Can someone explain how to game share on a PS5?

Tips
1

I’m trying to set up game sharing on my PS5 so I can share digital games with a friend, but I’m confused by the primary console and account settings. I don’t want to risk losing access to my own games or messing up my subscriptions. Can someone walk me through the correct steps and any limits or risks involved?

2

Here is the clean way to set up PS5 game sharing without losing your stuff.

Basic rule
Your account owns your games.
Any console you set as “Console Sharing and Offline Play” = your primary.
Everyone on that console gets access to your digital games.

You and your friend need to swap primaries.

Step 1. Prepare your console

  1. Log in on your own PS5 with your PSN.
  2. Go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Console Sharing and Offline Play.
  3. If it says “This PS5 has Console Sharing and Offline Play enabled”, turn it OFF.
    You want your own console not primary for your account.
    You still keep full access on your own account, you just lose sharing to other users on your PS5.

Step 2. Make your account primary on your friend’s PS5

  1. Go to your friend’s PS5.
  2. Add your account on their console.
  3. Log into your account on their console.
  4. Again go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Console Sharing and Offline Play.
  5. Turn it ON there.
    Now your friend’s PS5 is the primary for your account.
    Your friend can play your digital games on their own account on that console.

Step 3. Do the same for your friend

  1. On their PS5, they disable Console Sharing for their own account.
  2. They log into their account on your PS5.
  3. They enable Console Sharing on your PS5.
    Now your PS5 is primary for their account.
    You can play their games on your own account.

What you keep and what you risk
• You keep access to your games on your own account anywhere you log in, even if your own PS5 is not primary.
• If PSN is offline, you might need your primary console to play some stuff. Since your primary is on your friend’s console, offline play on yours can be a pain.
• You must trust your friend. They have your account on their console. Use a strong password and enable 2FA.
• Do not share your account with more than one person. Sony can see weird login patterns.

Avoid these mistakes
• Do not both have your own accounts set as primary on your own consoles, sharing will not work.
• Do not log into your friend’s account on random devices.
• Do not forget to deauthorize their console if you stop being cool with each other.
To fix it, on your PS5: Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Console Sharing, or from a browser go to your PSN account > Device Management and deactivate.

Quick checklist
Your PS5
• Your account: Console Sharing OFF
• Friend’s account: Console Sharing ON

Friend’s PS5
• Their account: Console Sharing OFF
• Your account: Console Sharing ON

With that setup, both of you play each other’s digital libraries on your own profiles, keep trophies, saves, etc, without losing ownership of anything.

3

@viajeroceleste already laid out the step‑by‑step pretty cleanly, so I’ll just fill in the “what actually happens” side of it and some edge cases you’re probably worried about.

Think of it like this:

  • Your PSN account = the owner of your games
  • “Console Sharing and Offline Play” = which single PS5 is treated as your home / primary
  • Anyone on that “home” PS5 can use your digital games on their own accounts

Game sharing = both of you make each other’s PS5 your “home” for your own account. That’s all.

Where people get freaked out is:

1. “Do I lose my games if my console isn’t primary?”

No. You always keep your games on your login, on any PS5, as long as:

  • You’re signed into your PSN on that console
  • PSN servers are up so it can check licenses

The only thing you lose by turning Console Sharing OFF on your own PS5 is:
Other user profiles on your PS5 can’t use your library anymore. You, on your own account, are fine.

So you’re not “giving away” ownership or anything.

2. “Can my friend lock me out?”

Not really, but they can annoy you if you’re not careful:

  • They can log into your account on their PS5 and mess with settings, or start downloads, etc.
  • They can change your password if you gave it to them directly.

Avoid that by:

  • Setting up 2FA
  • Changing your password after you sign into their console, then do not tell them the new one
  • Only letting them use your games via their own account on their PS5

If you ever fall out, you can:

  • Deactivate Console Sharing on their PS5 from your PS5, or
  • Use the “Deactivate All Devices” option via the PSN website and then re‑enable on your own box

So you’re never permanently screwed, just mildly inconvenienced.

3. Things that can bite you

Some stuff @viajeroceleste hinted at, but I’ll be a bit harsher:

  • If PSN goes down and your own PS5 is not your primary, some games might refuse to boot on your account. If you care about offline reliability, game sharing is a tradeoff.
  • Do not try to share your account with a second or third friend. Sony’s TOS hates that and weird login patterns can flag your account.
  • Don’t both spam logins on each others’ accounts, especially at the same time. You can get sign‑out messages, “you were signed in elsewhere,” etc. It’s annoying and looks sus.

4. Quick mental model

When it’s all set up:

  • On your PS5, you log in as you, play:

    • Your games (because it’s you)
    • Friend’s games (because their account has Console Sharing ON on your console)

  • On their PS5, they log in as them, play:

    • Their games (because it’s them)
    • Your games (because your account has Console Sharing ON on their console)

Both of you stay on your own profiles, keep your own trophies, saves, friends, etc.
The only “risk” is trust: they physically have your account on their box.

If that part makes you even slightly nervous, then honestly game sharing might not be worth the stress, because technically everything works fine, socially it blows up the instant you stop trusting each other.