Sharing a shelf with your family

Most board game collections live in one house and get played by everyone in it. Deshelved has a household for exactly that: one shelf, shared, with no second copy of anything to keep in step. Getting there takes four steps, and the order matters — people usually get stuck on the first, because it is the one nobody mentions.

1. They need their own Deshelved account

A household is a link between two registered accounts, so the person you live with has to sign up first. You may already have them on your Crew page as a name you typed in — that is a placeholder, a label on your own list rather than a person with an account, and it cannot join a household or appear as an option.

2. Connect your two accounts

They send you their crew link. They open Crew, tap Share, and send you what it gives them; you open it and you both land in each other's crew. Or you add them by email — but it must be the email they registered with. Any other address creates a placeholder instead, and you are back at step 1 without knowing it.

3. Their collection needs to be empty

A household has one shelf, so somebody joining brings no games with them. If they have already added their own, the switch refuses and tells you how many. There is no merging — which is what stops there ever being a question about whose copy of a game is whose.

4. Turn on the household

Go to Crew, open the person, and turn on In my household. They are told they have been added, and next time they open Deshelved they see your shelf as their own. They can always leave from Settings → Use my own collection.

When it does not work

Almost every problem here is step 1 or step 2 wearing a disguise. If they do not appear in the list, they have not registered or the entry on your Crew page is a placeholder. If adding by email did nothing, it was not the address they registered with. If it says their collection is not empty, they have games of their own to remove first.

Other help articles: Households · Hosting an event · Joining as a guest · Why sign up? · Voting · Availability & dates · BoardGameGeek sync · Passwords & security · Your collection · Play log · FAQ · Mobile apps