If you’ve got a friend who’s been curious about Azeroth or has been complaining their game time is running out, you’ve probably wondered how to gift World of Warcraft to a friend without making avoidable mistakes. I’ve been there a few years back, when I tried to gift my little brother a Dragonflight expansion for his birthday and accidentally bought it to my own account first. It was such a dumb mistake, but I had no idea there was a separate gift button back then, so I don’t blame anyone for getting confused the first time around. It took three support tickets to fix, so I put together this guide to save you the same headache. We’ll cover every possible gifting option, what you can and can’t send, and how to make sure your present lands exactly where it’s supposed to, no extra hoops required.
How to Gift World of Warcraft to a Friend: All Eligible Gifting Options
First, you need to know what items are eligible for official gifting via Battle.net, because not every WoW-related purchase can be sent to another user. Blizzard restricts gifting for certain items to prevent fraud and account theft, but all the most popular gift options are available to send to people on your friends list. The full list of eligible gifting items includes:
- 60, 180, or 365-day World of Warcraft game time subscriptions
- Latest standard or deluxe edition WoW expansions, including pre-order options for upcoming releases
- Pet, mount, transmog, and cosmetic bundles from the in-game Blizzard shop
- Blizzard Balance that your friend can use to purchase any WoW-related content on their own
Game time is the most flexible option by far, because it works for every type of player, from total newbies to 10-year raider veterans. New players get access to all previous non-current expansions automatically when they activate game time, so you don’t have to worry about buying old content for them separately. Cosmetic items are perfect for players who already have active game time and all expansions, especially limited-edition mounts that only go on sale for a few weeks a year. You can only send gifts to friends who have been on your Battle.net friends list for at least 3 days, so if you’re gifting to someone you just met, add them to your list well before you plan to buy the present. Gift purchases are non-refundable if sent to the wrong account, so double check your recipient before confirming payment. If you want to send in-game items like gold, gear, or pets you farmed yourself, you’ll need to be on the same regional server as your friend and send them via in-game mail, as those items can’t be gifted through the official Battle.net shop.
Step-by-Step Process for Sending WoW Gifts via Battle.net
If you’re figuring out how to gift World of Warcraft to a friend for the first time, this simple process will make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I did. You can complete the whole process in less than 5 minutes, as long as you already have your friend added to your Battle.net list. First, log into the correct Battle.net account, either via the desktop app or the official website. I’ve had multiple friends accidentally log into their old alt accounts before buying gifts, which creates a huge mess if the recipient isn’t on that account’s friends list. Next, navigate to the WoW section of the Battle.net shop, and search for the item you want to gift. When you land on the product page, you’ll see two prominent buttons: one that says “Buy Now” for your own account, and one that says “Gift” – make sure you click the gift button, that’s the step I messed up my first time. You’ll then see a list of all your Battle.net friends, and you can filter by name if you have a long list to sort through. Select the friend you want to send the gift to, add a custom message if you want, then proceed to payment. Once your payment goes through, your friend will get a notification in their Battle.net app and an email to their registered account address. If your friend plays on a different regional server, you’ll need to purchase the gift from the same regional Battle.net store as their account. EU codes won’t work on NA accounts, and vice versa, so double check their region before you buy. If you prefer to give a physical present, you can also buy physical game time or expansion codes from retailers like Amazon or GameStop, and hand the code to your friend in a card or gift bag. I’ve done this for holiday gifts a few times, and it hits different when you can pair the digital code with a handwritten note.
What to Do If Your WoW Gift Doesn’t Arrive for Your Friend
Even if you follow every step correctly, there are rare cases where issues pop up after you figure out how to gift World of Warcraft to a friend. Most of these issues have simple fixes, so you don’t need to panic right away if your friend says they never got the present. First, ask them to check the spam or promotions folder of their registered email, because Battle.net gift notifications often get filtered out by email providers. Also ask them to log into their Battle.net desktop app and check the “Gifts” tab, which is accessible from the main menu, because many people miss the pop-up notification that appears when they first log in. If they still don’t see the gift, go to your own Battle.net account settings and check the “Purchases” section to confirm your payment went through. Banks often put temporary holds on digital purchases from gaming platforms, especially if you don’t buy from Battle.net very often, and the gift won’t send until the hold is cleared. You can check the status of your gift any time in the "Purchases" section of your Battle.net account settings, and it will show if the payment is pending, completed, or failed. If the payment is marked as completed and your friend still hasn’t received the gift after 24 hours, you can reach out to Blizzard support for help. Have your order number and the recipient’s Battle.net email address ready, and support can usually resend the gift notification or confirm if it was already redeemed. If you accidentally sent the gift to the wrong friend, support can usually reverse the purchase as long as the recipient hasn’t redeemed it yet, but that’s not guaranteed, so it’s always better to double check before you pay.
Creative Extras to Pair With Your WoW Gift for Extra Impact
A WoW gift is already a thoughtful present for any fan of the game, but you can make it even more special with small, low-effort extras that don’t cost much extra money. For new players, offer to be their personal Azeroth tour guide for their first week of play. Help them pick a class that fits their play style, run them through their first few dungeons, and send them an in-game care package with extra bags, a few pieces of low-level gear, and a little gold so they don’t have to scrounge for money to buy spells and mounts when they first start. For long-time players, you can pair a game time or expansion gift with a small piece of WoW merch, like a plush of their favorite class, a print of a zone they love, or a custom art piece of their main character. There are hundreds of independent artists who make affordable custom WoW character art, and it’s a present most players would never buy for themselves. If your friend is new to WoW, gifting them a 60-day game time token is almost always better than an expansion, since game time automatically unlocks all previous non-current expansions for free. You can also add a custom message to your Battle.net gift, so you can write a funny inside joke or a heartfelt note instead of using the generic default message. Last year I gifted my raid leader 6 months of game time after we cleared our first mythic raid, and I added a note thanking him for staying up late to teach us mechanics every week. He still mentions it to this day, and it cost me nothing extra to add that personal touch.
At the end of the day, gifting WoW is one of the best ways to share the world of Azeroth with people you care about, whether they’re total newbies or long-time raiders you’ve played with for years. Once you know the small rules and common pitfalls to avoid, learning how to gift World of Warcraft to a friend is fast, easy, and way less stressful than I made it out to be my first time. The extra effort to make sure it’s sent to the right account, paired with a small personal touch, will make your gift feel far more special than a random generic present. Next time you’re stuck on what to get a fellow WoW fan, this is a surefire option they’ll actually use, and it might even give you an excuse to spend more time playing together in Azeroth.
