How to Get a Refund From Steam: The 14-Day, Two-Hour Rule
Steam refunds almost any game requested within 14 days and under two hours of play; this guide sets out Valve's rules for DLC, pre-orders, bundles, gifts and keys bought elsewhere.
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In this article
Quick answer
Steam will refund almost any game, for any reason, if you ask within 14 days of buying it and have played it for less than two hours. Make the request at help.steampowered.com. An approved refund is issued within a week, to your Steam Wallet or your original payment method. Outside those limits you can still ask, and Valve says it will take a look, but it makes no promise.
Steam’s refund policy is one of the clearer ones in digital retail, because the main rule is two numbers. Most confusion comes from everything that is not a plain game purchase: add-on content, pre-orders, bundles, gifts, in-game items and keys bought from other stores, each of which has its own condition. This guide follows Valve’s published refund policy, which we read in October 2026.
Key takeaways
- The standard rule is within 14 days of purchase and under two hours of play
- You do not have to give a reason that Valve accepts; the policy says any reason
- Refunds are issued within a week of approval, to your Steam Wallet or original payment method
- Game keys bought from another store cannot be refunded by Valve
- A request outside the limits is still reviewed, with no guarantee
How to ask
- Go to help.steampowered.com and sign in.
- Find the purchase and choose the refund option.
- Choose where the money should go, and submit the request.
The first step is the one Valve’s policy specifies; the other two describe the form in general terms, and its wording may differ. Valve says an approved refund is issued within a week of approval. If your original payment method cannot take a refund, the full amount goes to your Steam Wallet instead, and Valve notes that some payment methods do not support refunds.
The rules for each kind of purchase
| What you bought | When Valve’s policy says it can be refunded |
|---|---|
| A game or software title | Within 14 days of purchase, with less than two hours of playtime |
| Downloadable content (DLC) | Within 14 days, if the base game has been played for less than two hours since the DLC was bought and the DLC has not been consumed, modified or transferred. Some third-party DLC is marked non-refundable on its store page. |
| A pre-purchase | At any time before release, for a title you cannot yet play. After release, the 14-day period starts on the release date, with the same two-hour limit. |
| Early Access or Advance Access | Playtime before the official release counts toward the two hours |
| In-game purchases in Valve’s own games | Within 48 hours, if the item has not been consumed, modified or transferred |
| In-game purchases in other developers’ games | Only where the developer has enabled refunds; Steam tells you at checkout |
| A bundle | The whole bundle, if nothing in it has been transferred and the combined playtime of everything in it is under two hours |
| Steam Wallet funds | Within 14 days, if bought on Steam and none has been spent |
| A renewable subscription | Within 48 hours of the first purchase or of any automatic renewal, if it has not been used in the current billing cycle |
| A gift | An unredeemed gift follows the standard rule. Once redeemed, the recipient has to make the request, and the money goes back to the buyer. |
| Films, series and other video | Not refundable, unless bundled with refundable non-video content |
| Steam hardware | Covered by Valve’s separate hardware refund policy |
What cannot be refunded through Steam
- Keys and wallet cards bought elsewhere. Valve says it cannot refund purchases made outside Steam, such as a game key from a third-party store. Your claim is with whoever sold it. Check that seller’s refund terms before you buy; our guide to judging an online listing covers what to look for.
- A game you have been banned in. If Valve’s anti-cheat system has banned you in a game, the policy says you lose the right to refund that game.
- Video content, as above.
Outside the 14 days or the two hours
The policy says that even if you fall outside the refund rules, you can submit a request and Valve will take a look. That is an invitation to ask, not a commitment, and Valve does not publish what it weighs. Explain plainly what went wrong, for example that the game will not run on hardware that meets its listed requirements.
Valve’s page also notes that the law in some places may give you additional refund rights for faulty games, and links to a separate article on the European Union’s right of withdrawal. If you are in the EU, read that article before assuming the two-hour rule is the whole story.
Sales, and using refunds repeatedly
Two statements in the policy answer common questions.
- Buying before a sale. If you buy a game and it goes on sale soon afterward, Valve says that refunding it and buying it again at the sale price is not considered abuse.
- Refunds as a free trial. Valve says refunds are not a way to get free games, and that it may stop offering them to users who appear to be abusing the system.
If the request is refused
- Consider asking again with more detail, if the first request did not explain a technical fault. This is our suggestion; the policy we read does not say how repeat requests are treated.
- Contact the developer about a game that does not work. A fix may arrive sooner than a refund.
- A card dispute is the last resort. For a charge you did not authorize, the FTC’s guidance is to write to your card issuer within 60 days of the statement. For a simple disagreement over a refund decision, weigh it carefully, and read our guide to returns, refunds and chargebacks first.
Before you buy
- Check the system requirements against your computer, not against the trailer.
- Test a new game within the first two hours for the things that matter to you: whether it launches, how it runs, whether the controls suit you.
- Leave a game closed if you are undecided, because the limit is on playtime as well as on days.
- Read the recent critical reviews. See how to read negative reviews.
We have written similar guides to getting a refund from Apple, from an Amazon marketplace seller, from DoorDash and from Ticketmaster.
How we researched this
This guide is based on Valve’s published Steam refund policy and, for card disputes, the FTC’s guidance. We did not submit test refund requests, and we have no data on how often requests outside the standard limits are approved. The advice under “Before you buy” is our own. It is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to refund a game on Steam?
Valve’s policy is within 14 days of purchase, with less than two hours of playtime. Requests outside those limits can still be submitted and will be reviewed, without a guarantee.
How long does a Steam refund take?
Valve says an approved refund is issued within a week of approval, to your Steam Wallet or your original payment method.
Can I refund a Steam game I played for more than two hours?
It falls outside the standard rule. The policy says you can still submit a request and Valve will take a look, but approval is not promised.
Can I refund a Steam key I bought on another site?
Not through Steam. Valve says it cannot refund purchases made outside Steam, so you would need to ask the store that sold the key.
Can I refund a game and rebuy it on sale?
Yes. Valve’s policy says refunding a game bought just before a sale and buying it again at the sale price is not considered abuse.
Sources & Evidence
Where the facts in this article come from. Summaries are in our own words; follow the links to check them yourself.
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