What are gifts?
Gifts are works that are dedicated to someone by their creators. For example, they may have been written for a friend's birthday, or they may have been created for a Gift Exchange.
A gifted work's blurb displays as "Title by Creator for Gift Recipient", and the work's notes mention that it is "For Gift Recipient".
To access all gifts you have received, refer to Where can I find my gifts?
If you want to dedicate your work to someone, check out How do I gift a work to someone? in the Posting and Editing FAQ.
Where can I find my gifts?
If you have an Archive of our Own (AO3) account, you can find all gifts you've received on your Gifts page:
- Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
- Select "Gifts (#)" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device. This will take you to a list of your gifts.
By default, you'll get an email every time you receive a gift. Refer to How do I change the way I receive comment notifications? in the Preferences FAQ to find out how to manage gift notifications.
If you don't have an AO3 account, you won't receive any notifications and you can't see a list of gifts you've received, but gifts can still be gifted to you. Check out How do I gift a work to someone? for best practices on gifting to people without an AO3 account.
Works you have gifted to others are listed on your Works page, unless they're part of an anonymous or unrevealed collection. Check out How can I find my published works? and How do I find my works that have been added to a collection? for more information. There is no way to filter for works you've gifted to others at this time.
How do I manage who can send me a gift?
You can choose whether other users are able to gift works to you at all in your Preferences. For help finding these, refer to Where can I find the Preferences options?
If this setting is disabled, you won't be able to receive gifts outside of challenges. On newer accounts, this setting is disabled by default.
If you enable the setting, all gifts are automatically accepted, but you can still refuse them individually. To manage your gifts, check out How do I refuse a gift? and Is there any way to accept a gift after refusing it?
How do I refuse a gift?
You can refuse a gift on Archive of Our Own (AO3) by following these steps:
- Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
- Select "Gifts (#)" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device. This will take you to a list of your accepted gifts.
- Select the "Refuse Gift" button at the bottom of a work's blurb to refuse it.
The work will remain on the Archive, but it won't include your username as a recipient in either the blurb or the work's notes anymore. The work will also move from your Gifts page to your list of Refused Gifts, so you can find it again if you want to accept a previously refused gift.
Work creators aren't notified if you refuse a gift, and the work can't be gifted to you again.
If you're the creator of a gift work that you want to revoke, refer to How do I revoke a gift work I've given to someone? in the Posting and Editing FAQ.
Is there any way to accept a gift after refusing it?
You can accept a previously refused gift on Archive of Our Own (AO3) by following these steps:
- Log in and go to your dashboard by selecting the greeting "Hi, [username]!" and choosing "My Dashboard" from the menu, or by selecting your profile image.
- Select "Gifts (#)" from the menu found at the side of the page or at the top on a mobile device. This will take you to a list of your gifts.
- From there, select the "Refused Gifts" button towards the top right of the page on desktop (or below the Gifts for [username] heading on mobile). This will list all gifts you have refused.
- Select the "Accept Gift" button at the bottom of the blurb of a work to accept it.
The work will move back into your list of accepted gifts, and your username will once again be listed as a recipient in the work's blurb and notes.
Work creators aren't notified if you accept a previously refused gift.
Where can I get more information if my question isn't answered here?
Some frequently asked questions about the Archive are answered in other sections of the Archive FAQ, and some common terminology is defined in our Glossary. Questions and answers about our Terms of Service can be found in the Terms of Service FAQ. You may also like to check out our Known Issues. If you need more help, please submit a Support request