Is there a free trial?

Yes. The 30-day free trial gives you full access to all Pro features: unlimited game protection, auto-detect new installs, GPU Pinned, and everything planned for future platforms. After 30 days, your card is billed at the Pro rate unless you cancel. You can cancel at any time before the trial ends.

Is there a free version?

Yes. The free plan protects one game permanently. No trial period, no credit card required. Upgrade to a paid plan for unlimited game protection, auto-detection of new installs, GPU Pinned (NVIDIA settings save and restore), and all future platform support.

Which platforms does GamePinned support?

Steam, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games. Newly installed games are detected and protected automatically across all three platforms. GOG, Battle.net, EA App, and Ubisoft Connect are planned for future releases.

Can users still play games and download updates?

Yes. GamePinned only prevents deletion. Launching, updating, and patching all work exactly as before. Users will not notice anything has changed unless they attempt to remove a protected game.

What happens when someone tries to uninstall a protected game?

The game stays installed. On Steam, the game reappears in the library within seconds. On Epic Games, the uninstall reports a failure and the game remains. On Riot Games, the files stay on disk. Opening the launcher and clicking Install re-registers the game instantly with no re-download.

Can users stop or disable GamePinned?

No. Standard users cannot stop the service, change its configuration, or access the management panel. Windows service permissions are hardened so that only administrators can stop or modify it. An admin password is required for any changes.

How does GamePinned prevent game uninstallation?

GamePinned locks game files using Windows file system permissions built into the OS. When a blocked account tries to uninstall a game, Windows denies the deletion. The launcher receives a permission error and the uninstall cannot complete. No third-party drivers or kernel hooks are used.

How do I block game uninstalls on Steam, Epic Games, and Riot Games?

GamePinned blocks game uninstalls by locking game folders at the Windows file system level. Install GamePinned, select the games you want to protect, and click Lock. Users can still play and update those games. Only uninstallation is prevented. It works on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games (Valorant, League of Legends, and more).

Does it work in gaming cafes, PC bangs, and internet centers?

Yes. GamePinned is built for shared-PC environments: gaming cafes, PC bangs, warnets, comshops, cyber cafes, esports arenas, and any Windows setup where multiple users access the same machine. It blocks all standard Windows accounts by default, covering every customer account.

How do I uninstall a game as an admin?

Enable Maintenance Mode from the GamePinned dashboard. Protection pauses immediately, allowing you to uninstall or swap games freely through Steam, Epic Games, or Riot Games. Disable Maintenance Mode when done. Protection resumes.

Can I use GamePinned at home to stop family members from deleting games?

Yes. GamePinned works for personal use too. Protect your game library from siblings, kids, roommates, or anyone else who uses your PC. The free plan protects one game permanently at no cost.

Home/Blog/Game protection

How to Block Steam Game Uninstalls on a Shared PC

April 2026·4 min read

Someone on your PC keeps uninstalling your Steam games. A sibling clearing disk space. A kid making room for Fortnite. A roommate who thinks you are done with a game. Steam will not stop this on its own, and neither will Windows.

Steam Families, Family View PINs, parental controls, and Software Restriction Policies all solve different problems. If you want the background on why each of those fails, read the full breakdown here. This page is the short version: five steps to block uninstalls at the Windows file level, without breaking updates.

What this actually does: GamePinned writes NTFS permission rules that deny deletion for the accounts you pick. Only deletion is blocked. Reading files (playing) and writing files (updates, patches) still work normally.

Steps

1. Install GamePinned

Download it from gamepinned.com and run the installer. Windows will ask for admin approval because setting file permissions requires it. The install takes under a minute.

2. Open the Steam tab

Launch GamePinned. It finds your Steam library on its own, including any extra libraries on other drives (D:\SteamLibrary and similar). Every installed game shows up in the list with its size.

3. Pick the games to protect

Click Lock on the games you care about. The free plan covers one game permanently, which is enough if you only want to protect one big title. Paid plans cover your entire library plus anything you install later (GamePinned watches for new installs and locks them automatically).

4. Let it apply

Locking takes a few seconds per game. GamePinned writes Windows permission rules that deny deletion for the accounts you configure. By default it blocks the Windows Users group, which covers all standard accounts on the PC. Any account in that group is blocked regardless of whether they also have admin rights. You can also switch to blocking only specific named accounts from the Users tab.

5. Test it

Right-click the game in Steam and choose Manage > Uninstall. Confirm the prompt. Steam will try for a few seconds, then report that the uninstall failed. The game is still in your library, still installed, still playable. You can also try deleting the folder directly from File Explorer. Windows refuses.

Updates still work. Gameplay still works.

The deny rule only blocks deletion. Game updates write and modify files, they do not delete the install folder, so updates go through without any interference. Gameplay reads files and writes to save data, same story. The only path that gets blocked is the one that removes files. That is exactly what you want.

Launching Steam, downloading a new game, running an existing game, applying a patch, mod installs that add files to the game folder — all of these keep working normally. Only the Uninstall path is blocked.

How you uninstall a game yourself

You still need to remove games sometimes. GamePinned has a Maintenance Mode toggle. Turn it on, uninstall or move whatever you need, turn it off. Protection pauses while maintenance is on and resumes the moment you switch it back off. The maintenance toggle is protected by an admin password that you set during first run, so a kid who finds the GamePinned icon cannot disable it.

Other launchers

GamePinned covers Steam, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games (Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra). Dedicated guides for those:

Prevent Epic Games uninstalls
Riot Games protection is enabled the same way on the Riot Games tab

GOG Galaxy, Battle.net, EA App, and Ubisoft Connect are planned.

Common questions

Can someone bypass this by deleting the game folder in File Explorer?

No. The permission rule applies at the Windows file system level, so every program on the PC sees the same "access denied." File Explorer, PowerShell, Steam, Total Commander — all blocked equally.

What if they uninstall Steam itself?

Uninstalling Steam does not delete the games (Steam stores them in steamapps/common, not inside its own install folder by default). Even if they wipe every Steam file, reinstalling Steam points at the existing steamapps folder and the games reappear. The files survive because GamePinned protects the game folders directly, not just the Steam install.

Does this work if the other user is a Windows administrator?

Yes. GamePinned does not automatically exempt admin accounts. Any account in the Windows Users group or explicitly listed in the blocked accounts is blocked, regardless of whether they have admin rights. An account is only unblocked if it is outside the blocked group entirely, for example a dedicated machine management account that you kept off the list on purpose.

What happens if I reinstall Windows?

Reinstalling Windows wipes the permission rules along with everything else. Reinstall GamePinned on the new Windows install and the rules come back. Your license stays active on the same hardware.

Is this free?

The free plan protects one game permanently with no credit card. Unlimited protection and auto-detect for new installs are on the paid plans. There is a 30-day free trial if you want to try the full feature set first.

Download GamePinned Read the setup guide