A Steam Trade Hold is a security feature introduced by Steam to protect your inventory. It temporarily delays item trades (usually by 7 or 15 days) to prevent unauthorized transactions from compromised accounts.
If you see the following message when accepting a trade offer:
This trade will be held by Steam for 15 days.
It means your Steam account is currently under a trade hold.
🔹 Common Reasons for Steam Trade Holds
Here are the most common reasons why a trade hold may occur:
Scenario | Trade Hold Duration | Explanation |
No Steam Mobile Authenticator enabled | 15 days | All trades will be held for 15 days. This is the default restriction for accounts without a mobile authenticator. |
Mobile Authenticator just added (Steam Guard was not enabled before) | 15 days | If Steam Guard was not previously enabled (via email or mobile), enabling the mobile authenticator triggers a 15-day account restriction. |
Mobile Authenticator just added (Steam Guard via email was already enabled) | Up to 7 days | If Steam Guard was already active via email, trades created within the first 7 days of adding the mobile authenticator will still be held for up to 7 days. |
Recently changed/replaced/reinstalled the Mobile Authenticator app | 2 days | Steam restricts trading for 2 days after switching devices or re-binding the mobile authenticator, even if the authenticator was already active. |
Recently changed Steam password or email | 7 days | Security measure to prevent hijacked accounts from trading immediately after credential changes. |
📌 Note: These trade holds are controlled entirely by Steam (Valve). VPTOP cannot remove or reduce them. You will need to wait until the restriction period expires.
🔹 How to Check if Your Account Has a Trade Hold?
To check if your account has a current trade hold:
Log into your Steam account: Steam Trade Offers
Click on Incoming Offers or Sent Offers.
Look for messages like:
“This trade will be held by Steam for X days.”
“Trade hold until [date].”
🔹 How to Avoid Steam Trade Holds
To ensure instant trades, make sure your Steam account meets all of the following requirements:
✅ Steam Mobile Authenticator enabled (for more than 15 days)
✅ No recent changes (password/email changes within last 5 days)
⚠️ Important:
If your account doesn’t meet these conditions, Steam will automatically apply a trade hold.