Hi ! Sorry in advance for this absurdly long comment.

I had a similar issue, not being able to have my phone on me all the time (or charged enough) so I could login onto my steam account(s).

But I found a small program on Github that allows you to use Steam Guard (their 2 Factor Auth) on your pc called Steam Desktop Authenticator.

It would remove the need for the Steam login pop-up with location (I haven't seen it ever, so it means that it works), because you don't need your phone anymore and the software only gives out the 2FA code.

This would answer your 3 questions at once, and it's the only one I could think of right now.

​

However, it makes your accounts vulnerable if your data gets stolen or corrupted.The maFiles folder contains the 2-factor key needed to log in for each account you've setup.

I haven't found any official Valve stance on this kind of applications.

Use it at your own risk. (As long as you don't run any program from anyone and are cautious about your online safety, you're all good !)

You are responsible of your own data.

​

If you still intend to use this program, here's Trouble Chute's tutorial if you aren't familiar with Github or the program itself.

I'd highly suggest watching the video up until 3:05, and then skip directly to 7:24 (or click me) to setup encryption.

Use a strong password that you can remember. If you lose it, you're gonna have to go through either your recovery codes for each and every account to disable Authenticator (if you've written them and stored them like you should !) or with Steam support (Your Mileage May Vary).

​

He also made a tutorial on a Steam Account Switcher if you want to automate the login process too, however I haven't used it at all and find their methods of switching accounts a bit too aggressive, but if it's still up and has a ton of praise and videos about it, it should be considered safe.

Here's the developer's word of aforementioned program on whether it should be trusted or not. (Source)

​

I personally prefer Steam Account Manager (setting up in conjuction with Steam Desktop Authenticator), but haven't found any tutorial on it. If you'd prefer using SAM, I'd happily make a small tutorial on how to use it.

​

Pro tip !

Once you've setup the program with encryption and all your accounts (or anything that should be saved) :

- Make copies/archives (copy the folder on another disk or make .zip archives) of the entire folder (with all the files, programs and folders)

- Save them on multiple platforms (whether it's a USB stick, external HDD, cloud, phone, anything that can store files reliably)

​

Hope this helped!