How to get a refund on Steam: the rules and the steps

Steam has a refund policy that works the same way for every customer worldwide, and it is more generous than most players expect. The short version is two numbers: 14 days and 2 hours. This guide goes through what those numbers cover, the kinds of purchases that follow different rules, how to file the request, and what happens to the money. Everything here comes from Valve’s own policy and support pages, listed at the end.

What is Steam’s basic refund rule?

A game or piece of software bought on Steam can be refunded if both of these are true when you ask:

• fewer than 14 days have passed since the purchase;
• you have played it for less than 2 hours in total.

The reason does not matter. Valve’s own examples are a PC that falls short of the hardware requirements, a game bought by mistake, and a game you played for an hour and did not like. You do not need a technical fault to qualify.

The playtime limit counts every kind of play. Valve’s support FAQ says the 2 hours include online play, offline play and playtime through a shared library.

Valve also says that a request outside the two limits can still be sent, and it will review it. That is a promise to look, not a promise to approve, and a request for something bought long ago is usually turned down: the FAQ says purchases made well outside the 14-day window are not eligible.

Which purchases follow different rules?

The two-week, two-hour rule is the base. Several kinds of purchase have their own version of it.

Purchase	When it can be refunded	Extra condition
Game or software	Within 14 days of purchase	Less than 2 hours played
DLC	Within 14 days of purchase	Base game played less than 2 hours since the DLC was bought; DLC not used up, changed or transferred
Pre-purchase	Any time before release; after release, within 14 days of the release date	After release, less than 2 hours played
In-game item, Valve game	Within 48 hours of purchase	Item not used up, changed or transferred
In-game item, other developer	Only if the developer allows it	Steam shows at checkout whether it can be refunded
Steam Wallet funds	Within 14 days of adding them	Bought on Steam and not spent
Subscription	Within 48 hours of first purchase or of a renewal	Not used in the current billing period
Bundle	Within 14 days	Less than 2 hours across everything in the bundle, nothing transferred
Gift not yet redeemed	Within 14 days	The buyer asks
Gift already redeemed	Within 14 days	The recipient asks, under the same rules; the money goes back to the buyer
Steam Deck and other Valve hardware	Within 14 days of delivery	Separate hardware terms, covered below

Two points in that table catch people out.

DLC runs on the base game’s clock. The 2 hours are counted on the underlying game from the moment you bought the add-on, not on the add-on itself. Valve also notes that some DLC from other publishers is marked as non-refundable, for example add-ons that permanently level up a character, and such add-ons are marked as non-refundable on the store page before you buy.

In-game purchases are the exception, not the rule. In Valve’s own games you have 48 hours, as long as the item has not been used, changed or traded. In other publishers’ games, in-game purchases cannot be refunded unless the developer has turned the option on, and Steam tells you at the time of purchase whether it has. If an item you paid for never arrived, Valve asks you to contact the game’s own support first and attach that correspondence to your Steam ticket.

What can never be refunded?

Some things fall outside the policy entirely:

• video content such as films, series and episodes, unless it came inside a bundle with a refundable game;
• anything bought outside Steam, such as a product key or a Steam Wallet card bought from another shop;
• games in which your account has a VAC ban, Valve’s anti-cheat system;
• in some cases, purchases by accounts that Valve decides are abusing refunds. You can file any number of requests for eligible purchases, but Valve says it may withdraw access to refunds from anyone who appears to use them to play games for free.

How do I request a refund on Steam?

The request is made on Valve’s support site, not from the store page. The steps Valve gives:

1. Go to help.steampowered.com and sign in with the Steam account that made the purchase.
2. Choose Purchases.
3. Pick the item you want to refund. If it is not in the list, Valve says it is too far outside the refund window to qualify.
4. Choose the problem you are having with the product.
5. Choose I’d like to request a refund.
6. In the form, pick where the money should go: your Steam Wallet or the original payment method. Add a short note if the reason is not obvious.
7. Submit. Steam sends an email confirming the request, and another when it has been processed.

The same button handles hardware, with the extra return steps described below.

Where does the money go, and how long does it take?

You choose between two destinations when you file the request.

• Steam Wallet. Valve says approved Wallet credit can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.
• Original payment method. Approved refunds can take up to 7 days to show, and refunds to international payment methods may take longer. If nothing arrives after 7 days, Valve suggests asking your bank about pending refunds, and checking your purchase history in case the refund landed in the Wallet and was spent.

Not every payment method can take money back. Where the original method does not support refunds, Valve pays the full amount into the Steam Wallet instead.

There is one special case. If a refund is approved within 24 hours of the purchase, Valve cancels the original transaction rather than sending money back. You will not see a credit on your statement; instead, your bank removes the pending charge once it confirms Steam never received the money, which Valve says can take up to 30 days.

Can I refund a game and buy it again on sale?

Yes. Valve’s FAQ says that if you bought a game shortly before it went on sale and the purchase still meets the refund rules, you can request a refund and then buy it again at the lower price. Keep in mind the time a refund takes: if the sale ends before the money comes back, you would need other funds to buy it again.

How do pre-purchases and early access games work?

A pre-purchase of a game that cannot be played yet can be refunded at any time before it comes out. Once it is released, the ordinary rule applies, with the 14 days counted from the release date rather than the day you paid.

Early access games are treated like any other game under the policy: 14 days, less than 2 hours. The fact that a game is unfinished does not extend the window.

How are Steam Deck refunds different?

Hardware bought from Valve, including Steam Deck, follows separate terms.

• The window is 14 days from delivery, counting from the day you, or someone you named other than the courier, received the hardware.
• You start the cancellation with the same I’d like to request a refund button, then have 14 days from that notice to send the hardware back.
• Under Valve’s hardware terms you pay the direct cost of return shipping.
• The option can be refused if the device has been modified, mistreated, or used beyond what you could have tried in a shop, and you can be charged for any loss in value from such handling.
• Valve pays the refund no later than 14 days after it receives the hardware back, to the original payment method unless that is not possible. Hardware bought with Wallet funds is refunded to the Wallet.

If the hardware came with a subscription, returning the hardware cancels the subscription.

What about the EU and UK right of withdrawal?

Customers in the EU and the UK also have a legal right of withdrawal. For digital content bought on Steam, that right ends 14 days after purchase or when you first start downloading, whichever comes first, and at checkout you agree to that. So for most games the legal right is gone once the download begins.

Valve’s own refund policy is voluntary and more generous: it lets you play for up to 2 hours first. Even after the statutory right has ended, you can still ask for a refund under Valve’s policy. For hardware, the legal withdrawal period runs 14 days from delivery, the same length as Valve’s hardware terms.

What does a refund leave behind?

Your record stays. Valve says playtime and achievements earned before the refund remain on your Steam Community profile.

A quick checklist before you ask

• Is it within 14 days of purchase, or of release for a pre-purchase?
• Is total playtime, including offline and shared library play, under 2 hours?
• For DLC: has the base game been played for less than 2 hours since you bought the add-on?
• For in-game items: is it Valve’s game, or did the store say the item is refundable?
• Did you buy it on Steam, not as a key from another shop?
• Do you want the money in the Steam Wallet, which is faster, or on your card?

If the answers fit, the request takes a couple of minutes. If they do not, you can still ask, and explain why, but plan on the answer being no.