What does it mean to inspect a CS2 skin?
Inspecting a CS2 skin means opening one exact item in the game's 3D view. You see that item, not a stock picture. You can turn it, zoom in, and look at the wear, the pattern, the stickers and any charm.
This matters because two skins with the same name can look very different. Two "Field-Tested" AK-47s can have very different amounts of scratching. A pattern skin like a Case Hardened can be mostly gold on one copy and mostly blue on another. The name and the wear label do not tell you any of that. The inspect view does.
There are three places to start an inspect: inside CS2, on the Steam Community Market, and in a Steam inventory. All three end in the same place, the in-game inspect screen.
How do you inspect a skin inside CS2?
This is the fastest way to look at your own items.
- Start CS2 and open the Inventory tab.
- Select the skin you want to look at (right-click it for the menu).
- Choose Inspect.
- Drag to turn the weapon. Use the mouse wheel to zoom and hold Shift and drag to pan. Valve added zoom and pan to all inspect panels in the 16 September 2025 update.
- Click the Info icon. The panel that opens shows the item's details, including its Wear Rating.
The Wear Rating is the float value, a number between 0 and 1 that sets how worn the skin looks. Strafe's float guide walks through the same steps. If you want to know what a float means, read float values explained or the short float value entry.
How do you inspect a skin from the Steam Market?
You can inspect items you do not own, as long as someone has listed them for sale.
- Open the Steam Community Market and search for the skin, for example "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)".
- Scroll to the list of sellers.
- Find the listing you want and click Inspect in Game... for that listing.
- Your browser may ask to open Steam. Allow it. The game starts, or switches over if it is already running, and loads that listed item.
We checked this on the AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested) market page. Each listing carries an "Inspect in Game..." action whose link starts with steam://run/730/. The number 730 is the Steam app ID for Counter-Strike, which is why the link opens CS2.
Each listing is a different copy of the skin. Inspect several before you buy. Price differences between listings with the same name often come from float, pattern or stickers, and the inspect view is how you see them.
How do you inspect items in a Steam inventory?
Your Steam inventory on the website or in the Steam app works the same way as the Market.
- Open Steam and go to your Inventory (hover your name, then click Inventory).
- Pick the Counter-Strike 2 tab.
- Click the item.
- Click Inspect in Game... in the item details.
You can do the same on another player's inventory page if their inventory is public. That is handy when a friend offers you a trade and you want to see the item before the offer arrives. Valve also lets you inspect a teammate's loadout while you spectate them in a match, per the same 16 September 2025 notes.
What is a CS2 inspect link?
An inspect link is the address behind the Inspect in Game button. It is a steam:// link, not a normal web page. When you click it, Steam hands it to CS2, and CS2 opens the item it describes.
You can copy it. Right-click the Inspect in Game button and copy the link address. People paste inspect links into trade chats, marketplace listings and checker tools so others can see the exact item.
The link format changed in 2026. Older links only named an item with a few ID numbers, and a tool had to ask Steam's servers for the details. CSFloat's developer notes say that "as of March 2026, all CS2 inspect links self-encode the item details" (CSFloat inspect repository). Its inspect link serializer shows what is packed inside: the paint (finish), the paint seed (pattern), the paint wear (float), the rarity, and any stickers and charms.
For you, that means two things. A modern link holds the float and pattern of the item it points to, so a tool can read them without contacting Steam. And an old link copied from a forum post years ago may not work anymore.
What can you learn when you inspect a skin?
Here is what the inspect view and the inspect link tell you, and why each one can change the price.
| Detail | Where you see it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Wear Rating (float) | Info panel in the inspect view; also inside the inspect link | Sets how clean or scratched the skin looks. Low floats inside a wear tier often sell for more. |
| Wear tier | Item name, for example "(Minimal Wear)" | The tier comes from the float. It is a range, not an exact look. |
| Pattern (paint seed) | On the model; the number is inside the inspect link | Moves the finish around the weapon. On Case Hardened, Fade, Doppler and similar finishes it can change the price a lot. |
| Stickers | On the model, and listed in the item details | Rare stickers can add value, and their placement matters to collectors. |
| Charm | Hanging on the weapon in the inspect view | Charms are separate items that can add value. |
| StatTrak or Souvenir | Item name and details | Changes demand and price for the same finish. |
| Name tag | Item name in quotes | Changes the name buyers see. Not every buyer wants someone else's name tag. |
How do you check the float value of a skin?
The quickest way is the Info panel in the inspect view. The Wear Rating is the float, often shown to many decimal places.
Once you have the number, paste it into our float checker. It shows which wear tier the float falls in and where it sits inside that tier, for example near the clean end of Field-Tested or near the edge of Well-Worn. That position is often what separates a cheap listing from an expensive one with the same name.
Not every skin can reach every float. Each finish has its own lowest and highest float. The float cap calculator shows a skin's real range, so you can tell if a float is close to the best that skin can have.
Many marketplaces also show the float on each listing. It is still worth checking it yourself on anything expensive.
How do you check a skin's pattern?
Pattern is easiest to judge with your eyes. Inspect the skin and turn it to the side that shows when you hold it in game (the "playside"). For finishes like Case Hardened, look at how much of that side is blue or gold. For Fades, look at how much of the fade color reaches the tip.
The pattern number (paint seed) is inside the inspect link, and tools that decode inspect links can show it. With the number you can look up the pattern in community lists for that exact weapon. Our guide on pattern index explained covers which skins care about pattern and which do not. For Doppler knives, the phase is part of the finish, and Doppler phases explained shows how to tell them apart in an inspect.
How do you check stickers and charms?
Zoom in on each sticker. Look at its name in the item details, at how clean it looks, and at where it sits on the weapon.
If you want to see how a sticker would look on your own weapon before you buy it, Valve added previews for this. Since the 2 October 2024 update, stickers, patches and charms on the Steam Market, in the Armory, or on friends' Steam inventory pages can be previewed on your own items.
For how much stickers really add to a skin's price, read sticker value explained.
How do you use inspect to stay safe in trades?
Inspecting is your best tool for not getting a worse copy of the skin you agreed to. It only works if you inspect the right item at the right time.
- Inspect the item in the trade offer itself. A seller can show you an inspect link for a clean, low-float skin and then put a worse copy of the same skin in the offer. Open the offer, hover each item and check its details. Valve's Steam Trading FAQ says to mouse over every item to make sure its properties are correct.
- Do not trust screenshots. A screenshot can come from any copy of the skin. Ask for the inspect link and check it yourself.
- Watch for fake "inspect" pages. A real inspect link starts with
steam://and opens the game. If a link that is supposed to be an inspect link opens a web page with a Steam login box, it is a phishing page. Our guide to fake Steam login pages shows what they look like. - Check unknown links first. Paste any web link you are unsure about into the scam link checker before you click it.
Why does inspect sometimes not work?
When clicking Inspect in Game does nothing, the cause is usually on your side.
- CS2 is not installed on the computer you are using. The link needs the game.
- Steam is not running or your browser is not allowed to open steam:// links. Allow it when the browser asks.
- The link is old. If the item was traded, sold or changed since the link was copied, or the link uses the older format, it may fail. Ask for a fresh link or inspect from the current listing.
- You are on a phone. Inspect links open the PC game. On a phone, look at the listing pictures or use a marketplace that shows float and pattern next to each item.
If none of that helps, restart Steam and try the link again from the Market page, not from a copied chat message.