Steam Refund Policy Explained: The 2-Hour, 14-Day Rule and Its Exceptions

Steam has one of the most generous refund policies of any digital store, but it has more fine print than most people realise. Here is the whole policy in plain language, including the part that matters if you paid with a gift card.

The core rule: under 2 hours, within 14 days

You can get a refund on almost any game on Steam if both of these are true:

• You request it within 14 days of purchase, and
• You have played it for less than 2 hours in total.

That is the whole test. You do not need a reason. "I didn't like it", "it runs badly on my PC" and "I bought it by accident" all count. Valve does say it may still look at requests outside those limits case by case, but do not count on it.

The 2 hours is total playtime across every session, as Steam records it. Leaving a game open in the background while you do something else still uses up the 2 hours.

Where the money goes

Steam refunds to your original payment method. If that method cannot take a refund, the money goes to your Steam Wallet instead. The refund usually arrives within a week.

If you paid with Steam Wallet funds, including funds from a gift card, the refund goes back to your wallet. It never becomes cash. Gift card money that has been added to Steam stays on Steam.

That is worth knowing if you earned your wallet funds instead of buying them, for example by redeeming a Steam gift card from a rewards site. A refund will not lose that money. It just goes back to your wallet, ready for a better game.

The special cases

DLC

DLC bought on Steam is refundable within 14 days if you have played the base game for under 2 hours since buying the DLC, and the DLC has not been consumed, changed or transferred. Some third-party DLC is marked as non-refundable on its store page, so check before you buy.

Pre-orders

You can refund a pre-purchase at any time before the game releases. After release, the normal rule applies, but the 14 days start on release day, not the day you paid.

Gifts

An unredeemed gift follows the normal 14-day/2-hour rule for the buyer. Once the recipient has accepted it, only the recipient can request the refund, and the money goes back to the person who bought it. More in our game gifting guide.

In-game purchases

For Valve's own games, in-game items can be refunded within 48 hours if they have not been used, changed or transferred. For other publishers' games, it is up to the developer whether in-game purchases can be refunded at all. Most do not allow it, so treat microtransactions as final.

Steam Wallet top-ups

Wallet funds bought on Steam can be refunded within 14 days, but only if you have not spent any of them. Wallet codes bought from a retailer are a different matter. Steam treats those as the retailer's sale, so contact them.

Subscriptions

Recurring subscriptions can be refunded within 48 hours of the first purchase or of any renewal, as long as you have not used them during that billing period.

Bundles

A bundle can be refunded as long as the total playtime across everything in it is under 2 hours and nothing in it has been transferred.

What makes you lose refund eligibility

• A VAC ban in that game. If Valve's anti-cheat bans you in a game, you can no longer refund it.
• Abusing refunds. Steam is explicit that refunds exist to remove the risk of buying a game, not to give you free trials. Buying, playing for 1 hour 50 minutes, refunding and repeating can get your refund privileges removed.
• Refunding something bought at full price just before a sale and buying it again at the sale price is generally fine, as long as you are within the normal limits and do not do it constantly. Our Steam sale calendar shows when the next one starts.

How to request a Steam refund

1. Go to help.steampowered.com (or Help → Steam Support in the client).
2. Choose Purchases, then the game.
3. Choose I would like a refund, then I'd like to request a refund.
4. Choose where the refund should go (original payment method or Steam Wallet, if both are offered), give a reason and submit.

You will get a confirmation email straight away and a decision usually within a few days.

Refunds vs gift cards from rewards sites

One thing a Steam refund cannot undo is a gift card redemption. Once a Steam gift card code has been redeemed, the money is permanently in your wallet. Steam will refund purchases you make with it back to the wallet, but you cannot "un-redeem" the card. If a code does not work, that is a different problem. See what to do when a gift card code is not working.

FAQ

Does idle time count towards the 2 hours?
Yes. Steam counts time the game is running, not time you spend actively playing.

Can I refund a game I got for free?
There is nothing to refund. Free games and free weekends are not purchases.

Can I refund a game bought with a key from another store?
No. Steam only refunds purchases made on Steam. Keys go back through whoever sold them.

How many refunds can I make?
There is no published number. Occasional refunds are fine. A pattern of buy, play and refund is what gets flagged.