How to gift games on Steam to friends, family, and anyone else

When looking for the perfect gift for the gamer in your life, you have plenty of options. From controllers and keyboards to collectibles and more, it can be difficult to determine what they would like most. However, it’s almost impossible to go wrong with a Steam game, as the platform is used by millions of PC gamers around the world. The gifting process has changed a bit over the years, but gifting a game on Steam remains remarkably simple. Here’s an overview of how it works.

how to gift a new game on Steam

To gift a new game on Steam, you need to make sure your recipient has their own Steam account and is on your friends list.

Step 1: Make sure your friend has a Steam account.

2nd step: If you want to purchase a game from someone who doesn’t have a Steam account, they will need to create a new account and download the Steam client.

Step 3: Once they are configured, you need to access the Friends drop-down menu. Select Add a friend and search for their username.

Step 4: Invite them to become your friend. Once they accept your request, you can send them a game.

Step 5: Locate the game you want to offer in the Steam store, either directly in the client or through the web portal, and select Add to Cart. If you already own the game in question on your own account, there will be a note just above the purchase option saying “Buy this game as a gift for a friend.”

Step 6: Select Buy as a gift.

If you already own the game, Buy for me will be faded and unresponsive, since you will no longer be able to own multiple copies of the same game.

Step 7: Select the recipient from your friends list. You can choose to schedule delivery for a later time and date if you want it to arrive late and be a surprise for a special occasion.

Step 8: Personalize your gift by indicating your friend’s name and writing a message. This can range from a simple happy birthday or happy holidays to a heartfelt letter or funny message.

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Step 9: After personalizing your gift with a note, tap Continue and go to the regular purchase screen as if you were buying a game for yourself. Then it’s up to your friend to accept the gift. Once they add it to their library, you will receive a notification.

how to gift a duplicate game on Steam

Valve recently changed Steam’s gifting policy to crack down on major resellers and people who circumvent regional price differences, so you can no longer purchase and keep game codes for an indefinite period. However, any residual codes you may have are still there and can still be distributed as before.

Step 1: Under the Games in the Steam client tab, select Manage gifts and guest passes.

Be aware that you will only be able to find this option when using the Steam client software, so make sure you have it installed before looking for it.

2nd step: Select the duplicate game you want to gift.

You may have copies of a game that you can give to someone else; if so, you will notice them in the grid.

Step 3: Select the game you want, then look to the right and choose it Send a gift button.

If you send the game to a friend on your friends list, you can transfer the game to them via Steam with a single click. Rather, you can also enter their email on the next page and send it to them using this process.

Step 4: After adding the recipient information through either process, click Following and continue from step 6 listed above.

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Give a Steam wallet code

You can give a Steam wallet code to anyone who has joined your Stream friends list for at least three days.

Step 1: You can purchase Steam Gift Cards at the following prices: $5, $10, $25, $50, and $100. Simply choose the specific amount you want to gift.

2nd step: Select the specific friend from your list to whom you want to send the gift card.

Step 3: Make the purchase.

Immediately after your friend receives and opens the gift, they will see the money appear in their Steam wallet and will be able to use it immediately.

Can I email someone a Steam gift?

In the past, you could send Steam gifts directly to someone’s email address. Unfortunately, this feature has since been removed. This means that if you want to give someone a new Steam game as a gift, you’ll need to make sure they’re on your friends list. It’s a bit complicated, but it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes for new users to create an account and add someone as a friend.

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