Limited User Accounts

Steam prevents some accounts from accessing certain community and social features that are commonly used for spamming, phishing, and other abuse.

Why are these features not available?

Malicious users often operate using dummy accounts that have not purchased any games, items, or wallet credit. In order to make it more difficult for these malicious users to spam, scam, and phish other users, we restrict access to certain community features until an account has spent at least $5.00 USD in Steam.

How do I gain access to these features?

You will need to spend at least $5.00 USD within the Steam store. Click here to view your current limited user spend.

Some examples of purchases that grant access to these features are:

• Adding the equivalent of $5 USD or more to your Steam Wallet
• Purchasing game(s) that are equal to $5 USD or more from the Steam store
• Adding a Steam Wallet card that is equal to $5 USD or more to your Steam account
• Purchasing a Steam gift that is equal to $5 USD or more from the Steam store (Receiving a Steam gift or digital gift card from a friend doesn't count)

The below actions will not remove limited user restrictions:

• Activating a retail game on Steam
• Playing free demos
• Adding a non-Steam game as a shortcut
• Spending funds from items you have sold on the market
• Adding/playing promotional trials like Free Weekends
• Free to Play games (Examples: Alien Swarm, free versions of Portal and Team Fortress 2)
• Activating promotional CD Keys from hardware or graphic card manufacturers

Each Steam purchase total will be tracked in USD. If your Steam store's currency isn't in USD, it will be tracked and converted to USD automatically using daily exchange rates.

What features are unavailable?

Limited user accounts are prevented from accessing several features on Steam, including but not limited to:

• Sending friend and group invites
• Requesting access to groups
• Opening group chat
• Voting on Steam Reviews and Workshop items
• Participating in the Steam Market
• Trading Steam Community items (trading cards, booster packs, gems, etc.)
• Making your Steam profile visible to non-friends
• Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions
• Gaining Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards
• Submitting content on the Steam Workshop
• Posting in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions
• Creating public Steam guides
• Accessing the Steam Web API
• Using browser and mobile chat
• Adding public artwork and screenshots
• Adding messages to trade offers
• Creating Steam groups
• Counting towards Steam group membership
• Following/adding curators
• Posting hyperlinks in the Steam Community

Frequently asked questions

I received my game(s) as a gift, will I gain access to all features?

No, games that have been received as a gift or via Steam Trading are not eligible.

What if a purchase is refunded to my bank or my purchase is disputed/chargeback?

If a purchase amount is returned to your bank, the amount will be subtracted from your account's total purchase value. If the refund or dispute amount brings your account's total purchase value below $5 USD, then your account will lose access to these features.

For example, if you purchase a game for $5 USD, your account will gain access to these Community features. If you open a dispute with your bank, these funds will be returned to the bank and you will lose access to these features because Steam never received the funds.

What if a purchase is refunded to my Steam Wallet?

Refunds credited to your Steam Wallet, such as pre-order refunds, do not modify access to these Steam Community features.

What if my account wasn't limited and now it is?

Your account's total spend was most recently calculated as less than $5.00 USD, and your account has become limited as a result. This could be a result of a calculation mistake which commonly affected accounts with more than $1.00 USD but less than $5.00 USD of total spend.

What if my Steam store currency isn't in USD?

If the Steam store isn't in USD, we will track the purchase amount in USD by converting each purchase total made on Steam using daily exchange rates. Once you have made the equivalent of $5.00 USD or more in total Steam purchases, you will gain access to the restricted Steam features.

How can I add a friend with a limited account?

Limited accounts are restricted from adding friends. However, you can still accept friend invites from other non-limited users. For example, if a friend is already on Steam and has spent $5 USD or more from the Steam store, they will be able to add you as a friend from your Steam Community profile. You may then accept their friend invite from your Steam account.

Can I post in the discussions with a limited account?

You can, however there are several limitations that will impact your ability to freely post. First, your account must have 60 minutes of playtime (free games count). Second, you must own the game in question if you are posting in a game's community hub. Finally, posting with a limited account is rate limited to only allow a small amount of posts per day.

What if my purchase is pending or processing? When will I become unlimited?

A purchase amount only counts towards this limit if it was processed successfully. If a purchase is pending/processing or our system is waiting to confirm payment with your bank it will not count towards this limit.

What exchange rates are used when calculating the USD value of my purchases?

We use the daily exchange rate at the time of purchase to calculate your account's USD spend on Steam. If you made a purchase in the past, we used that day's exchange rate, not today's rate.