CS2 Trade Protection and Reversals Explained
Every CS2 item you get in a trade is trade protected for 7 days. You can play with it straight away, but you can't trade it on, and the trade can still be reversed. This guide covers what that means in practice: what a protected item can do, how a reversal works, who gets the 30 day cooldown and the scams built on reversals. For the other waits people call a trade hold, see Steam trade hold explained.
What is CS2 trade protection?
Valve added trade protection to CS2 in July 2025. It covers every CS2 item you receive in a trade, and so far CS2 is the only game with it. The trade completes at once and the item lands in your inventory, marked as Trade Protected. For the next 7 days, the trade can be reversed.
What can you do with a trade protected item?
You can equip it and play with it. For 7 days, Steam won't let it be used up, changed or moved, so you can't trade it on or sell it on the Steam Market, use it in a trade-up contract, open it if it's a case or capsule, add stickers, charms or a name tag to it, or move it into a Storage Unit.
Items you buy on the Steam Market work differently. You can open them, use them in a trade-up or add stickers right away, but you can't trade them for 7 days.
Can you turn trade protection off?
No. There's no setting for it, and the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator doesn't change it. It applies to every account and ends by itself 7 days after the trade.
How does a CS2 trade reversal work?
A reversal is started from your Steam Trade History. It's meant for when someone got into your account or you were scammed, so first make sure you're back in control of your account.
A reversal isn't picked trade by trade. It undoes every trade with protected items from the last 7 days at once, and the items go back to their previous owners, in both directions. Trades older than 7 days can't be reversed.
The 30 day cooldown
Only the account that reverses gets a penalty: it can't trade or use the Steam Market for 30 days. The people on the other side of the reversed trades aren't affected. Steam Support can't lift the cooldown, so a reversal is a last resort, not a way to undo a trade you regret.
Reversal scams
The 7 days also open a door for scammers. It usually goes like this: someone trades you CS2 skins, and you give them something that can't be taken back, such as items from a game without trade protection or a payment outside Steam. Then they reverse the trade, and the skins go back to them while they keep what you gave.
Watch for these signs: the deal moves off-site to a chat app or another platform, you're pushed to finish quickly, the trade is split in two with your side in a separate trade or paid another way, or someone you don't know offers to send first.
The safe rule: treat a CS2 item as yours only once its 7 days have passed. Our guide to trading safely on third-party sites has more on spotting scams.
One game per trade
Steam doesn't let protected and unprotected items into the same trade. That's why you can't swap CS2 skins for TF2 keys in a single offer: one side could be reversed and the other couldn't.
On SkinStash you can still get from one to the other. Deposit your CS2 skins for balance, and once the 7 days have passed, that balance can withdraw TF2 keys.
Why doesn't a new item show on SkinStash yet?
SkinStash only shows items you can trade right now. A skin you got in a trade in the last 7 days is still protected, so it appears in your SkinStash inventory once its 7 days are over.
Trade protection on SkinStash
Trades with the SkinStash bot go through at once, and the skins you get are trade protected for 7 days, like after any CS2 trade.
The same 7 days shape your balance. Balance from a CS2 deposit spends on CS2 skins straight away, but on TF2 keys only after 7 days, because the deposit can still be reversed until then. Your 1% cashback lands once the 7 day reversal window has passed, for the same reason.
Reversing a SkinStash trade is treated as fraud. When a reversal comes in, the account is put under review: new trades are paused and the balance is frozen, and every trade with us from the last 7 days is checked. Balance those trades added is taken back and their cashback is cancelled. Penalties go up to permanent account termination and losing any remaining SkinStash balance. If something went wrong with a trade, contact us first. We can almost always fix it directly.
Trade protection vs. a trade hold
Trade protection lets a CS2 trade complete at once and keeps it reversible for 7 days. A trade hold works the other way: Steam keeps the items for up to 15 days before they arrive, for games like TF2, Dota 2 and Rust when the authenticator hasn't been on for 7 days. Our Steam trade hold explained post covers holds in full.
FAQ
How long does CS2 trade protection last?
7 days from the trade. After that the item can be traded, sold and changed like any other.
Can I sell or trade a protected item?
Not until its 7 days are over. Until then you can only equip it and play with it.
Can I use a protected item in a trade-up?
No. Items you got in a trade can't go into a trade-up for 7 days. Items bought on the Steam Market can.
Can I turn trade protection off?
No. It applies to every CS2 trade and every account, and ends by itself after 7 days.
Does trade protection apply to TF2 or Dota 2?
No, only CS2 so far. Items from those games can get the Steam Guard hold instead.
My trade partner reversed a trade. What happens to me?
The items from that trade go back to where they came from, so you get yours back and lose what you received. You don't get a cooldown; only the account that reversed does.
Why doesn't a new item show on a trading site?
It's still trade protected, so it can't be traded yet. It shows up once its 7 days have passed.
Ready when you are: trade on SkinStash and the bot's offer arrives in seconds.