Every Steam trade hold, and exactly how long each one lasts
Almost every "why can't I trade?" question on Steam has the same shape: a timer is running that you did not know about. There are eight of them. They stack, they are triggered by different things, and Steam does not show you a countdown for most of them.
Below is each restriction with its actual duration, taken from Steam's own Trading and Market Restrictions page. If a number here ever disagrees with that page, believe Steam and tell us.
Steam Guard has not been on for 15 days
This is the one that catches most people. Steam requires Steam Guard — by email or mobile authenticator — to have been enabled for 15 days before the account can trade or use the Community Market at all. Not 15 days since you made the account: 15 days since Guard went on.
Turning Guard off and back on restarts the 15 days. So does removing it and re-adding it. If you are counting down to a trade, do not touch your Guard settings.
You just added a mobile authenticator
Adding the authenticator does not clear an existing restriction. For the first 7 days after you add it, trades you create can still carry a hold of up to 15 days. Steam's reasoning is that if someone else added that authenticator, you need time to notice and recover the account before your items leave.
You just removed the mobile authenticator
Removing it costs you 15 days of trading and Market access. This is the single most expensive mistake in this list, and it is the one that surprises people who switch phones without moving the authenticator across first.
You are on a device Steam has not seen before
Logging in from a device that has not been authorised blocks trading and the Market from that device for 7 days. Devices already authorised for at least 7 days keep working normally.
There is an important exception: if the mobile authenticator has been on the account for at least 7 days, new devices do not trigger this at all, because confirmations happen in the app rather than on the device. Clearing cookies, using a different browser, or a fresh browser profile makes a device look new to Steam and can trigger it.
You cancelled a trade that was already accepted
Cancelling an accepted trade that was sitting in a hold restricts trading for 7 days. Worth knowing before you cancel something impulsively.
Your password was recently reset
A password reset restricts trading and Market access for 15 days if the account was not protected by Steam Guard. If Guard was already active by email or app, a reset adds no new restriction — though the 7-day authenticator rule above still applies if you added one at the same time.
The account has no qualifying purchase
The Community Market has a separate requirement that has nothing to do with holds: the account needs a successful purchase older than 7 days but newer than a year. Wallet funds, games, DLC and software all count. This one blocks the Market specifically, not trading.
The account is limited
Limited accounts cannot use several Steam features including trading. An account becomes unlimited after spending at least $5 in the Steam store. This is separate from every timer above and does not expire on its own.
How they stack
These are independent. Serving the 15-day Guard requirement does not exempt you from the 7-day new-device rule, and neither helps if the account is still limited. The practical sequence for an account you intend to trade on is: make the purchase that lifts limited status, enable the mobile authenticator, then leave the account alone for 15 days without changing devices or Guard settings.
That waiting period is exactly what we sell. Our Steam accounts are created with Guard enabled and held while the clocks run, so the 15 days are already served when you buy. Note that moving the authenticator to your own device starts the 7-day device rule for you — plan the handover with that in mind.