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How to activate the key through the steam application. How to activate the purchased key on Steam. What is a key in Steam

Many of us use the Steam game client, which provides access to many popular games. Downloading games from Steam often occurs using an electronic key, while having received such a key, the user sometimes does not know how to work with it and where it can be activated. This material is intended to help such users, in it we will tell you how to activate the key in Steam, and what is the step-by-step procedure for such activation.

What you need to know about the key in Steam?

Let me remind readers that the Steam Key (Steam Key) is an alphanumeric code that allows you to activate any game in your Steam account. You must be the owner of such an account, and if you do not have one, then you need to register and create it.

Steam does not sell keys to regular customers. You can buy such keys in various computer online stores, receive them as a gift (gift) from another user or game developer (the latter have many free keys), purchase them from some dubious seller, and so on. At the same time, in most cases, the buyer himself is responsible for the validity of such a key, and if you suddenly find a message in Steam that the key you activated earlier has been revoked, you just have to shrug your shoulders, since it will be hard to prove something.

I also note that when the key is activated, the latter is tied to a specific account, and it will be impossible to activate it on another account.

To view the activation status of the keys you have, it will be enough to go to "Account", then to "About account", and then to "Licenses and activation of keys".

How to activate the game in Steam with a key

So, you somehow received the key to the game in Steam, and you want to activate it immediately. I recommend doing the following:


Activate the key in Steam through the browser and mobile applications

Many users often ask if it is possible to activate a Steam key through a browser and mobile phone. If earlier the possibility of activation through a browser was not available, but activation through a mobile phone (using the functionality of various mobile applications). And it did carry the danger of allowing attackers to access your account (after all, the user de facto transferred the data of his account to Steam to mobile application developers), now there is a completely official possibility to activate your key through the browser.

To do this, go to the activation page on the official website store.steampowered.com, enter your account information there (an account with Steam is required). And activate the product (you can try using the same link using a mobile browser). I also ask you to take into account hypothetical changes in the Steam policy, and the possible removal of this tool in the future.

Conclusion

In this material, we have considered what a key is in Steam, and what is the step-by-step algorithm for activating such a key. The activation procedure itself is performed in a rather template way, and does not pose any difficulties for the average user. At the same time, I also recommend that you make sure that you purchase the keys from a trusted counterparty, otherwise at one bleak moment you may be faced with the revocation of your Steam key.

It is already autumn, and very soon October, in which the next one will take place. But after acquiring a game code on the portal, many are wondering where and how to enter the key in Steam.

On Steam, you can get promotional codes, as well as purchase an activation code for your favorite game. To activate the key in the incentive, you should follow a few simple steps. The only thing is that you must have the official software of this store installed. Although the last steam time allows activation directly through the browser.

How to activate the key in steam on PC

  • The first step is to download and then install on your computer software online store. The software must be downloaded exclusively from the official site.

Attention! Do not use file hosting, torrents and other file sharing services. An installer filled in this way may contain viruses. Download the program only from the official website of the online store.

  • After you have downloaded the program, it should be installed on your computer. And then log in using your Steam account.
  • Next, we find the "Games" menu, in which we are interested in the item "Activate via Steam ...".
  • The next step is to accept the subscriber's message. For those who are interested, read what they write about. If you are not interested, scroll down, and then click "Agree".
  • The "Product Activation" form will open, in which you need to enter the key in the incentive to activate the purchased game.
  • After that, the system will think a little and report that the operation is successful.

Is it possible to activate the Steam key through the browser

Many people do not want to install additional software on their PC. Then a reasonable question arises, is it possible to activate the Steam key through the browser? Not so long ago, the Steam online store introduced the option to activate the key through the browser.

For this you need:

  • be a registered user of the online store;
  • follow this link;
  • enter the key, accept the user agreement and click the "Continue" button.

After that, the system will inform you about the successful activation of the product.

how to activate steam key on phone

Another popular question from users is activation on the phone, through the Android or iOS system. Here the situation is similar to activation through a browser. At this point in time, you can use your phone or tablet browser for this purpose. There is no application for activation via phone.

Conclusion

Thus, at this point in time, the only way to enter the key in Steam is to use the official software of the online store. This software must be downloaded and installed on a personal computer. From a recent point in time, you can use the browser to activate.

This is a fairly common topic in many forums and communities. Steam games. Let's see what it is and how to use the received keys.

What is it?

Before thinking about how to enter keys in Steam, let's see what it is all about. So, you have decided to buy yourself this or that game. How can developers and creators protect their product from illegal copying? Of course, many come up with different protection systems, while "Steam" offered an interesting thing - the key.

It's not one that can be simply generated by a cracker. In order to answer how to activate the key in Steam, you must first obtain it. And the way to get it is simple - buying the game. After that, it will be sent to you by email. For each game. With all this, these keys are created individually, which guarantees reliable protection against copying and attempts to "transfer" the game from one account to another. Now let's see how to enter keys in Steam.

If the game asks for keys...

So, users may encounter such a problem that when they start the game, they may be asked for an activation key. Very often this problem appears on Need For speed. Players quite often ask what to do when they have already activated all the keys, but the system still does not let them into the game. How to enter keys in Steam in this situation?

Here, of course, the situation is somewhat different than we will consider further. The thing is that many games require an additional key. It is obtained through registration in a particular project. Thus, you will need to "dig" in your letters that you received and find the one that the game support sent you. It must contain an active email and the required combination of numbers and letters. Just enter everything you need in the required fields, and the problems will go away by themselves. If this does not happen, contact the support service - all games are purchased on Steam, which leaves you the right to use the so-called support, which should help you solve the problem. But there is another situation that is more suitable for our today's topic.

First start

So, how to enter keys in Steam when the game requires them? You need to register an account, and then buy some desired toy. With all this, you must have an active email and access to it. After you make a purchase, you will receive an email containing a key.

But where to enter the key in Steam? Sometimes the game itself at the first start requires you to introduce. You just need to copy it from the received letter and paste it into the required fields during the first launch. So that this process won't take you long.

There is little advice: You should not buy many games at the same time and immediately launch them. This is necessary so that you do not get confused with the keys. It is best to do everything consistently and gradually. True, you can open many windows in the browser, each of which will open a certain letter with a key. But this is not the best idea. There is another method to "activate" the key. Let's see which one.

Key activation

So, if you need to activate the "number" sent to you, but you don't know where to enter the keys in Steam, then the following words will definitely help you.

In order to successfully activate the key issued by the Steam system, you, of course, need to have an account and access to it. If you cannot log in on the account from which the key was sent to you, you can completely forget about activation.

However, if everything is fine with access, then you will need to install the Steam agent, and then log in to it. Next, go to the "My Games" section. Here you have to read the user agreement, and then confirm your consent. Next, you will need to enter the received key from the game in the window that appears, which you received immediately after paying for the purchase. Click "OK" and wait a bit. The toy will appear in your games list. Now you can safely use it with an activated key. Remember that when you change your account, you will not be able to "transfer" your old version of the game to it - you will have to buy a new one. So take care of the reliable protection of the existing account from ill-wishers and hackers.

In addition to the standard procedure for buying games on Steam, there is the ability to enter keys for these products. The key is a certain set of characters, which is a kind of confirmation of the purchase of the game and is tied to only one game copy. Usually the keys are sold on various online stores selling games in digital format. It can also be found in the disc box if you purchased a physical copy of the game on CD. Read on to find out how to activate game code on Steam and what to do if the key you entered is already activated.

There are several reasons why people prefer to buy their Steam game keys from third-party digital marketplaces rather than from the store itself. As a rule, this is a better price for playing or buying a real disk with a key inside. At the first such acquisition of the game, many do not know what to do with the key. In fact, this is a fairly easy procedure, but on the condition that the key is really working and there are no problems with it.

If you don't have a key yet and don't know where to buy it on the Internet, we advise you to read a separate article on this topic at the following link.

We would like to draw your attention right away: sometimes you may see a notification about how the key will be activated. The screenshot below shows that the service says that a hidden activation of the key will occur (a gift link will be used) within 5 minutes. Here you will not need everything that is written below - it will be enough just to log into your account after purchase.

Method 1: Steam Client

Most often, users want to perform activation through the client running on the computer, so we will consider it first of all.


However, there are situations when the digital key refuses to activate, reporting an error. In such a situation, skip to the last part of this material.

Method 2: Browser

When you do not have the opportunity to activate the purchased key through the client, but you need to check its relevance right now, on help will come browser version of the service. Since this feature was introduced relatively recently, the developers did not make a separate section for it, so you have to follow the direct link. Keep in mind that in order for it to open, you need to log in to the site in advance.

Enter or paste the copied key, check the box that you accept the Steam Subscriber License Agreement and click on "Proceed". At the end, you will receive a notification about the activation status.

Activate key via mobile app not yet, but nothing prevents you from following the link above through the browser of your smartphone or tablet, having previously authorized on the site, and doing the same steps.

What to do if the purchased Steam key is already activated

The situation that has arisen often does not mean anything good. Let's take a look at the steps to take in this situation.


As you can see, the key activation process itself is quite simple and in most cases does not cause any difficulties. However, even if activation fails, there is a good chance that the platform or offline store where the purchase was made will resolve the situation in your favor. At the same time, you should not delay the appeal and abuse this opportunity, trying to deceive sellers.

How to activate the key on Steam - the most frequently asked question beginners who have started using it. In this article, we will analyze a couple of "hot" questions that bother users of the Valve gaming service.

Why do you need a code, and where to get it

In the Steam game service, a key is a code, which can consist of letters and numbers, and is designed to activate a product that you bought or received as a gift. Keys are initially generated by the developer/publisher (or Steam employees at the request of the developer/publisher) and then shared with other people.

Activation instructions

Consider a few instructions regarding the activation of keys in the system.

In browser

A quick guide on how to activate the key in Steam through the browser:

  1. Follow the link.
  2. Log in to your account (if not logged in), enter your login and password from your account and go back to this page.


  3. Enter the key in the field for product activation.


    4. Through the PC version of the client


    Through the Steam mobile app

    Some users are wondering how to activate the Steam key on their phone. No way! Mobile app for codes and confirmations only. The developers of the mobile client decided that this feature was not needed there, since games purchased on Steam can only be played through a PC.

    Note! Any browser can be opened mobile device, follow the link https://store.steampowered.com/account/registerkey and enter the activation code.

    The purchased key is already activated, what should I do?

    If the game was originally purchased not in the Steam store, and the key was activated outside of Steam, then now you will NOT bind it in any way. In most cases, this means that the key you have purchased has already been used on another account. Each activation key is unique and can only be used once. If your code has already been redeemed, support will NOT be able to release it or transfer it to another account.

    Example from user experience:

    I started playing through Steam, using an EA Games connection, in one of the games in the NFS series. A year later, I decided to play it through Origin. A message appeared in Origin: "This key has already been activated." I wrote to their technical support, because the game is activated on mine account at EA. They checked everything fits, but for some reason they couldn’t link to Origin and sent a new key to the game ...

    We hope we have answered the most common questions that beginners have when activating Steam keys through a browser / mobile application / desktop Steam.