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How to Gift a Game on Steam

Steam gifting changed in July 2026, and most guides online still describe the old rules. Here is the current process — including the bit where you don't need a Steam account at all.

By Stephen V.Last updated How we pick

Steam is where most PC games live, and giving one as a present takes about two minutes. The complication is that the rules changed on July 22, 2026, and a great deal of the advice still floating around online describes how it worked before that. If you have read that you must be Steam friends with someone to send them a game, that is the old rule.

What changed on Steam in July 2026

Valve shipped an update called “Gifting made easier,” and it did three things that matter to anyone buying a present:

  • Guest checkout now covers every game. It was added in 2024 but only for digital gift cards and hardware. In Valve’s words, it “can now be used to buy any game on Steam” — so you can send a game without having a Steam account of your own.
  • You can gift to an email address. Both games and digital gift cards “can now be sent directly to email recipients.” The email contains a link that lets them sign in and accept the gift.
  • Cross-region gifting works. You can gift a game to a friend in a more expensive country, and Steam matches “the increased price in your friend’s region at checkout” rather than blocking the purchase.

On top of that, gifts can now be sent straight from someone’s shared wishlist link. Valve’s own summary of that change is the sentence this whole page turns on: “You no longer need to be friends on Steam to send gifts.”

Can I gift a game to a friend on Steam?

Yes, and it is the most straightforward version of this. If the person is already on your Steam friends list, you buy the game, mark it as a gift, choose them from the list, and pay. They get an email and a notification inside the Steam client, they click Accept Gift, and the game is theirs permanently.

Gifting to a Steam friend is also the only route that keeps two features worth having. You can schedule the delivery for a future date, and it arrives in their time zone rather than yours — genuinely useful for a birthday. And it is the route that supports cross-region gifting, covered further down.

How to gift Steam games, step by step

This is the whole flow, and it is the same whether you are signed in or checking out as a guest. The only step that differs is the fourth one.

  1. Open the game's page on the Steam store. In a web browser or the Steam app, search for the game you want to give and open its store page. You do not need a Steam account of your own — guest checkout now covers every game on Steam.
  2. Add it to your cart. Click Add to Cart on the game's store page, then open the cart.
  3. Choose to purchase it as a gift. In the cart, select the option to buy the game as a gift for someone else rather than for yourself.
  4. Say who it's going to. Pick a friend from your Steam friends list, or enter the recipient's email address, or let Steam fill the recipient in for you if you arrived from a shared wishlist link. Add a personal message if you like — it shows when they open the gift.
  5. Pay. Complete the payment as a signed-in Steam user or as a guest. Gifting to a friend in a higher-priced country is allowed, and Steam matches that country's price at checkout.
  6. They accept it. The recipient gets an email with a link, plus a notification inside the Steam client if the gift went to their Steam account. They click Accept Gift and the game is added to their Steam library permanently.

One thing worth knowing before you pay: you pay today’s price. PC games are discounted constantly on Steam, so if the occasion is a few weeks off and a sale is coming, waiting can genuinely save money.

Gifting on Steam without an account: guest checkout and gift by email

This is the route for the person this site is written for — someone who does not play PC games, does not have Steam installed, and is buying for somebody who does.

Guest checkout lets you buy any game on Steam without creating an account. Gift by email lets you send it to an ordinary email address rather than a Steam username. Valve’s own example is a nephew whose Steam account you do not know; if the email address you use happens to be the one attached to their Steam account, the email still works — it simply contains a link to sign in and accept.

Two rules apply specifically to email gifts, and both are Valve’s:

  • They cannot be scheduled. An email gift not accepted within thirty days is automatically refunded, so the clock starts the moment you send it. If you want a gift to appear at midnight on the day itself, you need the friends-list route.
  • Same country only. “The recipient of the gift must also live in the same country as the purchaser.” For gifting abroad, use the friends-list route or a digital gift card.

If you would rather hold something physical — a code in an envelope, opened in front of people — buying a Steam game code from a retailer still does that better than any of the above. Our guide to gifting a Steam game without being someone’s Steam friend compares all four routes side by side.

How to accept a friend’s gift on Steam

From the receiving end, a Steam gift is quiet. There is no banner and no wrapped box on the front page — it arrives as an email with a link, and as a small notification inside the Steam client. Both lead to the same screen, which offers Accept Gift and Decline Gift. Accepting adds the game straight to that account’s library.

The deadline is the part nobody mentions: thirty days. A gift the recipient takes no action on is automatically canceled after thirty days and refunded to the sender. That is a safety net rather than a trap, but it does mean a present left unopened eventually disappears.

When somebody insists a gift never arrived, it is almost always one of three things: it went to a different Steam account, the email is in a spam folder, or the sender scheduled it for a later date and it does not exist yet. Our full guide to accepting a Steam gift walks through each of those.

How to decline a Steam gift

Declining is the right move if the recipient already owns the game — and it costs nobody anything. On the same screen that offers Accept Gift, they choose Decline Gift, and can optionally attach a short note explaining why. Valve emails the sender to say the gift was declined whether a note is attached or not.

The money comes back. A declined gift is refunded to the purchaser, normally to the original payment method, or into the sender’s Steam Wallet if that is what paid for it. Declining promptly is better than ignoring it, because ignoring it takes the full thirty days to resolve and leaves the sender wondering whether you saw it at all.

Steam gifting and regional restrictions

Region used to be the thing that broke Steam gifting most often. It is much less of a problem now, but the rules are not identical for every route:

  • Gifting to a Steam friend abroad: allowed. Steam matches the price in their region at checkout if it is higher than yours, so you pay the difference rather than being blocked.
  • Gifting to an email address abroad: not allowed. Valve requires an email gift’s recipient to live in the same country as the purchaser.
  • Digital gift cards: no country problem. A digital Steam gift card sent to someone in another country is converted into their currency automatically. Valve also notes that some countries restrict sending or receiving gift cards, and flags any such restriction during checkout.

The practical version: Steam tells you at checkout if something cannot be sent. If it does, do not go hunting for a workaround — switch to a gift card, or buy a game code from a retailer in their country.

Gifting Steam Wallet funds vs gifting a game

These are two different presents and people use the words interchangeably. A Steam gift is one specific game you chose. Steam Wallet funds — a digital Steam gift card — is money that lands in their account balance for them to spend on anything Steam sells.

Choose the game when you know roughly what they enjoy. Valve makes this argument itself: “Everyone loves getting personalized gifts. If you know which game your friend already wants then you can buy that game as a gift from the Steam store.” At the same price, a chosen game reads as more thought.

Choose the wallet funds when you don’t. Credit cannot be a duplicate, it stretches much further in a Steam sale, and it is the only one of the two that covers an in-game purchase in something they already play. It is also the route that works cleanly across countries. Valve sells digital cards at $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100, and since the July 2026 update those can be sent to an email address too.

The full comparison, including the amounts and why Amazon is not the place to buy Steam credit, is in Steam gift cards explained. If you are choosing between a card and a game more generally — on any platform — gift card vs an actual game has a simple way to decide, and our gaming gift cards buying guide covers which cards are actually worth buying on Amazon and which are not.

Gifting on a console instead?

Steam is now the easiest of the four platforms, which was not true a year ago. If the person you are buying for plays on a console rather than a computer, each one works differently: Xbox has a genuine gift button that sends a game to a friend or an email address, Nintendo Switch gives you a cartridge, a download code or an eShop card, and PlayStation has no gift button at all, so a store card is the route. If you are not certain which machine they actually use, check that first — buying for the wrong platform is the most common way a gaming present goes wrong.

How this is funded: Player Two Co earns a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which gift we recommend, and we’ll tell you when we’d skip one. Full disclosure.

Three Steam games worth sending

If the mechanics are sorted and the choice isn’t, these three are bought as an online game code, arrive in your own inbox, and redeem straight into their Steam library — so they work whichever route you take. Prices are live and dated, not typed in by us, and each carries its real ESRB age rating.

Best under $30

Annapurna Interactive Stray (Steam PC code)

You play as a cat. That is the whole pitch, and it is the reason this is one of the easiest PC games to give someone whose taste you cannot ask about — you can describe it in four words and nobody needs a single piece of gaming knowledge to want it. Short, beautiful and entirely single-player.

Great because

  • Explainable in one sentence, which matters when you're choosing blind
  • Single-player and fairly short — it can be finished, not just started
  • The cheapest of our Steam picks, so it works as a smaller present

Keep in mind

  • Rated E10+ for Animated Blood and Fantasy Violence — there are hostile creatures to escape, so it isn't wholly gentle
  • A few chase sequences ask for quicker reactions than the calm opening suggests
Platform
PC
Type
Digital game (download code)
Works with
Steam on Windows PC (the code redeems in the Steam client)
Good for
Ages 10 & up
Age rating
E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Skip it if: Skip if they only play long, competitive or multiplayer games, and skip for a young child who'd find the chase sections stressful.

Details read from the product listing on August 31, 2026. Price is live from Amazon.

Best for two people

Electronic Arts It Takes Two (Steam PC code)

The best two-player game there is, in the version a PC gamer can actually use. It is built from beginning to end for two people at once, and the second player can join through its Friend's Pass without owning a copy — so one gift covers both of them.

Great because

  • Designed entirely around two players — there is no solo mode
  • A second player can join free through the Friend's Pass
  • Won Game of the Year, and is genuinely approachable for a non-gamer

Keep in mind

  • Needs a willing second player — it cannot be finished alone
Platform
PC
Type
Digital game (download code)
Works with
Steam on Windows PC (the code redeems in the Steam client)
Good for
Teens & up
Age rating
T (Teen)

Skip it if: Skip if they play by themselves; this is not a solo game.

Details read from the product listing on August 18, 2026. Price is live from Amazon.

Best big-name gift

Warner Bros. Games Hogwarts Legacy (Steam PC code)

The easiest big-name gift for a PC gamer who loves Harry Potter, because choosing it needs no gaming knowledge from you at all: if they liked the books or the films, they will recognize every corridor of it. Rated T, largely for fantasy spell-fighting.

Great because

  • Instantly recognizable subject matter — you don't need to understand games to pick it
  • A huge single-player adventure, so nobody else is required
  • The code arrives by email, so there's no delivery date to worry about

Keep in mind

  • Rated T for Teen — fantasy violence, some blood and mild language
Platform
PC
Type
Digital game (download code)
Works with
Steam on Windows PC (the code redeems in the Steam client)
Good for
Teens & up
Age rating
T (Teen)

Skip it if: Skip for a younger child, and skip if they play on a console — buy that console's edition instead.

Details read from the product listing on August 18, 2026. Price is live from Amazon.

Frequently asked questions

Can I gift a game to a friend on Steam?

Yes. Open the game's store page, add it to your cart, choose to buy it as a gift, and pick your friend from your Steam friends list. They get an email and an in-client notification, click Accept Gift, and the game lands in their Steam library permanently. Since Valve's July 22, 2026 update you can also send that gift to a plain email address instead, so the person does not have to be a Steam friend — or a Steam user at all — before you buy.

Do I need a Steam account to gift a Steam game?

No. Valve extended guest checkout to every game on Steam in July 2026, so a parent, partner or relative who has never used Steam can buy a game as a gift and send it to an email address. Guest checkout previously covered only digital gift cards and hardware such as the Steam Deck.

Do you have to be friends on Steam to gift a game?

Not any more. Valve's own wording on the wishlist gifting change is that "you no longer need to be friends on Steam to send gifts" — you can gift to an email address or straight from someone's shared wishlist link. The one thing that still requires a friends-list connection is cross-region gifting, where Steam matches the higher price in your friend's country at checkout.

How do I gift a Steam game by email?

Choose to buy the game as a gift and enter the recipient's email address instead of picking a Steam friend. Steam emails them a link to sign in and accept it. Two rules come with this route: an email gift cannot be scheduled for a future date, and the recipient has to live in the same country as you.

How does someone accept a gift on Steam?

They open the email Steam sent them, or the notification inside the Steam client, and click Accept Gift. The game is then permanently attached to the account that accepted it. If a gift seems to have vanished, the usual causes are the email in a spam folder, a different Steam account, or a gift the sender scheduled for a later date.

What happens if someone declines a Steam gift?

Nothing is lost. The recipient can attach a short note when they decline, Valve emails you either way to say it was declined, and the purchase is refunded — normally to the payment method you used, or to your Steam Wallet if that is what you paid with.

How long does a Steam gift last before it expires?

Thirty days. If the recipient takes no action within thirty days of delivery, Steam automatically cancels the gift and refunds the purchase to the sender. That applies to gifts sent to an email address as well as gifts sent to a Steam friend.

Can you gift a Steam game to someone in another country?

You can gift a game to someone on your Steam friends list in a different region, and Steam charges you their region's price if it is higher than yours. A gift sent to an email address is the exception — Valve requires the recipient of an email gift to live in the same country as the purchaser. If a specific game still cannot be sent, a Steam digital gift card is the fallback, because Valve converts it into the recipient's currency automatically.

Can I schedule a Steam gift for a birthday or Christmas?

For a gift sent to someone on your Steam friends list, yes — Steam lets you set a future delivery date, and it arrives in the recipient's own time zone rather than yours. A gift sent to an email address cannot be scheduled, because the thirty-day acceptance clock starts as soon as it is sent.

Is it better to gift Steam Wallet funds or the game itself?

Buy the game if you know even roughly what they like — a chosen game reads as more thoughtful than the same amount as credit, and Valve says as much on its own gift card page. Send wallet funds if you genuinely do not know what they own, if they play enough that a duplicate is a real risk, or if what they actually want is an in-game purchase, which a game gift cannot cover.

What if they already own the game I gifted?

They can decline it and you get refunded, which is the cleanest outcome. Steam gifts are for one specific game and there is no swap mechanism, so if you are buying for someone with a large library, a gift card or a game well outside their usual pattern is the safer choice.

Sources

  • Steam News — Gifting made easier (Valve, July 22, 2026) — Valve's own announcement of the current gifting rules: guest checkout — added in 2024 for digital gift cards and hardware — “can now be used to buy any game on Steam”, so someone with no Steam account can send one; “both digital gift cards and games can now be sent directly to email recipients”, with the email carrying a link to sign in and accept; “any gift email not accepted within 30 days will be automatically refunded, so they cannot be scheduled for future delivery” and “the recipient of the gift must also live in the same country as the purchaser”; games can be gifted across regions to someone on your friends list, with Steam matching “the increased price in your friend's region at checkout”; and gifts can be sent straight from a shared wishlist link, where “you no longer need to be friends on Steam to send gifts” (accessed September 6, 2026)
  • Steam Support — Steam Gifts — Valve's gifting article on the receiving end: the recipient chooses Accept Gift or Decline Gift, an accepted gift is added straight to their library, someone declining can optionally attach a note and Valve emails the sender either way, and a gift the recipient takes no action on is automatically canceled after 30 days with the purchase refunded to the sender (accessed September 6, 2026)
  • Steam Support — Steam Gifts (sending and accepting) — Valve's own gifting article: delivery of a gift sent to a Steam friend can be scheduled for a future date and arrives in the recipient's time zone, the recipient gets an email link plus an in-client notification and must click Accept Gift or Decline Gift, and an unaccepted gift is automatically canceled and refunded after 30 days. The friends-list-only rule this article described when we read it on 2026-08-18 was lifted by Valve's gifting update of July 22, 2026, listed below (accessed August 18, 2026)
  • Steam — Steam Gift Cards — Valve's own gift-card page: Steam Gift Cards are available as both digital and physical cards and 'work just like gift certificates, which can be redeemed on Steam for the purchase of games, software, hardware, and any other item you can purchase on Steam'; a digital card is sent through your own Steam account, and a physical card can be redeemed to a Steam account at any time (accessed August 31, 2026)
  • Steam — Send a Digital Steam Gift Card (amounts + FAQ) — Valve's own purchase flow and FAQ: digital gift cards are sold at $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100 and are bought in three steps (select amount, choose friend, complete purchase); existing wallet funds cannot be used to buy one; the card lands in the recipient's Steam Wallet once they accept it and can then be spent on games, micro-transactions and — if their account is not limited — Steam Community Market items; a card sent abroad is automatically converted into the recipient's currency; a declined card is refunded to the sender's original payment method where possible, otherwise to the sender's own Steam Wallet; and the card is not redeemable for cash or credit (accessed August 31, 2026)
  • Steam — Refunds — Valve's refund policy: refunds are offered within two weeks of purchase and under two hours of playtime; unredeemed gifts can be refunded inside that window, a redeemed gift can be refunded on the same terms if the recipient starts the request, and the money returns to whoever paid (accessed August 18, 2026)
  • ESRB — Ratings Guide — The Entertainment Software Rating Board's official age-rating definitions: E (Everyone), E10+ (Everyone 10+), T (Teen), M (Mature 17+) and the content descriptors printed on every game box (accessed July 22, 2026)
  • Amazon — Video Games store — Amazon's video-games storefront, where the games, gift cards and gear on this site are sold and priced (accessed July 22, 2026)

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