Accidentally tried to activate a key for a game I already had. Now what? [duplicate]

I was activating a bunch of keys from a Humble Bundle, when I accidentally tried to activate one for a game I already had. I had intended to give that key to someone else.

As I was clicking on auto-pilot, I may have clicked OK instead of Cancel. When I gave the key to the intended recipient, they said it didn't work. (Thankfully I worded it carefully, "hey, would you mind checking if this key works for you?")

Is there any way to use that key?

I have seen What happens if I activate a product key on Steam for a game I already own?, but that question focuses on getting a giftable copy of the game. That's not what has happened here, and is not what I'm looking for. I'm interested in knowing (and I'll check back with the intended recipient) if the key is still valid and usable.

steam humble-bundle

Best Answer

Quoted from the Steam Refunds page, here:

PURCHASES MADE OUTSIDE OF STEAM
Valve cannot provide refunds for purchases made outside of Steam (for example, CD keys or Steam wallet cards purchased from third parties).

You can try contacting Humble Bundle, though, as they seem to be able to revoke activated keys:

What happens after Humble Bundle revokes? Do they remove the game from the account? If you enable it in Steam they can't remove it, right?

Oh yes they can. A lot of people are scammed on trade forums, and keep trusting obvious scams, after which their games from Humble Bundle that they traded for TF2 keys are revoked. Maybe these scammers use Humble Bundle Support to tell "they activated game in an incorrect account" or something like this, or they just use fraudulent payments. Why would Humble Bundle Support remove the game and not make Steam revoke it from the account? What would be the point? People could just farm free games this way. [redacted for readability]

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What happens if you redeem a key for a game you already own?

No, you can not. It will say, "product already owned" and prompt you to install it or play it. Activating keys never gave users inventory games.

Can a game key be used multiple times?

Keys can only be used one single time. Yeah you cant do that, the key is attached to your account forever, even if you ask for the game to be removed. You can get the game removed but not the serial key.

Can you activate a Steam key twice?

Each Steam key can only be activated in a single Steam account. You can however login using the same Steam account on more than one computer, but only one at a time. When logged into Steam all the games activated within that Steam account can be downloaded, installed and played on the PC.

Why am I getting a duplicate product code when attempting to register the key?

A duplicate product code error means that the CD key you are trying to register has already been redeemed to a Steam account. The key cannot be registered again. If you received a duplicate CD key from your retail purchase you will need to contact the retailer who sold you the key.

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