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Adding a Steam Account

Steam protects accounts with Steam Guard, and its codes look different from everyone else's: five letters and digits, such as R7KQ2, instead of six digits. Private Authenticator makes Steam Guard codes too, so you can keep your Steam account next to all your others.

What you need first

Steam's own mobile app doesn't show you its setup key, so Private Authenticator can only take over the job if you can get hold of your account's Steam Guard secret from somewhere else. There are three usual ways:

  • You already have your Steam account in another authenticator app, such as Aegis, that can export it. Export from that app and import it here; see Importing from Other Apps. Steam accounts come across as Steam accounts, ready to use.
  • You set up Steam Guard with Steam Desktop Authenticator on a computer. It keeps a file for each account (a maFile) that contains a value called shared_secret. Copy that value: it's what you type into Private Authenticator.
  • You have a Base32 setup key for your Steam account from another tool.

Read Steam's own help before you switch

Changing how Steam Guard works on your account is done in Steam, not in this app, and Steam may put a temporary hold on trading and the Community Market when the authenticator for an account changes. Pebble IT isn't connected with Valve or Steam in any way, and can't help with Steam account problems. Keep your Steam recovery code somewhere safe, whatever app makes your codes.

Adding the account by hand

  1. Tap +, then Enter Manually Instead at the bottom of the camera screen.
  2. Type a name, for example Steam, and a description if you have more than one Steam account.
  3. In Code Settings, change Type to STEAM. The other settings lock themselves: Steam Guard codes always use 5 characters, SHA-1 and 30 seconds.
  4. In Setup Key, paste either your Base32 setup key or the shared_secret from Steam Desktop Authenticator. The field accepts both, and the text under it says so. Be careful to keep the shared_secret exactly as it is: capital and small letters matter in it.
  5. Tap Save.

[Screenshot: the New Item form with Type set to STEAM and the locked 5 characters, SHA-1 and 30 seconds rows]

If the key you pasted isn't in either format, the form says That setup key doesn't look like a valid Base32 key or Steam shared_secret and refuses to save until it is.

Scanning a Steam QR code

Some apps and tools show a QR code for a Steam account. Private Authenticator's camera understands the two common kinds (an otpauth://steam/ code, and an ordinary code marked as Steam), and sets the account up as a Steam account by itself. Scan it exactly like any other QR code.

Using a Steam code

A Steam account works like every other account in the app: tap it, confirm with Face ID or Touch ID, and read the five-character code. The code changes every 30 seconds, like the others. The Apple Watch app shows Steam codes too.

Two things to know

  • Steam accounts can't be exported to Google Authenticator's format, because that format has no room for Steam codes. To move a Steam account to another iPhone, use a backup, which keeps every account exactly as it is.
  • Steam still sends you email or app confirmations for trades and market listings as it always did. Private Authenticator only makes the sign-in codes.

Continue to Signing In with a Code.