How Do I Copy Installed Games to My Computer?

My area doesn't have a good Internet connection, and I have to pay every month to connect my laptop to the Internet. I want to play games on my desktop, and I plan to copy my friend's installed game data to mine. Can I do this? I tried copying the entire .steam directory to a USB but got a ton of errors relating to creating symbolic links and other stuff. I'm guessing there were too many things in there that referenced the rest of my system for it to work. Should the games by themselves work? Are there any necessary tricks?

Copy and paste is the most straightforward way to move game data from one computer to another. But as you can see, it can go wrong sometimes, and you must be frustrated. 

So, you can try to clone the disk where the game files are saved or copy games from PC to USB.. And then delete other unnecessary data on the target disk. This is the safest way to guarantee game integrity without losing data.

To clone the game disk, you need a reliable disk cloning tool, like EaseUS Disk Copy. It has a quick cloning speed and allows disk cloning between different models and versions, like HDD to SSD, small SSD to larger one, etc. EaseUS Disk Copy also supports sector-by-sector clones to save storage space. With it, you can clone our game disk with simple steps:

• Connect your laptop disk to your friend's computer, and make sure it is detected.
• Launch EaseUS Disk Copy, then choose the "Disk Mode" tab.
• Choose your friend's game disk and the source disk, and select yours as the target disk.
• Preview the disk layout, and click "Proceed now" to start cloning.

When the cloning finishes, install the disk on your laptop. Now all the game configurations and saves exist on your computer, and you can enjoy these games as you like.

Related Article: Full Guide to Move Games to Another Drive or A New Computer Without Reinstallation