To get straight to the point, a game you bought on Steam can be refunded in most cases regardless of the reason, as long as you have played it under 2 hours and it has not been 2 weeks (14 days) since purchase.
With just these two conditions met, the request itself is set up to be approved automatically, so you can get your money back without worry when a game turned out different from what you expected or did not run properly on your PC.
This article lays out Steam's refund rules as of 2026, as-is. First we cover the core 2-hour and 2-week rule, then what order to actually make the request in, and finally the cases where you get rejected, in turn.
The core rule: under 2 hours + within 2 weeks
Steam's refund baseline is just two things. Game playtime must be under 2 hours (120 minutes), and it must be within 2 weeks, that is, 14 days, from the time of purchase. Meet both of these and Valve proceeds with the refund without asking your reason. Whether it is 'the game was not fun' or 'the specs did not match,' it does not matter.
What is easy to get confused about here is how 'playtime' is calculated. Steam counts the entire span from the moment the game process launches to when it closes as playtime.
In other words, the menu screen, loading screens, time spent with the launcher open, even time spent with the game minimized and running in the background, are all included. This is why people end up saying 'I barely played it but the time was already filled.'
Before you click anything, run through these five checks to see whether you meet the Steam refund conditions. The first two are the time limits: miss them and you lose automatic approval, but you can still ask. The last three are cases Valve's refund policy rules out from the start.
- Bought less than 14 days ago: check the date under Account Details > View purchase history.
- Played less than 2 hours: online, offline and shared library playtime all count toward the total.
- Bought on the Steam store: Valve cannot refund keys bought from third-party sellers.
- No VAC ban in that game: a VAC ban removes your right to refund it.
- DLC and in-game items not used up, changed or traded: consumed, modified or transferred items are not refundable.
The refund request steps
The request itself takes just 5 minutes. It is fastest to do it from the support page rather than the Steam client. The order is as follows.
- 1. In a web browser or the Steam client, go to help.steampowered.com and log in with your own Steam account.
- 2. Find the game you want to refund in your recent purchase list. If you do not see it, click the 'Purchases' or 'Games, Software, etc.' menu and search.
- 3. Select that game, then click 'I would like a refund.'
- 4. Choose 'I'd like to request a refund,' and pick whether to receive the refund to your Steam Wallet or your original payment method.
- 5. Write a brief reason (optional) and submit the request, and you are done.
If you met the conditions, Valve reviews the request and approves it. After approval, the refund comes in within a week. Valve gives the same single deadline, within a week of approval, whether you choose Steam Wallet or your original payment method, and if the original method cannot be refunded, the full amount goes to your Steam Wallet.
How to still request a Steam refund after 2 hours or 14 days
Played past two hours, or bought the game more than 14 days ago? Steam Support still says you can submit a request outside the refund rules and it will take a look. There is no separate exception form; you use the same refund screen as any other request.
What changes is that nothing is approved automatically, and purchases made well outside the 14-day window are not eligible at all. Check these four things in order before you send it.
- 1See how far over you areYour playtime is on the game's page in your Library, and the purchase date is under Account Details > View purchase history. If you pre-purchased the game, the 14 days start on its release date, so a purchase older than 14 days can still be inside the normal window.
- 2Make sure the purchase is listedSign in at help.steampowered.com, open Purchases and look for it. Steam's own FAQ says a purchase that is not listed falls too far outside the refund window and cannot be refunded. If it is there, go ahead.
- 3Pick the problem, then request a refundSelect the problem you are having, click I'd like to request a refund and fill in the form, choosing Steam Wallet or your original payment method from the drop-down. In the notes, say why the clock ran past two hours or why you could not play before day 14, with dates.
- 4Watch for the emailsYou get a confirmation email when the request goes in and another once the refund is processed. If it is declined and you think it was handled in error, Steam says you can submit another request with a detailed message.
How long does a Steam refund take? When the money arrives, by destination
The only number Valve publishes for refund timing is that an approved refund is paid in full within a week of approval.
So the question "how long does a Steam refund take" really has two parts: how long it takes for your request to be approved, and how long it takes for the money to show up after that. Valve publishes live data for the first part.
For the second, the path depends on whether you chose Steam Wallet or your original payment method, and Valve does not list a separate number of days for each payment method.
- 1Request submittedOnce you send the request on the Steam Support site, it is only logged. No money has moved yet.
- 2ReviewValve's Support Stats page shows typical response times for refund requests over the last 24 hours. The figure changes daily, so check that page for the current wait right after you submit.
- 3Check the decisionSign back in to the support site and open the request to see the result. Valve's refund policy page does not describe what notification emails look like, so checking the request on the site is more reliable than waiting for an email.
- 4Refund paidThe full amount is issued within a week of approval. If Steam cannot refund your original payment method, the same amount goes to your Steam Wallet instead.
| Refund destination | Timing Valve states | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Steam Wallet | Within a week of approval | Wallet funds cannot be withdrawn as cash and only work on Steam. The official policy gives the same deadline for Wallet and card refunds; it never says Wallet is faster by a set number of days. |
| Original payment method (in the US: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, PayPal) | Within a week of approval | These are the methods Valve lists as refundable for US accounts. When the credit appears on your card or PayPal statement is not specified by Valve. |
| Methods not on your country's refundable list | No refund to the original method | Valve says some payment methods cannot be refunded back; those purchases are refunded to Steam Wallet only. |
The refundable list differs by country. Valve's refund payment methods page shows the list for the country you are browsing from. In the US it lists the six methods above.
Other countries name specific methods that can only refund to Steam Wallet: Japan, for example, lists convenience store payments, bank transfer, Pay-easy, WebMoney and Steam prepaid cards. "Cannot be refunded" there does not mean the refund is denied; it means the money lands in your Wallet.
Valve's policy also says nothing about weekends or holidays slowing payouts, so treat the one-week window as the only firm figure.
When a refund is rejected or restricted
If you go past the 2-hour or 2-week conditions, you cannot get automatic approval. But even in this case, the request itself is still possible. Valve reviews it manually and then handles it at its discretion, and depending on the circumstances it may be approved.
In situations like 'I went slightly over 2 hours' or '2 weeks passed but I never launched it once after buying,' it is worth writing a reason and trying the request.
It is also good to know that the rules differ slightly by type.
- DLC: Refundable only when it is within 14 days of purchase, the base game has been played under 2 hours since buying that DLC, and the DLC has not been consumed, modified, or transferred. Some third-party DLC is marked as non-refundable once applied, such as when it irreversibly upgrades a character.
- Pre-order: Refundable at any time before release. However, once the game launches, the 14-day and 2-hour standards apply again from the release date.
- In-game purchases: In Valve-developed games, refundable within 48 hours of purchase if the item has not been consumed, modified, or transferred. In other developers' games, only if the developer has enabled refunds on those terms, which Steam shows at the time of purchase.
- Repeat refunds: Refunds exist to remove the risk of buying, not to get free games, so Valve says it may stop offering refunds if it appears you are abusing them. Refunding a game bought just before a sale and rebuying it at the sale price is not considered abuse.
When you get a refund to your payment method, Valve's policy is a full refund of the purchase to that method. If the amount looks different on a card charged in a foreign currency, ask your card issuer.
Steam refund conditions and how long it takes
The two questions people search most are 'what are the refund conditions' and 'how long does a refund take.' The conditions are just the two covered above: under 2 hours played and within 14 days of purchase.
On timing, the only figure Valve's official document commits to is 'a full refund within a week of approval.' The actual arrival date varies by payment method within that week, and if Steam cannot issue the refund to your original payment method for any reason, the full amount is credited to your Steam Wallet instead.
In some countries, certain payment methods do not support refunding back to the original method at all, so in that case it is better to pick Steam Wallet from the start.
- Outside the limits: beyond the principle that Valve will still take a look if you ask past 2 hours or 14 days, the official document also notes that consumers in some jurisdictions may have additional refund rights when a game is faulty.
- Early Access and Advance Access: playtime before the full release still counts against the 2-hour limit, but the 14-day refund window does not start until the release date.
- Bundles: a bundle can be refunded in full as long as no item in it has been transferred and the combined playtime of everything in it is under 2 hours.
- VAC bans: if you are banned by VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) in a game, you lose the right to refund that game.
- Checking refund status: after submitting, sign back in to help.steampowered.com to see your submitted request and its processing status. If nothing arrives more than a week after approval, open that request on the same page to follow up.
Steam refund after 2 hours or 2 weeks: a situation-by-situation table
Going past two hours of playtime or 14 days since purchase takes you out of the automatic approval path, but Valve says it will still look at a request outside the rules.
What you will not find anywhere in the official policy is a cutoff like "three hours is fine" or "five hours worked for me." Each case is judged on its own, so the variable you control is how clearly you explain what happened.
The table below sorts the rules Valve states by situation, focusing on cases the list above does not cover.
| Situation | Refundable? | What to write in the request |
|---|---|---|
| Slightly over 2 hours of playtime | Not automatic; reviewed case by case | Explain why the clock ran over (repeated crashes and restarts, game left running while away) and how long you actually played. |
| More than 14 days since purchase | Not automatic; reviewed case by case | Say why you could not play after buying, or what broke after an update, with dates. |
| The game is faulty | Some jurisdictions may give extra refund rights | Describe the symptom, your PC specs and where the problem appears. |
| Bought just before a sale, want to rebuy at the sale price | Allowed within the normal limits; Valve says this is not abuse | Say you plan to rebuy at the sale price. |
| Gift not yet redeemed | Yes, under the standard 14-day/2-hour rules | Note that it has not been redeemed. Funds go back to the buyer. |
| Gift already redeemed | Yes, same rules, but the recipient must request it | Request from the recipient's account. Funds go back to the original buyer. |
| Steam Wallet funds | Only within 14 days and only if none of the funds were used | Confirm the funds were bought on Steam itself. |
| In-game purchase in a non-Valve game | Only if the developer enabled refunds | Check whether checkout showed the item as refundable. If not, Steam cannot refund it. |
| Renewable subscription | Within 48 hours of purchase or auto-renewal, if unused this cycle | State that you have not played subscription games or used its benefits. Cancel separately in account details. |
| Movies, series and other video | No, unless bundled with refundable non-video content | If bought as a bundle, request the bundle. |
| CD keys or Wallet codes bought from third parties | Valve cannot refund these | Contact the store you bought from. |
| Steam hardware and accessories | Covered by the separate Hardware Refund Policy | Check that policy first; its time frame and process differ from game refunds. |
Many people also search for a refund limit, or whether you can refund the same game twice. Valve does not publish a number. The policy only says refunds exist to remove the risk of buying, not to get free games, and that Valve may stop offering refunds to anyone who appears to abuse them. Since there is no official count, do not rely on numbers passed around in forums.
One thing before you refund
When you delete a game, the moments you made inside it disappear along with it. If there is a clutch from your last match right before the refund or a best moment that happened by chance, one option is to save it as a video before deleting the game.
Clips you recorded with DOR remain as video files even after you refund the game and remove it from your library. If it is a fight-heavy game like PUBG, automatic PUBG highlights can keep those final moments for you.
