To gift a game on Steam, add it to your cart, choose “This is a gift” from the dropdown, and pick someone from your Steam Friends List as the recipient. It has to be a new purchase (you can't hand over a game you already own), and if the recipient doesn't respond within 30 days, Steam cancels the purchase and refunds it to the original payment method. This guide follows Steam Support documentation as of September 30, 2026; for refunds on games you bought for yourself, see our Steam refund guide.
The short version before you start
Three points cover most cases. First, a gift is a new purchase sent to a person on your Steam Friends List. Second, it is a one-time transfer: once the recipient redeems it, the game is added to their account permanently. Third, undoing a gift works differently before and after redemption, and once it has been redeemed the recipient has to agree first. We left out any rule about how many days you must have been friends, because we could not confirm one in Steam's official documents. If you plan to record the game later, our guide to recording Steam games is a good companion.
From sending a Steam gift to requesting a refund
- 1Add the game to your cart as a gift — On the Steam Store on PC (web or client), find the game, click “Add to cart,” and choose “This is a gift” from the dropdown. A gift is always a new purchase; Steam can't transfer a game you already own.
- 2Choose the recipient — Select “Continue to gift options” and then “Select gift recipient,” and pick the person from your Steam Friends List. If your friend already owns the game, their name is grayed out and can't be selected. The recipient gets your personal message and an email explaining how to redeem the game on their account.
- 3Pick the delivery time — Choose “As soon as possible” or “Schedule delivery.” A scheduled delivery can be set up to 12 months from the purchase date, which suits a gift meant to arrive on a particular day.
- 4Pay and confirm — Select “Continue to payment,” enter a payment method, click “Continue,” tick “I agree,” and click “Purchase.” If your Steam Wallet balance doesn't cover the price, the remainder is charged to a secondary payment method.
- 5Accept or decline as the recipient — On the delivery date, the recipient's account gets an email with a redemption link and the Steam client shows a gift notification. Select “1 New Gift” to open the gift page, then “Accept Gift” to add it to the library. “Decline Gift” refunds the buyer's payment method automatically and sends the buyer a decline email. If nothing happens within 30 days of delivery, Steam cancels the purchase and refunds it, and the sender is emailed the outcome of any accept or decline.
- 6Reschedule delivery or review gift history — Only gifts sent with scheduled delivery can be rescheduled. Click your account name > “Account Details” > “View purchase history,” pick the entry with the gift icon, follow the Steam Inventory link, and choose a new date under “Manage gift” (on the Help site the path is “Purchases” > “View complete purchasing history”). Scheduled gifts stay in the Steam Inventory until delivery. To see gifts you sent and received, go to Steam Inventory > “...” > “View Gift History.”
- 7Request a gift refund — For an unredeemed gift, sign in to the Help site, open “Purchases,” select the game with the gift icon, choose “I would like a refund,” pick a reason, and click “Submit Request.” The condition is 14 days from purchase and under 2 hours of playtime by the recipient. For a redeemed gift, the recipient must first go to “Games, Software, etc.,” select the game and a reason, choose “I'd like to request a refund,” and tick “Allow the original purchaser of this gift to request a refund”; a request from the sender before that is rejected. The sender then submits a separate refund request. If approved, the money goes back to the original payment method, or entirely to the Steam Wallet when that method can't accept refunds.
Conditions by situation
| Situation | Condition in Steam's documents | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sending a normal gift | A new purchase sent to someone on your Steam Friends List | Choose “This is a gift” at the cart |
| Friend already owns the game | Their name is grayed out in the Friends List and can't be selected | DLC requires the recipient to own the base game |
| Delivery timing | “As soon as possible” or “Schedule delivery” (up to 12 months from purchase) | Only scheduled gifts can have the delivery date changed |
| Recipient response | Accept or decline within 30 days of delivery | With no action for 30 days, the purchase is canceled and refunded to the original payment method |
| Refund before redemption | Within 14 days of purchase and under 2 hours of playtime by the recipient | Request it on the Help site under Purchases |
| Refund after redemption | The recipient must agree first; the same 14-day and 2-hour terms apply | A request from the sender before that agreement is rejected |
| Recipient has no Steam account | A Steam Gift Card can be paid for as a guest and sent | The recipient redeems it from an emailed link on their own account |
What to check when gifting doesn't work
- Look for the recipient's name grayed out in the Friends List. It means they already own the game, and it can't be selected.
- Check the regional restriction note on the store page. Because of regional price differences, some gifts can't go to recipients in a different purchase region, and Steam Support can't change region or language restrictions. Using a VPN or proxy to fake your location violates the Steam terms and can lead to account restrictions.
- For DLC, the recipient must own the base game.
- Bundles marked “Complete Your Collection” are tailored to an account and can't be gifted, and multi-packs (2, 3, or 4 packs) can't be gifted either. You can buy a multi-pack for yourself and gift the spare copies, though you can't buy one if you already own that game.
- Some titles have no gift option at all. If the gift choice doesn't appear, that game isn't giftable.
- If the recipient isn't on your Friends List, exchange a friend invite first. The friend limit starts at 250 and grows by 5 for each profile level; limited accounts can't send invites but can accept them and use Quick Invite links.
If you plan to record the gifted game
Once a gifted game is in your library and you want to keep footage of playing it, the guide to recording Steam games walks through recording with DOR. DOR is a free Windows app that detects supported games and saves full matches as mp4 automatically, and it can capture game audio and your microphone at the same time. Automatic highlight clips such as kills exist only for 7 supported games, and Counter-Strike recording, a game you can play through Steam, is one of them; the other supported games get automatic full-match recording only. Gifting, refunds, and friends are all handled in your Steam account, independent of DOR.
Official sources
Checked September 30, 2026. Sending, accepting, and refunding gifts are covered in Steam Support: Steam Gifts, refund terms in the Steam refund policy (the page shows “Last updated 23 April, 2024”), and region-locked gifts in Steam Support: region-restricted gifts. Menu names are taken from the English documentation and may change with Steam updates.
