Will Steam previously installed on an SSD run in a new PC?

[Gessler]

I've got a new build with Windows 11 shaping up, however I plan to take the SSD (not a boot drive) from my old Windows 10 system which has the Steam client & all my games, screenshots etc on it and hook it up to my new PC. Will the Steam client run out of the box from the drive or will I have to reinstall the client? What will happen to my games & screenshots? Will a fresh install recognize their directories as long as I install it in the same folder as before?

[Marble]

Originally posted by Gessler:

I've got a new build with Windows 11 shaping up, however I plan to take the SSD (not a boot drive) from my old Windows 10 system which has the Steam client & all my games, screenshots etc on it and hook it up to my new PC. Will the Steam client run out of the box from the drive or will I have to reinstall the client? What will happen to my games & screenshots? Will a fresh install recognize their directories as long as I install it in the same folder as before?

When you run it, it will likely complain that the Steam service isn't running and attempt to repair itself, but otherwise it should work if it's all in the same place. You might need to click Install on the games to validate the files.
If you have the time/free space, you can use the backup/restore feature if you want to do it properly.
Also keep in mind, your game save files are usually stored elsewhere, like the Documents folder.