• Windows
  
• Steam installed
  
• two Steam accounts

You DO NOT need any virtualization or sandbox software.
The setup may work on Linux, I have not tried.

Follow the steps below to launch two separate Steam accounts on the same computer without any virtualization.



This will allow you to launch two separate instances of games when you need to log in with multiple accounts. Instances will share configuration and mods, but will use separate online accounts.

1. Prepare your setup
   
   1. Install Steam
      
   2. Have at least two Steam accounts
      
   3. Close your Steam client
2. Launch two Steam instances
   
   1. Launch the Windows Command Prompt
      
      1. Open your Start menu
         
      2. Type "cmd" and click "Command Prompt"
         
      3. Wait until the command prompt appears
   2. Launch your primary Steam account
      
      1. Type
         set VPROJECT=steammulti
      2. Confirm with enter
         
      3. Type
         start "Steam1" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -master_ipc_name_override steam1
      4. Confirm with enter and keep the command prompt window opened
         
      5. Wait until your primary Steam account launches
   3. Launch your secondary Steam account
      
      1. In the same command prompt window, type
         start "Steam2" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -master_ipc_name_override steam2 -userchooser
      2. Confirm with enter
         
      3. Wait until a popup with account selection appears
         
      4. Add or select your secondary account
         
      5. Confirm, type your credentials if needed and launch
         
      6. Wait until your secondary Steam account launches
3. Verify results
   
   1. Open your taskbar
      
   2. You should see two separate Steam client icons
      
   3. On your desktop, you should see two separate Steam client windows
4. Launch your games
   
   1. In your primary and secondary Steam clients, click the game you want to run
      
   2. You will not need to redownload the game, as the games will share the data folder
      
   3. If it is Fallout 76, the games will share mods and ini configuration, but each Steam account will use a separate 76 account
5. Enjoy 76 muling
   
   1. You can now visit your main character with a secondary mule and stash items to it. Have fun!
      
   2. If you have more than one mule account, repeat the secondary account steps with as many as you need

These are the three cmd commands, you can also create a bash script if you are familiar with bash.

It has been reported to me that running two Steam instances might affect save files from games like Fallout 4.

My save games for Fallout 4 are left intact (I never launched Fallout 4 on either profile), but keep in mind that some games may keep save files in the same location, and running one such single player game may affect the other.

So avoid running stuff that is set up like this, ideally use this method to only run online games that don't have local saves and Steam cloud sync.

The person that reported this shared details:

• If you launch multiple instances and one is closed, you can't start it back up until all other instances are also closed, as all Steam accounts still think their client is running.
  
• If you launch multiple Steam clients, close them and start only one, the last one you launched will be used. You can always switch back to the primary one.
  
• I have not tested this with more than two clients, but had people confirm they were able to run more than two.

If you reference this guide or make a video about it, please link to this guide in your video description or a pinned commend.

If you have questions or suggestions, please leave a comment.

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