million concurrent players. Unfortunately, its popularity makes Steam accounts a target for hackers who sell stolen Steam accounts on the black market or buy gift cards using the credit card details linked to compromised accounts.

It makes sense to use a strong and unique password on Steam and to update your Steam password periodically. This article outlines the fastest way to update your Steam password. If you've forgotten your Steam password, we also review how to regain access to your account.

Steam has desktop clients for macOS, Linux, and Windows and a website where you can browse and buy games. The process of updating your password on these platforms follows the same pattern, and in our example, we’ll use the Windows desktop Steam client.

Steam password

Click on Steam in the top menu bar (Image credit: Steam)

How to change your Steam password

Start by logging into your Steam client using your Steam username and password. 

Steam password

Choose Settings from the drop-down list (Image credit: Steam)

Click on the Steam menu at the top right of the interface, and choose Settings from the drop-down menu.

Steam password

Select Change Password from the settings dialog (Image credit: Steam)

The Steam settings dialog will pop up, showing your account name, contact email, VAC status, and security status. Next, hit the Change Password button. A second dialog box will open, asking you how you would like to change your password.

Steam password

Click to send an account verification code to your email (Image credit: Steam)

Assuming that you still have access to the listed email address, click Email an account verification code. 

Steam password

Enter the verification code that you received into the form field (Image credit: Steam)

Check your email for the verification code from Steam. Next, enter this code into the next screen and click Continue. 

Steam password

Enter your new password twice into the form fields (Image credit: Steam)

Finally, submit your new password choice twice into the form fields and click Change Password. 

Your Steam password has now been updated. You’ll need to log in again if Steam is installed on any other computers.

If you can no longer access the listed email address, follow the steps outlined in the section below to reset your Steam password.

Steam password

The Steam login dialog has an I can’t sign in button (Image credit: Steam)

How to reset your Steam password

If you’ve forgotten your Steam password, you won’t be able to log into the client. Thankfully, you can click I can’t sign in on the login screen. Instead, you will be asked whether you’ve forgotten your Steam details, if you think someone has stolen them, or if you have a problem with Steam’s two-factor authentication system, Steam Guard. 

If you’ve forgotten your login details, choose I forgot my Steam Account name or password. Next, enter your email address or phone number into the form field on the next screen. From here, the steps are identical to changing your Steam password, with Steam emailing you an account verification code and asking you to create a new password.

Bryan M Wolfe

Bryan M. Wolfe is a staff writer at TechRadar, iMore, and wherever Future can use him. Though his passion is Apple-based products, he doesn't have a problem using Windows and Android. Bryan's a single father of a 15-year-old daughter and a puppy, Isabelle. Thanks for reading!