Updated 7/7/2026 with a breakdown by card type, the current customer service reality, and what to do with a damaged claim code. Additional reporting by Palash Volvoikar.
I'm constantly getting Amazon gift cards as a thank-you from people, which I love, because I know I'll actually use them. But sometimes the card doesn't have an amount printed on it, so I don't really know what I'm holding. You might be in the same spot. Maybe someone gave you a card, or you want to pass one along to someone else, and you'd like to confirm the value before you do anything with it.
The good news is that checking a balance is usually quick, and seeing what a card holds doesn't mean you have to spend it. Let me walk through every situation, from a balance that's already on your account to a mystery card you just unwrapped.
How Amazon gift cards work
Whenever you receive an Amazon gift card, whether a physical card or ecard through email, it will have a unique code associated with it. When you redeem an Amazon gift card, the money is applied to your overall gift card balance on Amazon.
If you have money in your gift card fund, Amazon will automatically use the gift card balance for your purchase. So when you're shopping on Amazon, you don't have to remember to use your Amazon gift card, unlike using Visa or Amex gift cards on Amazon.
And if you want to save your gift card funds for specific purchases, you can opt out of using your gift card money. In the "Choose a payment method" section when checking out, click on "Change" or "Change a Payment Method," scroll down, and uncheck or toggle off "Use your gift card balance."
How to check an Amazon gift card balance that's already on your account
If the card has already been added to your account, or you just want to see your running total, this takes about ten seconds. On the web, go to Amazon.com, click "Account & Lists" in the upper right, choose "Account," then select "Gift Cards." You'll see your Gift Card Balance at the top and your Gift Card Activity below. That activity list shows every card you've claimed and every time your balance was used for a purchase, which is also how you can confirm that a code you entered actually went through.
Suzanne Kantra/Techlicious
To do the same in the Amazon app, tap the Account icon (the little person) in the bottom navigation bar, then scroll down to Gift Card Balance to see your total. Tap "Gift Card Balance," and you can see when each card was claimed and when funds were spent.
Suzanne Kantra/Techlicious
How to check an Amazon gift card you bought without redeeming it
Here's a handy trick a lot of people miss. If you bought the card yourself through Amazon, you can look up its value without adding it to anything. This is Amazon's own documented method. Go to Your Orders, find the gift card order, and compare the 16-digit serial number listed in the order details (it sits right beside the gift card amount) against the serial number on the back of the card. That tells you which card it is and exactly what it's worth.
Note that it's the serial number doing the matching here, not the claim code, and this only works for cards purchased on your own account. The serial number is basically an ID tag for the physical card, so you can't type it into Amazon to pull up a balance on its own. It only helps when you can match it back to your own order.
How to check an Amazon gift card someone gave you
This is the trickier one. Amazon won't show you the balance of a gift card you didn't buy until it's been added to an account, and there's no page where you can enter a code just to peek at the value first. So for a card someone handed you, the simplest way to see what it holds is to add it to your account. That sounds like a commitment, but it really isn't. The money doesn't get spent. It just moves into your balance and waits there until you want it.
If you specifically don't want to add it, say you're planning to regift the card, your options get thin. You can try calling Amazon customer service, but be warned: it's hit-or-miss. Some people reach an agent who is willing to look up the balance, and plenty of others are told it isn't something they can do. If you want to try, sign in first, since the call-me and chat options only appear once you're logged in, and ask for a live person, because the chatbot can't help with this.
Read more: How to reach Amazon customer service
If your Amazon gift card claim code is damaged or unreadable
If you scratched off the coating a little too hard and part of the claim code is missing, don't sit there guessing at the digits. Contact Amazon customer service and explain what happened. They'll ask for the 16-digit or 30-digit serial number on the back of the card, plus the order number if the card was bought on Amazon.com, so have that handy. With those details, they can usually track down the card and either sort out a working code or apply the funds to your account for you.
A couple more things people ask
Can I stop Amazon from automatically applying my gift card balance to purchases?
Yes. At checkout, click "Change a Payment Method" and toggle off "Use your gift card balance." That way you can save it for something specific instead of having it eaten up on your next order of paper towels.
Do Amazon gift cards expire?
No. Once a balance is on your account, it sits there until you spend it.
Can I use an Amazon gift card to buy another gift card?
No. Amazon's terms specifically prohibit using your gift card balance to buy other gift cards, including Amazon gift cards.
Read next: Is Amazon Haul worth it? How it compares to Temu and Shein
From Jim on February 02, 2021 :: 11:33 pm
Everything I have seen on the Internet, including Amazon.com tells how to view the value of an Amazon gift card THAT HAS BEEN UPLOADED to an Amazon account (whether redeemed or not), but not how to simply find out the value of a gift card that was purchased for someone else. This is easy to do with store gift cards, but for some reason Amazon seems to require that the gift card be uploaded into your account in order to give you the balance on the card (whether or not your intention is to redeem it at that time). How can I find out the value of an Amazon gift card that belongs to someone other than me without being required to upload it to my Amazon account?
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From Suzanne Kantra on February 03, 2021 :: 10:52 pm
The only way to check the amount on an unredeemed Amazon gift card is to call customer service. Go to this Amazon page (https://amzn.to/36EY74O) and click on the link to have them call you (the chatbot can’t help with this). You’ll have to read them the redeem code and they can tell you how much the card holds.
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From T on May 13, 2021 :: 8:38 pm
In answer to Jim, you provide a link but the link simply opens the Amazon sign on page and there is no link as you state to “have them call you.” I have searched the Amazon site to find a way to do what Jim asks about, and even when I click on their “Contact Us” link, it simply opens the sign on page. For such a seemingly simple task, Amazon makes this extraordinarily difficult. How does a person actually confirm the value of Amazon gift cards as Jim asks?
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From Josh Kirschner on May 13, 2021 :: 11:12 pm
Follow the link, sign in to Amazon (if you’re not already) and you’ll see the options have them call you.
From T on May 14, 2021 :: 2:23 pm
Josh,
And if you do not have an Amazon account, how do you check the value of the gift card? Where is the option to call their customer service or use an alternate method for obtaining the information without an account? Not everyone has or wants to create such an account.
From Josh Kirschner on May 14, 2021 :: 6:49 pm
Can you give me the situation for why you would want to know the balance of an Amazon gift card but you don’t want to have an Amazon account, which is the only place you could use that gift card?
In any case, if you don’t want to create an account, you can ask someone you know who has an account (which is likely most people you know) to check the card for you.
From T on May 19, 2021 :: 5:14 pm
A situation? Very easy. If a person receives gift cards, wants to give them to others, and would like to confirm their actual value prior to giving them as a gift.
Based on the lack of finding a way to accomplish what I ask about, I assume Amazon provides no way to validate the value on their gift cards without creating an account which, again, some people would prefer not to do. This is poor customer service on the part of Amazon in an era when people have options for gifting.