How to Gift a Game on Steam

Gifting a game on Steam takes about two minutes. You buy the game, pick a friend, add a message, and they get it in their Steam inbox. Here’s every method, step by step.

Method 1: Gift Through the Steam Store (Friends List)

This is the standard method. Your recipient must be on your Steam friends list.

Step 1: Open the Steam client or store.steampowered.com in a browser. Find the game you want to gift using the search bar.

Step 2: Click “Add to Cart.”

Step 3: Go to your cart. Under the game, you’ll see a dropdown menu. Change it from “Purchase for myself” to “This is a gift.” Click “Continue to gift options.”

Step 4: Select the recipient from your friends list. You can only pick one person per gift.

Step 5: Write a personal message. Optional but recommended – it shows when they open the gift.

Step 6: You can send the gift immediately or schedule it for a specific date (useful for birthdays and holidays). Select your preferred timing.

Step 7: Complete the payment. Credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Steam Wallet funds all work.

Step 8: Done. The recipient gets a Steam notification and an email.

Method 2: Gift via Email

If the person isn’t on your friends list, some games allow gifting via email.

Step 1: Follow Steps 1-3 above (add to cart, select “This is a gift”).

Step 2: Instead of selecting a friend, choose “Enter an email address.”

Step 3: Type the recipient’s email and add a personal message.

Step 4: Complete payment. Steam sends an email to the recipient with a link to accept the gift and add it to their library.

Note: Not all games support email gifting. If the option doesn’t appear, the recipient needs to be on your friends list.

Method 3: Steam Gift Cards

If you’re not sure which game to buy, or the recipient is in a different region, a Steam Gift Card is the safest option.

Digital gift cards: Available at store.steampowered.com/digitalgiftcards in denominations from $5 to $100. The recipient gets the funds in their Steam Wallet to spend on anything.

Physical gift cards: Sold at retailers (GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart, and others). The recipient redeems a code on Steam to add the funds.

Gift cards work globally and bypass region restrictions. The recipient spends the funds in their own local currency at their local Steam prices.

What Happens After You Send a Gift

The recipient has 30 days to respond. Three possible outcomes:

Accept – The game is added to their library immediately. You get a notification confirming they accepted.

Decline – The purchase is refunded to your Steam Wallet (not your original payment method).

No response (30 days) – The gift automatically expires and the amount is refunded to your Steam Wallet.

Key detail: refunds go to your Steam Wallet, not your credit card or PayPal. Keep this in mind if you’re sending a gift the recipient might not want.

Scheduling Gifts for Later

When sending a gift, you can schedule it for a specific date. This is useful for:

• Birthdays
• Holidays (Christmas, etc.)
• Steam Sale timing (buy during the sale, deliver on a specific date)

The gift is purchased and charged at the current price, but delivered to the recipient on the scheduled date. This means you can buy a game during a 75% off Summer Sale and have it arrive on someone’s birthday two weeks later.

Region Restrictions on Steam Gifts

Steam prices vary by country. Valve enforces region restrictions to prevent people from buying cheap games in low-price regions and gifting them to friends in high-price regions.

How it works: If the price difference between your region and the recipient’s region exceeds a certain threshold (roughly 10-15%), Steam blocks the gift. You’ll see a warning message at checkout.

What triggers a block: A US account trying to gift to an account registered in a region with significantly lower prices (or vice versa).

Workarounds:

• Steam Gift Cards bypass region locks because the recipient buys the game themselves at their local price.
• If both accounts are in the same region, gifting works without restrictions.
• The region is based on the account’s registered country, not the physical location. Temporarily using a VPN does not change your account region (and violates Steam’s terms of service).

Can You Gift a Game Someone Already Owns?

No. Steam blocks you from sending a game to someone who already owns it. You’ll see a warning at checkout.

How to check: Visit their Steam profile > Games (if their game library is public). You can see which games they own.

If their library is private: You won’t be able to check. In this case, a Steam Gift Card is safer – they can buy whatever they want, and you don’t risk a duplicate.

Can You Gift a Game From Your Own Library?

No. You cannot transfer a game you already own to someone else. Steam gifting only works by purchasing a new copy from the store.

If you want to let someone access your games without buying new copies, look into Steam Family Sharing – it lets up to 6 family members share game libraries.

Gifting During Steam Sales

Yes – games purchased during Steam sales (Summer Sale, Winter Sale, Autumn Sale, Spring Sale) can be gifted at the sale price. The process is the same as normal gifting.

Strategy: Steam’s biggest sales (Summer and Winter) offer 50-90% discounts on most games. Buy gifts during these events and schedule delivery for birthdays or holidays. You get the sale price; the recipient gets the gift on the right date.

Sale dates in 2026: Summer Sale typically runs late June to early July. Winter Sale runs mid-December to early January. Check Steam’s announcements for exact dates.

Gifting DLC, Bundles, and In-Game Items

DLC: Can be gifted the same way as full games. Make sure the recipient owns the base game first – DLC without the base game is useless.

Bundles: Steam bundles (multiple games in one package) can sometimes be gifted. If the option is available, it works the same way.

In-game items (CS2 skins, etc.): Not gifted through the gifting system. CS2 skins and items are traded via the Steam Trading system or sold on the Steam Community Market. These are different systems.

Steam Gifting FAQ

Can I gift a game to someone who isn’t on my friends list?

Sometimes. Some games allow email gifting. If not, you need to add them as a friend first. Alternatively, send a Steam Gift Card – those always work.

Can I schedule a gift for later?

Yes. When sending a gift, you can choose a specific delivery date. The game is purchased at the current price and delivered on the date you choose.

Is there a limit on how many gifts I can send?

No official limit, but new accounts or accounts with limited purchase history may face temporary restrictions as fraud prevention.

What if the recipient already owns the game?

Steam warns you at checkout if you try to gift a game the recipient already owns (assuming you can see their library). If you send it anyway and they decline, you get a Steam Wallet refund.

Can I get a refund on a gift?

If the gift hasn’t been accepted, you can cancel it for a Steam Wallet refund. If the recipient has accepted and played the game, standard Steam refund policy applies (under 2 hours of playtime, within 14 days of purchase).

How long does the recipient have to accept?

30 days. After that, the gift expires and you get an automatic Steam Wallet refund.

Can I gift from mobile?

Yes. The Steam mobile app supports gifting with the same steps as the desktop client.

Do gifts show the price I paid?

No. The recipient sees the gift, your message, and the game – not the price. This makes sale-priced gifts work well for occasions.