Why can t I gift a game on Steam

Video games are actually a very popular gift. If you play games regularly, it is very likely that you’ve received a couple of video games as a gift over the years. Steam knows this as well, which is why it also has a gift feature. This feature allows you to purchase games on the platform for other players.

Instead of buying a game for yourself, you can purchase a specific title and send it to the library of another player instead. The process is usually simple and not too problematic, but this isn’t the case 100% of the time. Here are some solutions that you can try on the rare scenario that your Steam gift is not sending.

How to Fix Steam Gift Not Sending?

1. Gift Refused

One of the main and likeliest scenarios that come to mind is that the gift you purchased wasn’t sent to the recipient as they refused to accept it. This is the most common cause behind this problem. To check whether or not this was the case, you can just check your email or bank account.

Steam usually informs you that the gift has been refused, and you’re also given a full refund for the purchase that you made so your money doesn’t go to waste either. You can simply resend the gift whenever you want after this, and tell the recipient to ensure that they choose to accept it rather than rejecting it this time around.

1. Resend the Gift

Speaking of resending the gift, you should try doing so even if the recipient hasn’t rejected it as they could’ve just lost or not received the gift related email at all. The process of resending a gift isn’t complicated at all and you obviously don’t need to pay anything extra for it either.

You just need to choose to gift the same game to the same account once again within a few days of the initial purchase of the gift. That way, the gift email will be sent to the recipient and they should be able to claim it this time around. This is another effective solution that tends to work a lot, as there are many cases in which recipients don’t get the gift email initially.

1. Game is Already Owned

In some cases, the gift won’t send it all and you won’t be charged either. That’s because the game that you’re trying to gift to whatever specific user already owns the said game, and you cannot gift it to them twice. If they already own it, Steam will prevent the process from being completed and the gift won’t send.

To check if the recipient already owns the game or not, either ask them yourself or view their Steam library through the friend’s menu, given that you’re friends with them on Steam. If they already own the game, you could consider gifting another title instead, as this is really the only way to get past this issue and send the gift in this scenario.

No matter what the occasion, a new video game always makes a great gift. Luckily, you can gift games to other people directly from the Steam storefront, just as long as you’re friends on Steam.

Add a Friend on Steam

Before you can gift a Steam game to someone, you’ll need to add them as a friend. To do so, open the Steam client on your PC, click the “Friends” tab, and then click “Add a Friend” from the drop-down menu.

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On the next screen, you’ll be given a few different ways to add a friend. If you have a friend code, enter it in the “Enter a Friend Code” text box. You can also copy your friend code or the Quick Invite link and send it to the other person for them to add you as a friend.

Or, enter their Steam username in the “Enter your friend’s profile name” textbox and click the Search icon or press Enter.

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If entered correctly, your friend should appear on the next screen. Click “Add as Friend” next to the right of their name.

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The friend request is now sent. Once your friend accepts the friend request, they’ll appear in your Friend’s List and you can send them a Steam gift.

Gift a game from the Steam client or website

You can gift a game to one of your Steam friend’s from either the local Steam client or the official Steam storefront website. Open either one and log in if you’re not already. In the Search box in the top-right corner of the window, enter the name of the game you would like to gift. Select the game from the list (or press Enter and find the game on the next screen).

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On the next page, you’ll see a lot of information about the selected game. Scroll down and click the green “Add to Cart” button.

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You’ll now automatically be in your shopping cart. Here, click “Purchase as a Gift.”

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Next, you’ll need to choose which friend you’d like to gift the game to. Select the recipient by clicking the bubble to the left of their name in the list and then click “Continue.”

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From there, you can enter a personalized message, and then you’ll need to enter your payment details. Once the payment is submitted, the game will be gifted to your friend.

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What happens after the gift is sent

Once you’ve completed the purchase, the selected recipient will receive an email notifying them that they have received a gift. In the email, they’ll receive a link that they’ll need to access in order to redeem the gift.

The recipient has 30 days to redeem the gift. If the gift hasn’t been redeemed within the allotted amount of time, the purchaser will receive a full refund. You can check the status of the gift by visiting your Steam inventory page.

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