How to transfer Steam Guard to a new phone

Problem this solves

You need to move Steam Guard to a new phone, with or without access to the old authenticator.

What you can do afterward

Follow the transfer steps for your remaining access, save the recovery code and identify the resulting trade restriction.

If the old app works, follow the five transfer steps. If it does not, use the selector below to find the SMS or account-recovery route.

Choose your transfer or recovery route

Before changing anything, preserve the access you have

Open the official Steam app yourself. Keep the old phone available while you work through the change, and postpone wiping or handing it over until you have checked the new setup. If you are also changing numbers, identify which number Steam currently has and whether you can still receive its messages.

• Check the account: make sure you are working on the intended Steam account if the app contains several.
• Check email access: open the associated inbox through your usual trusted route so you can read security notices.
• Keep recovery information private: store the saved authenticator recovery code securely, separate from the phone. It is different from the ordinary changing login code.
• Review commitments: note any marketplace delivery or confirmation still awaiting action before starting a voluntary phone migration.

Valve’s setup instructions [4] explain the recovery code. You never need to send that code to this site, paste it into the selector, or share it with somebody offering to move the authenticator for you.

If the old authenticator still works

1. Install the official Steam Mobile app on the new phone.
2. Sign in to the same Steam account and approve that sign-in with the existing authenticator.
3. In the new app’s Steam Guard tab, select Move Authenticator.
4. Enter the confirmation code sent to the phone number registered with Steam.
5. Save the recovery code Steam presents somewhere secure, separate from the phone. [7]

These steps follow Valve’s Android/iOS walkthrough, which includes SMS verification even when the old authenticator is available. If that text is missing, use the SMS checks; keep the working old app until you have completed the move. [7]

Move Authenticator and Remove Authenticator have different consequences.If the screen proposes removal, return to the transfer route before confirming a voluntary move. Removal triggers the longer restriction. [2]

If you are changing your phone number as well, take extra care with that distinction. Valve’s FAQ has separate guidance for losing number access and recommends transferring where possible. Keep the access you still control while following the current prompts; do not assume every number-change situation will use the same verification sequence. [1]

If the old phone is gone but the registered number still works

Begin sign-in in Steam Mobile on the new phone. When asked to confirm it, use the option indicating that the old authenticator is no longer available, then follow the SMS transfer steps. This is the alternative transfer route documented by Valve. [1]

The number must be the one associated with the account, not simply a new number you now own. If the handset was lost, ask your mobile provider whether you can retain that number on a replacement SIM. A broken screen or lost handset does not, by itself, tell you whether SMS recovery is still possible.

Stay aware of which flow you opened. A web recovery screen that proposes removing an authenticator is not interchangeable with an in-app transfer. Read its confirmation and resulting notice instead of assuming that every SMS-assisted action has the same wait.

If the transfer SMS does not arrive

Still controlling the registered number and receiving this particular message are two different checks. If Steam shows a number you no longer control, return to the access selector. If the number is yours but the code has not arrived, work through delivery before treating it as a lost-number recovery.

1. Check the destination. Compare the number identified in the Steam prompt with the registered number you still control. A working new SIM with a different number cannot receive a message sent to the old one.
2. Check delivery with the carrier. Valve says its messages can come from a six-digit short code. Ask whether your mobile service can receive those messages, and check that your message inbox is not full. SMS troubleshooting [1]
3. Pause repeated requests. Valve says too many requests can temporarily stop SMS delivery; waiting a few minutes to an hour may allow it to resume. The transfer screen provides a resend option, but repeatedly pressing it is not evidence that delivery is working. [1] [7]
4. Escalate a persistent delay. Valve’s transfer walkthrough says to contact Steam Support if the text has not arrived after a few hours. Record the request time, any displayed error and the carrier’s response for the official help route. [7]

Those intervals describe SMS-delivery troubleshooting; they are not a promised arrival time or the start of the two-day transfer restriction. Keep the existing authenticator available if it works. Removing it to test SMS delivery introduces a different account action without establishing why the message is missing.

If neither the authenticator nor SMS is available

Use Steam’s lost-authenticator recovery page. Follow its options for the contact methods you still control. A saved recovery code can help, but using a recovery path is not automatically the same as transferring the authenticator. Read any removal confirmation and its consequences. [3] [4]

If you cannot complete self-service recovery, continue through the official Support route. Keep relevant purchase records available in case Steam needs an ownership check. Avoid guessing answers or repeatedly changing settings on another signed-in device just to see whether it unlocks access. There is no reliable completion time to promise before Steam identifies and resolves the account’s case.

The useful distinction is between regaining access and being able to trade. You may successfully recover the account while a security restriction remains. That does not mean the recovery failed or that you should start removing and re-adding protection again.

If trading is still restricted afterward

First identify the action that actually completed. Use Steam’s confirmation, account notice and current restriction message. Do not start a guessed countdown from when you first noticed the message, and do not assume that clearing one restriction clears every other condition.

Example: you transferred the authenticator and recovered a forgotten password

Suppose the transfer notice shows one expiry and a password-recovery notice shows a later one. Reaching the first date does not establish that the second restriction has ended. Record both messages and their displayed dates, then recheck the blocked feature after the relevant restriction expires. Password recovery is a separate event from moving an authenticator; the restriction guide explains its rules.

Example: the account can trade, but one received skin cannot move

Inspect that item. A CS2 skin received in a trade has seven days of Trade Protection; it arrives immediately but cannot be transferred onward during protection. That item notice is separate from a phone-transfer restriction. Removing Steam Guard cannot make it available sooner. [5]

Example: you can exchange an item but cannot use the Community Market

Check the Market message itself. Purchase history and account status are separate Market eligibility checks, so successful phone setup is not proof of Market access. The account eligibility guide explains which evidence to check. A new phone is a recent event you remember; it is not automatically the cause of every restriction you notice afterward.

Finish the handover and check delivery plans

Before treating the migration as complete, confirm that the new official app shows the intended account and that you can handle a sign-in you deliberately initiated. Save the recovery code presented during the transfer securely, separate from your phone; Valve’s transfer walkthrough [7] shows this step. Do not assume that the old authenticator remains a working backup after a transfer.

If you use a marketplace, review each pending transaction’s current state and deadline. Identify what still needs action from you: sending an offer, confirming it, or completing some step within the service. Read that service’s current instructions before assuming Steam’s temporary restriction pauses its deadline. If you cannot meet an existing commitment, use its support route instead of improvising another transfer or cancellation.

Once the new app works, keep Steam Guard enabled and wait for the displayed restriction to finish. Steam Support cannot shorten trading or Market restrictions. [2]