Steam is an excellent platform for purchasing games, especially when they are on sale. However, glitches do occur and cause errors that you cannot seem to resolve. One example is the “Your transaction cannot be completed because you have another pending transaction on your account” error.
This article will show you how to resolve this vexing error, as well as solutions for other common Steam Shop errors.
What Causes the Mistake?
The primary cause of this glitch is a communication failure between your local network and the Steam servers. For verification, any online payment must be made with secure certificates. If connection errors occur with Steam certificates, the payment provider and your local network may not be compatible.
To avoid erroneous payments or fraud, Steam pauses the transaction until the errors are resolved, at which point no further payments can be made. This is why you receive the message “Your transaction cannot be completed because there is another pending transaction on your account.”
What Can I Do to Get Rid of It?
Typically, such glitches occur as a result of a misunderstanding between the payment provider and Steam, and they should resolve themselves fairly quickly. If it doesn’t, there are a few steps you can take to try to fix the problem:
Check to see if the Steam Server is unavailable.
Although it is extremely unlikely, the Steam servers may be down. No purchases will be properly updated if this is the case. Check Downdetector to see if there is an outage.
If Steam is down, simply wait for the servers to restart before restarting the application. Examine your shopping cart to see if the item you paid for is still pending. If the payment was successful, you can proceed as usual.
The Issue Could Be With the Product
There’s a chance that the Steam Store listing for the item you’re buying contains an error. This can be remedied by canceling that specific purchase and then attempting to purchase it again later. Purchases can be canceled by doing the following:
- Launch the Steam App.
- In the upper right corner of the screen, click on your profile icon.
- Select “Account details” from the dropdown menu.
- Click “View Purchase History” under “Store & Purchase History.”
- You’ll see a list of all the purchases you’ve made with this account. Examine the Type category. All paid-for items will be labeled “Purchase,” while unfinished transactions will be labeled “Pending.” If the item you purchased was marked as “Purchase,” the payment should have been processed. Click on the item if it is marked “Pending.”
- Click “Cancel this transaction” from the list of options below.
- Select “Cancel my purchase.”
- Go back to the Steam Storefront. If you want to buy more games, try to see if the transaction goes through.
Your VPN could be the source of the issue.
The Steam Store prices games differently depending on region, and your account will be restricted to that region. If your Steam location and VPN location do not match, an error may occur with your Steam payment method. You can resolve this by performing the following actions:
- Turn off Steam. Check that it is fully closed and not just minimized. On the right side of the taskbar, click the “Show hidden icons” arrow. Right-click the Steam icon and select Exit from the pop-up menu.
- Right-click on your VPN in the same hidden icons menu.
- Select the exit option.
You can also disable your VPN by using the end process window. This can be accomplished by taking the following steps:
- In the search bar, type “Task Manager,” or press CTRL+Alt+Delete and then select Task Manager.
- Find the name of your VPN in the list of processes and right-click on it.
- Select “End Task” from the dropdown menu.
Task Manager can also be used to prevent your VPN from starting up automatically. This can be accomplished by:
- Enter Task Manager into the search bar or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete before clicking on Task Manager.
- Select “Startup” from the tabs.
- Locate and right-click the name of your VPN.
- From the dropdown menu, select “Disable.”
Now that your VPN is disabled, you can restart Steam. Your current location and the location of your Steam account should now match. Return to your cart to see if any outstanding transactions have been settled.
An error may be occurring in your Steam App.
On rare occasions, your local Steam application may encounter an error. This could be due to a failed update or corrupt local files. This can be resolved by clearing the Steam cache. Follow these steps to accomplish this:
- Launch the Steam App.
- In the upper left corner of the screen, select “Steam.”
- From the dropdown menu, select “Settings.”
- Click “Downloads” on the left menu.
- Click “Clear Download Cache” at the bottom of the window.
- Allow Steam to finish updating after restarting it.
- Check your shopping cart to see if any purchase errors have been corrected.
Purchase the game from the Steam website.
This may be a temporary solution, but if your Steam app isn’t working, the Steam website may allow you to continue with a purchase. To accomplish this:
- Navigate to the Steam website.
- Click “Log in,” then enter your login information.
- If you have enabled two-factor authentication, you will be asked to enter a verification code.
- Go to the store page for the game you want to buy.
- Add it to your shopping cart, then proceed to the checkout.
Proceed to the Steam Help Desk.
If none of the suggested solutions work, you should contact Steam’s customer service team to see what else can be done. They provide step-by-step instructions for many common problems and allow you to contact support if the problem cannot be resolved automatically.
Other Typical Steam Store Issues
If you use the Steam platform frequently, you may encounter some of these common errors. If you do, here’s a quick fix for it.
The Steam Store is not loading.
When this occurs, it is usually due to a Steam download error. The update could be corrupted, or a file could be corrupted. The simplest solution is to clear the cache and restart the update, but how can you do that if the Steam app won’t load? Fortunately, you can accomplish this entirely through Windows by performing the following steps:
- Enter “Run” into your search bar.
- Fill in the blanks with the following: steam:/flushconfig
- Select “OK.”
- Click “OK” in the popup menu.
- Restart Steam and check to see if it updated correctly. To proceed, you must re-enter your login information.
Games Are Missing
Steam games, once purchased, will never be removed from your account. Even games that are no longer available on the store will be available for download and installation if you have previously purchased them. If you are unable to locate a specific game on your account, try the following:
- Check that you’re viewing all games, not just the ones you’ve installed. A play icon can be found on the Library tab, on the left menu just above the search bar. This toggles between viewing installed games and viewing all games.
- You might have some gift games in your inventory. Some games must be redeemed before they can be added to your library. Look through your inventory for your game code.
- The game could have been a one-time event. Some games provide free weekends or limited demo periods. These games will appear in your library during the event but will be removed once it is over.
Never Pass Up an Opportunity
Steam is a great way to buy games, but occasionally errors occur that prevent you from purchasing the items you desire. It’s critical to understand how to remove the “Your transaction cannot be completed because you have another pending transaction on your account” message, especially during a sale. You’ll never miss out on a deal again if you know what to do.
Do you have any other suggestions for resolving the pending transaction bug? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.