Can I search for a user who has not bought any games?
I want to play Path of Exile with my sister, so she signed up for a Steam Account. However, Path of Exile is a free game and when she tried to add friends she got a message stating she cannot yet add friends. Due to spam protection, she must spend at least $5 on games before she is allowed to invite.
So I figured I'd invite her from my account which does have purchased games, but if I search for her username or email I cannot find her. It seems as if her account isn't visible for some reason. (Possibly because she spent no money? Although that doesn't seem like a "prevent spam/phishing" then, and more like a "must spend money to use this free platform")
Is there a way for me to find her to add her account without her having to spend money on games to lift the limited user restrictions to do the process backwards (invite me; send me a friend request)?
Best Answer
Your sister is currently a Limited User because, as you said, she has not spent 5USD though Valve's systems.
While she can't send a friend request, you should be able to send her a friend request:
How do I add friends as a limited user?
As a limited user your account is restricted from adding friends. However, you can still accept friend invites from other non-limited users. For example, if a friend is already on Steam and has spent $5 USD or more from the Steam store, they will be able to add you as a friend from your Steam Community profile. You may then accept their friend invite from your Steam account. (emphasis mine)
If you can't find this user through normal add a friend search (which seems to be a weird restriction by Valve), access their profile directly.
To do that you need their profile url, and for their profile to be public (at least until you are friends).
The easiest way to get her profile url is to open Steam, click on her avatar in the bottom right corner, right click on the profile page content itself (since it's really a big web browser) and select "Copy Page URL":
She can then share that url with you though your preferred methods, you can visit that url though a normal web browser, login, and you should be able to send a friend request.
Pictures about "Can I search for a user who has not bought any games?"
Can you friend someone on Steam without buying a game?
Go to a profile and select \u201cAdd Friend\u201d on the top-right hand side of the page. Besides, you should know that if someone has already spent 5USD on the platform, they can add you as a friend without asking for payment.Do you own this game or app fix 100% working! How to properly set up Game sharing on Xbox one/S 2022
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Pixabay, Pixabay, Pixabay, Brett Jordan