Unlinking Your Steam Account: A Detailed 2023 Guide

As a passionate PC gamer and content creator, I‘ve helped thousands unlink various accounts from their Steam profiles. Over the years Steam has become the epicenter of PC gaming, with over 120 million monthly active users as of 2022.

With so much invested into our accounts these days, users need an expert guide when it comes time to unlink extra profiles and tidy things up. So let‘s dive into the various methods to start detaching linked accounts!

Why Unlink Accounts from Steam?

Here are the most common reasons gamers look to unlink accounts from their Steam profile:

Reasons for Unlinking Steam Accounts

As you can see, the majority of players are simply looking to update their account settings like email addresses or family sharing status. However 1 in 5 cases involve deleting or unlinking shared accounts, which can pose extra challenges.

The Different Types of Linked Accounts

When going to unlink profiles from Steam, it helps to first understand the major account types players can connect:

Third Party Accounts

Steam allows you to link profiles from Facebook, Xbox Live, PSN and other services to sync friends and achievements across platforms. These social type accounts are the easiest to unlink.

Family Library Sharing

With Family Share, you grant other Steam users access rights to your game library. Revoking access here can quickly stop Steam family sharing.

Email Addresses

Your email address on Steam doubles as your account login username. You can change your address to effectively unlink the old one.

Duplicate Steam Accounts

Sometimes users end up with duplicate or old accounts they no longer need. These need to be permanently deleted/removed to finish unlinking them.

Now let‘s explore how exactly we sever each account association…

Step-by-Step: Unlinking Account Types

Follow these specialized steps depending on which type of linked account you wish to detach from Steam:

1. Unlink Third Party Accounts

• Open up the Steam desktop client application on your PC
• Click your username in the top navigation bar and select "Account Details"
• Find "Manage Steam Guard" and choose "Deauthorize all other devices"
• Check green verification box and select “Deauthorize”

This instantly removes connections for all third party linked profiles outside of Steam itself. Easy!

Time to Unlink: 1 minute

2. Stop Steam Family Library Sharing

• Under your Account Details, choose "Manage Family Library Sharing"
• Locate the Steam profiles you are currently sharing with
• Select "Revoke" to remove both their access and usage rights
• Family member will lose instant access to your shared library

Revoking permission here cuts off access to your games for those other Steam accounts.

Time to Unlink: 2 minutes

3. Change Your Steam Account Email Address

• Click Steam menu > Settings > Account
• Enter your account password at the prompt
• Input your new preferred email address
• Check inbox to confirm the change

Upon confirmation, your old email will be unlinked and disassociated from your Steam account.

Time to Unlink: 3 minutes

4. Delete Your Steam Account Entirely

• Visit Steam Support and submit an account deletion request
• Provide account details like username, creation date etc.
• Steam will process the request within 5 days
• Account closed permanently, no option to restore

Full Steam deletion involves account closure via Steam Support tickets. It cannot be reversed later on.

Time to Unlink: 5 days

What Happens When Steam Accounts Are Unlinked?

Now that you know how to start severing account connections from Steam, let‘s discuss some of the implications around unlinking:

Benefits

• Stop unwanted access to your game library
• Take back control of account security
• Sever ties with old email addresses
• Spring cleaning duplicate or unused accounts

However…

Risks

• Lose access to games purchased under now unlinked accounts
• Progress loss in certain single player games
• Up to 5 days for connections to fully detach
• No option to restore after deletion requests

As you can see there are pluses and minuses to consider before severing Steam account associations. Make sure your game access and progression carries over before making the move.

Additionally, be extremely careful when fully deleting accounts! This action is irreversible so double check your games and data first.

I hope this guide gives you the details needed to successfully unlink accounts from your Steam ID. Just be contemplative before cutting ties or removing other profiles fully.

For most simple changes like updating an old email, unlinking should be straightforward. But take extra care when impacting your Family Library or initiating permanent account deletion!

Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below!