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Steam is the number one place to buy games for yourself, but many are not familiar with its integrated game-gifting features. With the click of a few buttons, you can buy games for loved ones. Here are the different ways you can gift a game on Steam.
All of these steps are for the Steam client app, not the web version. The steps are similar for both platforms but might vary slightly.
How to Purchase a Steam Game as a Gift at Checkout
This is the most popular method, and it requires you tofund your Steam walletor to use one of the accepted payment methods on Steam. You also need to already have the person as a friend on Steam.
Once you have all of that ready, follow the steps below:
Your gift will be scheduled or sent, depending on your choice. You’ll get an email when the recipient claims the gift, but you may track or cancel the gift between the time you sent it and when it’s claimed.
To do this, hover over your name in the top menu with your cursor and chooseInventory. On the right-hand side of the inventory, you’ll see a card representing the gift you’ve sent. You can clickManage giftto cancel the gift.
On the same Inventory page, there’s a menu in the top right, next to the largeTrade Offersbutton under an ellipsis (…). Click it and selectView Gift Historyto see all the gifts you’ve ever sent out.
How to Gift Duplicate Games on Steam
In this instance, a “duplicate game” is one that you already have in your library but that you also have an extra license for.
Steam has been cracking down on duplicate keys to curb reselling. You can no longer buy games with multiple keys. However, if you purchased duplicate keys in the past, you can still gift these duplicate games from your Steam Inventory.
Follow these instructions to gift a duplicate game on Steam:
From then on, it’s almost the same as the regular steps. Except, of course, there’s no payment involved.
How to Send Steam Keys Bought on Other Websites
If a sale happens on another website outside of Steam, you can buy the game on that website and then send the Steam key to your gift recipient.
Humble Bundle is an excellent example of one such website you can do this with, since it has many Steam games on sale.Humble Bundle is a good place to get great deals on video games.
Be absolutely sure the game is a Steam game by looking for a Steam icon somewhere in the description. And avoid scam sites!
We’ll show you how to do this on Humble Bundle:
These instructions are more or less the same across all websites that offer a similar service to Humble Bundle.
Alternatively, you could just copy the Steam activation key and send it to someone you would like to gift it to. They’ll then have to follow the instructions outlined in our guide onhow to redeem a game key on Steambefore they can play the game.
How to Send a Steam Gift Card
If you’re not sure what game to buy for someone, you could just give them a gift card so that they can choose what they want themselves. Since you may’t gift DLCs on Steam, this is a good way to help the gift recipient get one anyway.
We have full instructions onhow to send digital Steam gift cards to friends, but here’s a summary to get you started:
This method only works for friends you’ve had on your friends list for at least three days. The recipient must have a Steam account; you can’t send Steam gift cards via email or through any other methods.
If you want to use the Steam website to purchase a gift card instead, you can visit theSteam store’s gift card pageand log into your account.
That sums up all the ways to gift games to friends on Steam. Be careful not to fall for scams and only send gifts to people that you actually know.
