1-Master Steam Filters and Categories

Did you know Steam has built- in categories and filters that let you see only the games you have installed (as opposed to everything you own), or only what you've played recently? Open up your Steam library, and click the "Library" tab at the top of the window. You'll see a drop-down menu that lists the default categories: All games, all software (stuff you may have bought through Steam that aren't games,) recent, installed, favorites, media, tools, and downloads. By default, media and tools are hidden from all views, and downloads are on another screen. The "Installed" option can be a quick way to whittle down your list to what you're currently playing, though you can also use the "Favorites" list for a more custom approach. To add a game to the "favorites" category, just right-click its title or tile in your library and select "Add to Favorites." Favorites are easy, but you can also create your own custom categories as well. Think about the categories you'd like to use for organization. Some people like to organize by genre (first-person shooter, platformers, RPGs, MMOs, etc.) and others like to organize with categories that are personally meaningful (demos, finished games, games in-progress, endless games, to replay, etc). If you'd like some ideas, check out this thread at Rock Paper Shotgun, this thread at Giant Bomb, or this thread at StackExchange for suggestions. Everyone does things a little differently, but there are some great category ideas there, especially if you're the type who'd like to keep RPG (Action) away from RPG (Sandbox), for example.

Once you have an idea what you'd like your categories to look like, start organizing. Right-click any game tile or title in your library and select "Add to Category." You'll be prompted to add the game to one of your existing categories if you have some, but if you're starting from scratch, you won't see any. Type in the name of your first category, click "Add Category," and then click OK. Your game will be in your new category, and your new category will be viewable in the sidebar (sadly, only in detail view and not from the Library drop-down). One thing to keep in mind though: Steam only allows a game to exist in one category at a time, so if you have a game in your favorites, it overrules all of your other categories. If you add a game to one category, then try to add it again to another, it'll be removed from the first one.