Can You Transfer Steam Wallet Money to Another Account? (What Actually Works)

Maybe you redeemed a Steam card on the wrong account, or you want to give your balance to a sibling or friend. The answer from Steam is clear: Steam Wallet money can't be transferred to another account, and it can't be withdrawn. Once a code is redeemed, the funds are tied to that account.

That said, there are legitimate ways to use your balance for someone else.

What Steam's rules say

Steam's help pages say wallet funds:

• can't be gifted directly to another account
• can't be transferred between accounts, even your own
• can't be withdrawn to a bank account, PayPal or card

Steam Support won't move funds for you either, even if you redeemed a card on the wrong account by mistake.

What you can do instead

1. Buy a game as a gift

You can spend your wallet money on a game and send it as a gift. On the game's store page, pick Purchase as a gift and choose your friend. This is the closest thing to "sending" your balance. Our guide on how to gift a game on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox walks through it.

2. Share your library instead

If the other person is in your household, you may not need to move money at all. With Steam Families, family members can play most of each other's games.

3. Send a digital gift card (with outside money)

Steam digital gift cards add money straight to a friend's wallet. But they can't be bought with Steam Wallet funds. You need a card, PayPal or another outside payment method. So this doesn't move your existing balance.

4. Refund a recent wallet top-up

If you added funds very recently and haven't spent any of it, Steam may refund the top-up. Steam's refund rules allow this within 14 days of purchase if none of the funds were used. This doesn't work for gift cards you redeemed, only for funds bought with your own payment method. See our Steam refund policy guide.

The Market "trick", and why it's a bad idea

Some people move money by having one account list a cheap item on the Community Market at a high price, and the other account buy it. It sort of works, but:

• Steam takes a cut of around 15% of every sale.
• Both accounts need to be unlimited with Market access, and new items have trade holds.
• Steam may see it as abuse of the Market.

You'll lose a chunk of your money and risk your accounts. It's not worth it.

Scams to watch for

Anyone offering to "transfer your Steam balance", "convert your wallet to cash" or "move funds between regions" is almost certainly a scammer. They usually want your login, your Steam Guard code, or a trade that empties your inventory. Read Steam account scams and how to avoid them.

Before you redeem next time

• Check which account you're signed into before entering a code, especially on shared PCs.
• Give gift cards unredeemed. If a card is a present, hand over the physical card or forward the code. Don't redeem it yourself.

Quick answers

Can I move funds between my own two accounts? No, not even your own.

Can I turn wallet funds into cash? No. There's no way to cash out a Steam Wallet.

Can I buy a game for my friend with my wallet? Yes, as a gift from the store page.

XPReward gives you official Steam gift card codes from surveys and offers. You choose which account to redeem them on. A $25 card costs 3,600 points. Create a free account and get 250 bonus points.