Meta gift cards: redeeming to Quest cash, checking the balance, and the currency catch

Meta gift cards are newer and a little different from a supermarket gift card: the card itself is a one-time code, and what you actually spend is the store credit it turns into, which Meta calls Quest cash. Once you understand that, the rest is straightforward. This guide follows Meta’s US terms; a few details differ in the EU, UK and Japan.

Which credit do you have?

• Meta Gift Card: a physical or digital card bought from Meta or retailers such as Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart or GameStop. It redeems into store credit.
• Store credit / Quest cash: the spendable balance in your Meta account. Older “linked card balances” were renamed Quest cash in 2024.
• Promotional Quest cash: credit Meta gives you in a promotion. It is applied to purchases automatically, before your own credit, and may carry its own conditions.
• Game-specific code: a card or coupon for one named game adds that game to your library and cannot be used for anything else.

Check your balance

Open the Meta Horizon app on your phone, tap Menu at the top of your feed, then Payment and subscriptions → Wallet. The balance also appears on meta.com and inside the headset, and every Quest on your account shares it. You will need a payment method on file before you can spend it.

If the figure looks off, Meta suggests signing out and back in, restarting the headset, or clearing the app cache, then checking Purchase history for a pending purchase. Refunded Quest cash can take up to 48 hours to reappear, and promotional credit up to 24 hours to show.

Redeem your card

1. Open the Meta Horizon app and tap Menu.
2. Scroll to Payment and subscriptions and tap Redeem Store code (or Redeem code).
3. Enter the code from the card and tap Submit or Redeem.

You can do the same on meta.com while signed in. Redemption is all-or-nothing and one-time: the full value becomes store credit and the physical or digital card is finished. Only account holders aged 13 and over can redeem.

For hardware on meta.com: an unredeemed card number can be entered at checkout for eligible hardware purchases. In a Meta Lab Store: present the card at the till; any remaining value is returned to you as a new gift card.

Use a small remaining balance

Store credit is applied to Meta Horizon Store purchases first; if an app costs more than your balance, the difference goes to the payment method on your account. That makes a small leftover painless to spend on the next game or in-app purchase. Note that Meta does not let you split the remainder across several credit cards.

Credit can also be used for eligible hardware and accessories on meta.com, though availability varies by product and it is not accepted for hardware at Meta Lab Stores.

Understand restrictions

• Currency lock: credit can only buy things in the currency it was purchased in. A euro card from France, Germany or Ireland works anywhere in the EU that uses the euro and has the Meta Horizon Store.
• Not for: buying more store credit or gift cards of any kind, cash out (except where law requires), transfer or resale.
• Expiry: none in most countries; six months in Japan. Long-unused credit can be swept under unclaimed-property law.
• Refund rights: EU, EEA and UK buyers can cancel a store-credit purchase within 14 days. Some US states entitle you to cash back on a small balance; ask Meta Customer Service with your state and balance.
• Where it’s sold: US and territories, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan and the UK, in amounts from roughly $15 to $100 or the local equivalent.

Troubleshoot

• Code won’t redeem in the app: update the app, restart it, or clear its cache (Android: Settings → Apps → Meta Horizon → Storage → Clear Cache; iOS: delete and reinstall).
• Wrong currency or region: the card has to match your account’s currency; a card bought abroad may not be redeemable at all.
• Sent a digital card to the wrong email: Meta says to contact the original vendor to cancel it.
• Balance still wrong after the checks above: contact Meta Support with screenshots of your Wallet from the app and meta.com/payments, your account email and username, and when you first noticed.

Protect your card

A Meta gift card code is redeemable by anyone who has it, exactly once. Don’t share a photo of the code, and redeem it to your own account promptly so the value is attached to you rather than to a card that could be copied. Promotional credit and game codes are just as spendable; treat them the same way.

If a code you’ve only just revealed shows as already redeemed, the retailer that sold it is the first call. When you file the card in your cabinet, record the Quest cash balance and currency, and skip the code.

Checked against Meta’s gift card terms and Quest help pages on Nov 1, 2026. Meta’s own pages take precedence if they differ today.