Where Does Steam Install Games?
Steam library folders on Windows, macOS and Linux: steamapps/common installs and the libraryfolders.vdf registry of libraries.
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Steam installs games into steamapps/common inside each library folder, and records all libraries in libraryfolders.vdf. Extra drives each get their own library with the same inner layout.
The vdf file is the map. When Steam forgets a drive of games, that file (or the per-game manifests) is usually the reason.
Where Steam stores this, by platform
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common
Contains libraryfolders.vdf plus the default common installs. Extra libraries (e.g. D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common) mirror this layout. Registry SteamPath also records the install root.
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common
Same steamapps layout. Use Go to Folder in Finder. Additional libraries live wherever chosen at creation.
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common
Default root varies (~/.local/share/Steam or ~/.steam). libraryfolders.vdf in steamapps maps every library on the system.
Frequently asked questions
How do I list all my Steam library folders?
Open libraryfolders.vdf in the main steamapps folder. It lists every library path, including ones on other drives. Each library holds its own steamapps\common with per-game folders.
How does Steam know which games are installed?
Each game folder has an appmanifest_ID.acf file in steamapps. The installdir line inside names the folder in common. Missing manifests mean Steam sees the files as uninstalled.
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