if you’ve ever bought Steam Keys from stores, you’ll know that there’s a lot of effort to redeem them one by one at a time, but there is an easier way to go about redeeming them than the usual process in the Steam Client.
It’s not the most obvious option, but fortunately, we’re here to show you where Steam has hidden it.
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What Are Steam Keys?
Steam Keys are typically 15 digit strings that can be redeemed for games on Steam. If you buy your games directly from the client, you often will not actually see these keycodes as the game is simply added to your account immediately and automatically.
It should be noted that not all Steam codes look precisely like that however, 15 digit strings consisting of 3 blocks of 5 characters each are simply the most common examples.
As the Steam client itself will show you, some keys are actually 5 blocks of 5 characters each, while others are a single long string of various characters followed by two more characters separated from the main text by a space.
Don’t freak out if you get a Steam key and it doesn’t precisely match up as a 15 digit one would, in other words. There are other variants of Steam keys out there; though admittedly I rarely see them and I’ve bought plenty of games from external retailers. They’re seemingly rare but they’re not anything particularly unique or something to worry about.
How to Redeem Steam Codes Quickly
The usual way to redeem any Steam Keys is located in the Steam store client under the activate a product on steam button hidden under the add a game option. This method only allows for one key code at once however and requires quite a bit of work if you have multiple Steam Keys to redeem.
A much better and faster method is available via the main Steam webpage. You’ll need to log into your account first naturally, but from there click on your name in the top right-hand corner. This will bring out a drop-down menu with “Activate a product” as the 5th option given.
On the activate a product page, now all you need to do is hit the “Activate multiple products button” provided. This will allow you to enter multiple Steam Key codes at once by putting one per line. When done entering codes into the box provided, select activate products and all keys will be checked if valid, then activated on your account accordingly if so.
As someone who gets humble bundles quite regularly, this saves me a few minutes of tedium every time I redeem Steam Keys. It’s a very nice feature so we’d recommend trying it out.
It certainly beats going through four different buttons and submenus to confirm a single key code at a time and having to deal with a “do you want to download this game now” prompt on each and everyone too.
How Do I Get Steam Keys?
The primary way people end up with Steam Key codes is by buying games outside of Steam. As these clients can’t really directly give you the game without access to your account, they give you something that redeems into the game or other item you’ve purchased from them.
Naturally, these Steam Keys must be redeemed in the client itself to do anything for someone, otherwise, they’re going to end up being a random series of characters that makes no real sense to anyone. It should also be noted that Steam Keys are exclusively one-use-only items, so you cannot get someone to share a pre-used key in the hope of also redeeming whatever the key was for.
For examples, large online gaming retail storefronts such as Humble Bundle deal with these keys. Many other PC gaming stores will do the same. When buying games online on these websites, make sure to read the provided information and descriptions to see if the key you are buying is actually for Steam. Sometimes they will be used for Origin, GoG and the like, and these keys do not transfer between the various game launcher clients at all.
That can give you a nasty surprise if you’re not paying attention when you buy a game, and suddenly have to register a new account and download a new launcher to be able to do anything with it or lose out on your money.
