Approve Steam trade confirmations on desktop
In ODA, open the intended account's Confirmations, refresh the list, and compare each entry with the trade or Market listing you created before approving it. A working Guard code alone does not establish that the confirmation session works.
The account must have its current authenticator secrets and a usable Steam session. If its authenticator is still only on a phone, desktop approval requires an appropriate transfer; if you have an SDA file, use import. Neither a username nor a login code alone gives a desktop tool confirmation access.
Do not approve an unfamiliar entry to clear the list. Confirm the account, items and intended recipient or price against Steam. If the summary is insufficient, inspect the original offer or listing first.
How to review confirmations in ODA#
- Unlock the vault and choose the account.
Check the account name before opening Confirmations; several accounts can have similar display names.
- Sign in if prompted, then refresh.
Generated codes can work offline; confirmation lists need a connection and a valid session. Read any connection or incomplete-list warning before acting.
- Compare the entry with the transaction you intended.
Check it against Steam's offer or listing. Approve only the entries you recognize; deny an unexpected request and review account security.
- Check the result in Steam.
Approval authorizes a pending action. An outgoing trade offer may still need the other party's acceptance, and item holds or account restrictions may apply. Use the transaction's actual status as the result.
Approve all applies to every ordinary entry shown, not a selection. Review the full list first. Security-sensitive confirmations are handled individually; batch approval is not a shortcut for them.
No confirmation appears, or approval fails#
- An empty list
- Check the account and Steam's transaction status. The action may not require confirmation, may already be processed, or may belong to a different account. An empty list does not prove that a trade or sale succeeded.
- Sign-in requested
- Renew the Steam session. Re-importing the same file does not replace signing in; a valid login code and a valid session are separate requirements.
- Connection, proxy or incomplete-list warning
- Correct the reported connection problem and refresh. Do not interpret a partial list as the complete set of pending actions.
- Timeout after approval
- Check Steam's trade or Market history before retrying. The request may have succeeded even if ODA did not receive the response.
- Codes work but requests are rejected
- The session, identity secret or Steam's account state may differ from the login-code state. Check whether the authenticator was replaced after this backup, and read the error. Do not remove the authenticator as a routine fix.
What approval does on Steam#
Valve's trade-offer guide explains confirmation through Steam Mobile, or email when the account does not use it. Confirming an outgoing offer can authorize it to be sent; it does not itself establish that the other party accepted it. See also Valve's confirmation guidance.
A desktop client is unofficial. It uses the identity_secret, a valid
authenticated session and a time-dependent signature. That is separate from generating
a login code with shared_secret. Our
protocol implementation
and the maFile field reference describe those roles.
Steam controls whether the request is accepted.
Manual review and automatic approval are different#
ODA's automatic approval is off unless enabled per account. Enabling automatic trades requires a confirmation phrase. Keep it off if you want to inspect every request. Locking the vault stops new approval requests; it cannot recall a request already sent. The app locks on suspend and after the configured idle period.
Secrets are encrypted at rest but available to the app while unlocked. Protect the PC and its backups. A copied identity secret cannot log in on its own, but a usable session alongside it can enable account actions.
Approval does not bypass holds, restrictions or CS2 Trade Protection. If Steam blocks the transaction, follow the reason it shows.