Steam Guard cookies on Steam client

[vibal]

I mainly use the desktop Steam client and Steam Guard does its job of asking me the e-mailed code because my cookies do not get saved, but I don't know how to activate them on the Steam client. The FAQ and Steam Support only talk about browser cookies, so I have no idea where cookies are stored in the settings of the app. It's probably not my antivirus, because it worked fine before March and the release of Steam Guard.

TL;DR: How do I activate cookies in the Steam client settings (not in the browser)?

[incendito]

I think almost all of us PC users at least do and I have noticed the same over the last few days. I'm certain that there has been a change to how Steam handles cookies and someone messed up. The accounts that show up on the "Who's playing" screen are accounts I haven't used in years and the accounts I use don't stick when I add them and always emails me a code.
The help section is as useful as ever, meaning not at all, by showing how to allow cookie settings in every browser except the Steam client.

And because Google is better at finding relevant information on the Steam forums than Steam's own search I found the cookie settings. It's under ACCOUNT DETAILS -> COOKIES & BROWSING

[vibal]

Originally posted by incendito:

I think almost all of us PC users at least do and I have noticed the same over the last few days. I'm certain that there has been a change to how Steam handles cookies and someone messed up. The accounts that show up on the "Who's playing" screen are accounts I haven't used in years and the accounts I use don't stick when I add them and always emails me a code.
The help section is as useful as ever, meaning not at all, by showing how to allow cookie settings in every browser except the Steam client.

And because Google is better at finding relevant information on the Steam forums than Steam's own search I found the cookie settings. It's under ACCOUNT DETAILS -> COOKIES & BROWSING

Thank you very much for your answer. I couldn't see this particular topic already covered in the discussions, so I hope this will help even more people in the future.

I can only find this path on the browser version, though, and the indispensible cookies are already checked. What cookies do I need to activate to remove the problem on my browser? And does it activate Steam client cookies as well, or is there a different path over there to check cookies specific to the client?

[incendito]

I don't know yet but as soon as I get a chance I'll see if I can test it.

[vibal]

Originally posted by incendito:

I don't know yet but as soon as I get a chance I'll see if I can test it.

I had an answer from Steam Support. According to them, Steam registered "a lot of different IPs and devices [I've] used over the last 30 days" and they cannot prevent this because it is supposedly intentional. It is a bit strange, since I do not use a VPN and haven't really changed my browsing habits recently. I do use an adblocker on my browser, but I almost never use the browser version of Steam. I guess it could be my antivirus, but I haven't changed any settings in a while and I'm not sure what would make it suddenly act like a VPN. Maybe it already acted as such without me realizing and Steam Guard revealed to me that it did.

The Steam answer goes on saying that: "the Steam client login will save credentials if you do not have the "Don't save account credentials on this computer" box checked which can be found by clicking Steam in the upper left menu on the Steam client then select Setting in the dropdown menu."
This box is not checked in my Steam client, so this is apparently not the cause.

I'll check on these IP address changes.

[P4wkoo]

+

[VyLet]

Originally posted by incendito:

I think almost all of us PC users at least do and I have noticed the same over the last few days. I'm certain that there has been a change to how Steam handles cookies and someone messed up. The accounts that show up on the "Who's playing" screen are accounts I haven't used in years and the accounts I use don't stick when I add them and always emails me a code.

To help you with this problem of "Who's playing?" showing accounts you haven't used for years, here is a link to the solution I found as a reference: (click here) Check the first answer from deleted user.

In short:
(Just to be sure, log out of your steam first!)
1. Find C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config and search for loginusers.vdf file.
2. Delete the loginusers.vdf file.
3. Log into your Steam, and click "Change Account" from your profile on the top right corner.
(Optional: if you have alternative or family accounts, click the + icon and add them as well.)
4. Check if you have your account(s) there in "Who's Playing?" tab.
Now whenever you switch accs, you will see your account(s) only. Do NOT sign out! You have to type ID, pass and go through steam guard again if you sign out.

It has saved me from constantly seeing accounts of people who aren't my friends anymore on login UI.

Before[cdn.discordapp.com] and After[cdn.discordapp.com]
(my bad, I'm not sure how to post images here so I'm replacing them as links)

[VyLet]

Originally posted by vibal:

I mainly use the desktop Steam client and Steam Guard does its job of asking me the e-mailed code because my cookies do not get saved, but I don't know how to activate them on the Steam client. The FAQ and Steam Support only talk about browser cookies, so I have no idea where cookies are stored in the settings of the app. It's probably not my antivirus, because it worked fine before March and the release of Steam Guard.

TL;DR: How do I activate cookies in the Steam client settings (not in the browser)?

I am actually not sure if this will help, but I'll write what I can!

To access to your Cookies&Browsing tab, it's on your Account Details, which you can access from your profile on the top right corner. However, these are rather "optional" cookies so I'm pretty sure these won't help you.

(Just to be sure, run Steam in Administrator)
- If you didn't check the "Remember me" box upon login, do check it when you login.
- Do not sign out when you are closing Steam. Just exit it from Steam > Exit or use task bar.
- If you do have "Remember me" checked, and if that's not working, try enabling "Do not Don't save account credentials on this computer".

If it does not work, I would try the same thing in the previous reply of mine and try logging in again.

Some posts I found say you should enable "Don't save account credentials" while some say you shouldn't, so I think both ways are worth giving a shot.

You can also try clearing cache from C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Steam, find "htmlcache" folder, erase the folder, and try logging in again. (Make sure you exit Steam first.)

Hopefully any method in this post helps you. Wishing best luck.

[incendito]

Thank you VyLet. That solved my issue. I have updated steam support with the steps above because they still go on about changing cookies settings in various browsers as the solution.

[vibal]

Originally posted by VyLet:

Originally posted by vibal:

I mainly use the desktop Steam client and Steam Guard does its job of asking me the e-mailed code because my cookies do not get saved, but I don't know how to activate them on the Steam client. The FAQ and Steam Support only talk about browser cookies, so I have no idea where cookies are stored in the settings of the app. It's probably not my antivirus, because it worked fine before March and the release of Steam Guard.

TL;DR: How do I activate cookies in the Steam client settings (not in the browser)?

I am actually not sure if this will help, but I'll write what I can!

To access to your Cookies&Browsing tab, it's on your Account Details, which you can access from your profile on the top right corner. However, these are rather "optional" cookies so I'm pretty sure these won't help you.

(Just to be sure, run Steam in Administrator)
- If you didn't check the "Remember me" box upon login, do check it when you login.
- Do not sign out when you are closing Steam. Just exit it from Steam > Exit or use task bar.
- If you do have "Remember me" checked, and if that's not working, try enabling "Do not Don't save account credentials on this computer".

If it does not work, I would try the same thing in the previous reply of mine and try logging in again.

Some posts I found say you should enable "Don't save account credentials" while some say you shouldn't, so I think both ways are worth giving a shot.

You can also try clearing cache from C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Steam, find "htmlcache" folder, erase the folder, and try logging in again. (Make sure you exit Steam first.)

Hopefully any method in this post helps you. Wishing best luck.

Thank you for the detailed explanations VyLet! I used the Steam > Exit method like you suggested and I think it works. I haven't tried it too much since (too busy to play), but when I opened Steam today, I didn't need to go through Steam Guard. I previously used the method of clicking on the name of the account at the top right corner, then on "Disconnect from the account [name of the account]". That may be where Steam Guard judges it is necessary to ask for a special code.