If you’ve spent years grinding battle passes, unlocking heirlooms, and climbing ranked ladders on Origin, it makes sense you’d want to bring that progress over if you switch to Steam for your PC gaming. The Steam launcher has better social features, more stable performance for many players, and lets you keep all your games in one centralized library instead of jumping between multiple launchers. If you’ve asked can you transfer your origin apex legends account to steam, you’re not alone. Thousands of players search for this answer every month, worried they’ll lose hundreds of hours of progress if they make the switch. I’ve walked dozens of my Apex squad mates through this process, so I’m breaking down exactly what’s possible, what you’ll keep, and how to avoid costly mistakes.
Can You Transfer Your Origin Apex Legends Account to Steam Directly?
The short answer is no, you can’t fully transfer your account in the traditional sense of moving all your data off Origin to a completely standalone Steam account. But that’s not as bad as it sounds. All Apex Legends progress is tied to your EA/Origin account, not the launcher you use to play the game, so you don’t need to move any data at all. Instead, you can link your existing EA account to your Steam account to play Apex through Steam while retaining 100% of your existing progress.
A lot of players use the word “transfer” when they really mean accessing their existing account through Steam, which is exactly what linking lets you do. I used to think I’d have to start over with a fresh account when I first considered switching, until I tested the process with my smurf account a few years back. The whole setup took less than 5 minutes, and all my skins and ranked progress were right there when I logged in through Steam.
All Apex Legends progress is permanently tied to your EA/Origin account, not the platform you use to launch the game. That means you can jump between Origin and Steam whenever you want, and all your progress will sync automatically across both launchers. You don’t have to pick one or the other permanently if you don’t want to.
What Progress Carries Over When You Link Your Accounts?
Nearly every piece of progress tied to your Origin Apex account will carry over when you link to Steam, with only a handful of minor exceptions. The only items that won’t transfer are platform-exclusive promo items tied to a separate, unlinked Steam account, but those are rare. If you earn any Steam-exclusive cosmetics after linking your accounts, those will also be saved to your EA account so you can access them on Origin too.
To make it clear exactly what you can expect to keep when you make the switch, here’s a full list of guaranteed carryover content:
- All unlocked legends, heirlooms, and mythic-tier cosmetics
- Full battle pass progress and rewards from every past season
- Your current ranked rank, match history, and in-game stats
- All existing Apex Coins, Crafting Metals, and Legend Tokens
- Badges, trackers, banner frames, and weapon charms
You’ll also still be able to play with all your friends from your Origin friends list, and you can add Steam friends separately to play with them too. Cross-play works exactly the same as it does on Origin, so you won’t lose access to cross-platform friends on console either.
You will never lose existing progress when linking a valid, non-banned Origin account to Steam. The only time you might run into missing content is if you already have a separate Apex account on Steam that you’ve used before, since you can’t merge two separate EA accounts into one. Always make sure you’re linking to the right EA account before you confirm.
Step-by-Step Process to Link Your Origin Apex Account to Steam
The linking process is extremely straightforward, but it’s important to follow the steps carefully to avoid linking to the wrong account by mistake. First, make sure you have both the Steam launcher and the EA App (the replacement for Origin) installed on your PC, and that you’re logged into both the correct Steam and EA accounts before you start. I recommend launching Apex through the EA App one last time before you start the linking process, to make sure all your latest progress is saved to the EA cloud.
Next, search for Apex Legends on the Steam store and click “Play Game” to add it to your library and start the download. The download size is the same as it is on Origin, so it might take a little while depending on your internet speed. Once the download is finished, launch Apex through your Steam library. The first time you launch, a pop-up will appear asking you to log into your EA account to link it to Steam.
Double check that you're logging into the correct EA account before confirming the link. If you have an old, forgotten EA account tied to your Steam email, it might auto-populate the login fields, so take an extra second to make sure the email matches your main Origin account. Once you confirm the login, the game will finish loading, and you’ll see all your existing progress right there in the main menu.
That’s all there is to it. You can still launch Apex through the EA App whenever you want, and any progress you make on either launcher will sync automatically. I’ve been switching between both launchers for years, and I’ve never had any issues with progress not syncing correctly, as long as I’m logged into the same account on both.
Common Issues to Avoid When Syncing Your Accounts
While the linking process is usually smooth, there are a few common mistakes that can cause headaches if you don’t watch out for them. The most common issue is accidentally linking to the wrong EA account. Many people have old EA accounts they created years ago for other games, tied to the same email they use for Steam. If you don’t check the login details before confirming, you might end up linking to that empty old account instead of your main Apex account.
To avoid this, go to your Steam account settings and open the “Connected Accounts” tab before you launch Apex for the first time. If there’s already an EA account linked there that’s not your main one, you can request an unlink through EA support, though you can only do this once every 6 months, so it’s much easier to fix it before you link. If you do link to the wrong account by mistake, don’t play any matches on it, as that can make the unlink process more complicated.
You can only link one EA account to one Steam account for Apex Legends, and the link is permanent unless you submit a formal support request. Another common issue is thinking you can get around an Origin account ban by linking to Steam. Any ban on your EA account will carry over to Steam automatically, so you won’t be able to play Apex on either launcher if your account is banned.
Sometimes Apex Coins might take a few hours to show up after linking, especially if you have a large balance. Don’t panic if you don’t see them right away, wait 24 hours for the sync to complete, and contact EA support if they still haven’t appeared after that. Never share your EA or Steam account details with anyone claiming they can help you transfer unlinked progress, as these are almost always scams. EA support will never ask for your password over email or social media.
If you’ve been wondering can you transfer your origin apex legends account to steam, you now know that while a full standalone transfer isn’t possible, linking your accounts gives you the exact same result without risking any of your progress. Switching to Steam gives you access to better social features, more stable launcher performance, and easier integration with all your other PC games, so it’s well worth the 5 minutes it takes to set up. Just make sure you double check your linked accounts before confirming, and you’ll be dropping into Kings Canyon with all your favorite skins in no time.