WOOFY · Steam

Before replacing a phone, check how you will keep Steam access

Access to the old phone, access to the account's phone number and a recovery code are different things. Identify which you still control so that you can use the appropriate official transfer or recovery process.

For your own Steam account and its mobile authenticator. This page does not handle credentials, perform recovery or decide account ownership.

Check your access before changing the device

  1. On a device you trust, confirm the intended Steam account and whether its current mobile authenticator is available. Separately check access to the account's phone number and recovery information. Keep passwords, authentication codes, SMS codes and recovery codes private. Enter required credentials or codes only in Steam's own authentication or recovery flow, never in a guide, chat or public post.
  2. If the old authenticator is available, sign in to the intended account in the official Steam mobile app on the new phone, then use its Steam Guard Move Authenticator process. Follow the confirmation prompts. Do not begin by removing the authenticator or wiping the old phone; merely signing into the new app does not prove that the transfer completed.

Choose the recovery route and confirm the result

  1. If you cannot access the old authenticator, choose the official sign-in option saying you no longer have access to it. If you still receive SMS at the account's phone number, follow the offered transfer verification. Having the same phone number and having the old authenticator are separate conditions.
  2. If that route is unavailable, use the recovery options Steam offers for the access you still have. If you cannot recover with the available information, open Steam Support through Steam's official interface and follow its account-recovery process. Supply ownership evidence only inside that private request when required; do not send codes to someone offering recovery in chat.
  3. After a reported transfer or recovery, confirm the right account in Steam Guard on the new phone. If recovery removed the authenticator, follow Steam's official setup instructions before relying on the new phone for authentication. Complete a sign-in you initiate using that authenticator. If you still have the old device, keep it until access is verified; continue to store recovery information securely. Read any account, trading or Market restrictions shown by Steam; restored sign-in does not prove those restrictions have ended.

The remaining access determines the next step

The old phone is gone, but its number still receives SMS

Illustrative case: the old authenticator is unavailable, but you control the account's phone number on a replacement phone. Use the official no-access transfer option and its verification prompts. Owning the replacement phone alone does not establish a completed transfer.

The new app opens, but account access is not confirmed

Illustrative case: the Steam app opens on a new phone, but you have not completed the authenticator move or a fresh sign-in. Finish and verify the official process before wiping the old device. An open app is not proof that recovery or trading access is complete.

Recovery and restrictions need their own confirmation

Available recovery options depend on the account and the access you retain. Steam Support may need ownership evidence. This guide cannot promise recovery, a response time or removal of trading and Market restrictions.

Identify the access you retain, use the official transfer or recovery path, and verify sign-in before retiring the old device.