So I was going back through all the bundles I've bought, keys I've been gifted, etc and I've run into a problem.

How do I tell if a key has already been used, or if it's just in my library? Currently I'm seeing the message - "This Steam account already owns the product(s) associated with this activation code." but does that mean the key has already been used, or does it just mean I already own the game, it may or may not be through this key specifically?

I'd like to gift what I believe to be a dozen or so games, but I can't tell right now which ones are unused vs used!

11 years ago*

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It means you have the game. Finding out whether the key was or wasn't used is a matter of luck. Just throw them down and hope for the best!

11 years ago
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It does not mean anything. There's no way of telling if a key is used or not apart from redeeming it in an account that does not have the game. That will consume the key in the process, however.

11 years ago
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I put all keys I have in one text archive, and delete or mark red used ones, but if you didn't did this at begin, this won't help you knowing if it's used or not :S

11 years ago
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Yup, this is what I do. Much safer.

11 years ago
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you can give them on forum in case it did not work and you do not want to have not received in your account

11 years ago
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Do this

  1. creat a new account
  2. Use the keys on that account
  3. If enough games are added on the account that you dont wanna give the account away
  4. ????
  5. Profit
    (I did this before when i had like 100 keys laying in my inbox i gave away the steam account and have never taken it back :)
11 years ago
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Though some logic and deductive reasoning I've managed to figure out with 99% certainty which ones are unused. Here goes :)

11 years ago
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Only way I know to test a key is by trying to activate it on an account that doesn't own that game. If it works, you just burned up an unused key. :(

11 years ago
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So that's basically worse than not knowing, not really an answer ;)

11 years ago
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I keep a spreadsheet to track which keys I've activated.

11 years ago
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In steam you can see the games you redeemed with a date. Compare the date with the date of the bundle.

https://store.steampowered.com/account/

Edit: Sorry no date, compare it with the activated games

11 years ago
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+


account>account details>store transactions

(doesn't just show purchased, shows used keys for some reason

ex a key I just won shows there as
may 18 2013 | Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition Thirdparty Retail | purchase | free
)


of course it won't say for sure if you added it after the bundle that you didn't get it elsewhere, but it does rule alot of them out if the reverse is true, and you should be able to figure most of the rest out yourself

11 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by Enverex.