Second Screen Gaming Wishlist on Steam

Can you play two games at once on Steam? Yes, here's how

Two monitors side by side, a pixel-art farming game on the left and a fantasy action game on the right, with a controller in the player's hands

Yes: Steam lets one account run two different games at the same time on the same PC. Start one from your library, then the other. The catch is Windows, not Steam: only one window has focus, so the game you are not using pauses, goes silent, drops your controller or minimizes. Second Screen Gaming keeps both going, each on its own monitor.

Keep both games running on their own screens

Set each game to windowed or borderless in its own settings, then in Second Screen Gaming give each one its screen:

  • Run borderless on a chosen screen puts each game on the monitor you pick and fills it, at every launch.
  • The focus assist, or a configuration fix in Source and Unreal games, keeps the game you are not using running and unpaused.
  • Background audio keeps both games audible, and Send sound to that screen plays each one through its own monitor's speakers, when it has some.
  • Controller assistance keeps passing one Xbox-compatible controller to its game while you use the other with mouse and keyboard. It is experimental, asks for your acknowledgment first, and switches itself off where anti-cheat is detected.

Everything is saved per game and applied when each game starts, so the setup is ready the next time you launch both.

Wishlist on Steam

What works well side by side

The best pairs are a game that needs your hands and a game that mostly runs itself: an idle or automation game, a farming or management sim ticking along, a grind you watch rather than play. One game takes the controller, the other takes the mouse and keyboard, and nothing has to pause while you look away.

Online games with anti-cheat keep the borderless fit and configuration fixes, but runtime assists are switched off for them, so they behave like any game that loses focus.

Why the second game stops when you click the first

Windows gives keyboard focus to one window at a time. Many games watch for that and react when they lose it: they pause, mute, ignore the controller, or, in exclusive fullscreen, minimize to give the display back. Running two games means one of them is always the one without focus. See why games pause when you alt-tab and why fullscreen games minimize on a second monitor.

How to set it up by hand

Each step helps one game, once:

  1. Set both games to windowed or borderless, so neither minimizes when you click the other.
  2. Move each window to its monitor with Windows key + Shift + Left or Right arrow. They open on the main display again next launch.
  3. Look in each game's settings for a "pause on focus loss", "run in background" or "mute in background" option and turn it off. Many games have none.
  4. Pick each game's speakers or headphones in Windows' Volume mixer, under the app's output device.

Common questions

Can I play two games at once on two PCs with one Steam account?

Not online at the same time: Steam lets one account play on one computer at a time. Two games on the same PC is fine.

Can I run the same game twice?

Usually not. Steam reports a game as already running, and most games refuse a second copy of themselves.

Can each game have its own controller?

Controller assistance passes one Xbox-compatible controller to its game while another window is in front. Use the other game with mouse and keyboard.