How long do you have to request an app store refund?

It depends on the store. Google Play gives you 48 hours to ask Google, then sends you to the app's developer. Steam gives two weeks, if you have played under two hours. The PlayStation Store gives 14 days, until you start the download. Nintendo's eShop calls digital sales final. Apple publishes no window in the US. Its UK terms give 14 days from the receipt, unless you agreed to immediate delivery. The 90 days quoted for Apple comes from forum answers, not from Apple.

What a refund window is

A refund window is the time in which the store itself will take back a digital purchase and return your money. You usually do not have to prove anything is wrong. You just ask. The store sets this window in its own policy, so it differs from store to store.

Three other routes get mixed up with it. A developer refund comes from the company that made the app, under its own policy. A chargeback is your card issuer pulling the money back from the merchant. A legal cancellation right is a refund the law requires, as in the UK and EU. This article is about the store's window.

Several stores also close the window early, often at a playtime cap or the start of a download.

The windows side by side

These are the published policies for buyers in the US, plus Apple's UK terms, as of November 2026.

The two short clocks mean different things. Google's 48 hours is a line after which Google steps back. Steam's two hours is a playtime cap inside two weeks, so a game bought ten days ago can still qualify.

Why you keep reading 90 days for Apple

Search for Apple's refund deadline and most results are threads on Apple's community forum. In one, a community member, not an Apple employee, wrote: "As far as I'm aware, the time limit is 90 days." That is a user's best guess, repeated until it sounds like a rule.

Apple's own refund support page gives no time limit. It says some purchases "might be eligible for a refund" and that eligibility "might vary by country or region". Apple's US terms state: "All Transactions are final."

So in the US there is no deadline you can count on either way. Apple has not promised 90 days, nor said day 91 will fail. Ask soon at reportaproblem.apple.com: choose Request a refund, pick the item and give a reason. Apple says to wait 24 to 48 hours for an update.

Apple's UK terms do give a number. You may cancel "within fourteen (14) days of when you received your receipt, without giving any reason." Then comes the catch. You cannot cancel if delivery "has started upon your request and acknowledgement that you thereby lose your cancellation right." An app you download at once usually falls under that. To cancel, the terms point to Purchase History in your Apple Account, where you choose Withdraw Transaction. UK and EU law work the same way for digital content, as the deadlines for returning things bought online explain.

Store by store

Google Play

Google says it "doesn't give refunds for most Google Play purchases." The exception is the first 48 hours, when "you may be able to get a refund depending on the details of the purchase." After that, Google tells you to contact the developer, who "can process refunds according to their policies and applicable laws."

You can return a given app or game only once, and a repeat purchase is not refundable. Google also says it may refuse a refund if you shared your account details or did not protect your account with authentication. Turning on two-factor authentication helps with more than refunds.

Steam

Valve will refund a game "for any reason" within two weeks of purchase, with less than two hours played. For a pre-purchase, the two weeks start at release, but playtime counts from purchase. Downloadable content gets 14 days too, if unused and the base game has had under two hours of play since. In-game items in Valve's own games get 48 hours. A VAC ban, Valve's anti-cheat penalty, ends the right to refund that game. Outside these rules, Valve says you can ask anyway and it will take a look.

Money comes back within a week of approval. Valve warns it may stop refunding people who abuse refunds.

PlayStation Store

Sony's US policy gives 14 days from purchase to cancel a game or add-on, "provided that you have not started downloading or streaming it." After that, a refund needs a fault. In-game currency bought from the store keeps its 14 days only until you launch the game. Wallet top-ups cannot be cancelled. PlayStation Plus can be cancelled within 14 days of the first payment, with the refund cut for the time used.

Sony notes that Automatic Downloads can start a download for you, and pre-loading counts.

Microsoft Store and Xbox

Microsoft's Terms of Sale say digital apps, in-app content, in-app subscriptions, movies and TV are "final and non-refundable" unless the law or an offer says otherwise. Games, season passes and in-game currency are the exception. They go through a separate refund request page, where Microsoft reviews each request. Microsoft says an approved refund can take several business days or longer to show up.

The terms give no number. The 14 days and two hours comes from an independent advisor on Microsoft's Q&A forum, who wrote that requests "are usually reviewed within 14 days of purchase and fewer than two hours of play." It is a guide, not a promise.

Nintendo eShop

Unless Nintendo authorizes it or the law requires it, all payments through a Nintendo Account, "including pre-purchases and subscription payments", are "final and non-refundable." There is no window to miss, so decide before you pay.

One purchase walked through every clock

Suppose you buy a $20 game at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2026, and play for 90 minutes. On Monday, November 9, you decide it is not for you. Here is what each policy says.

• Google Play. The 48 hours ended at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Only the developer can refund you now.
• Steam. The window runs to Friday, November 20, and 90 minutes is under the two hour cap. This one qualifies. Play another 31 minutes first, though, and you are past two hours, outside the rule.
• PlayStation Store. You downloaded it to play, so only a fault gets a refund. That held from the first minute of the download.
• Microsoft Store. File a request and Microsoft reviews it. You are inside the forum guide of 14 days and two hours.
• Nintendo eShop. The payment was final when you made it.
• Apple. In the US, ask and Apple decides. In the UK, day three is inside 14 days, unless you agreed to immediate delivery.

One purchase, six answers. The store matters more than the number of days.

What these windows do not cover

These are change of mind windows. A charge you never made is different. Google says to report unauthorized charges within 120 days, and your bank has its own clock, set out in how long you have to report fraud to your bank. Google treats a purchase a family member made by accident on your account as a refund request, not an unauthorized charge. Giving each person their own platform account, as the family tech setup guide recommends, keeps their purchases off yours. Faulty content has other rules: Apple's terms offer a replacement or refund when technical problems prevent delivery. Turning off a renewal stops the next payment. On PlayStation, for example, it does not refund payments already made. More on that is in the guide to subscription traps. Other countries can differ. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to do before the clock runs out

1. Find out which store took the money. The receipt or card statement names it.
2. Ask the same day if you can. Google gives 48 hours, and Apple in the US promises nothing.
3. Stop playing and do not download until you decide. On Steam and PlayStation, that keeps you eligible.
4. Use the store's own refund page, reached from your account. A refund email with a link may be fake. Check it against the red flags in scam texts and emails, and remember that fake refund calls are a scam of their own.
5. Escalate if the store says no and the content was faulty. Ask the developer, then your card issuer. How a payment dispute works explains the evidence to keep.