The name was originally Stenvorde, referencing a stone ford on the nearby river Aa.

In 1454, the various Bentheim lands were separated, with Count Arnold I zu Bentheim-Steinfurt taking the Lordship of Steinfurt.

In 1495, Steinfurt was raised to the status of an immediate Imperial County by Maximilian I, removing Münster as overlord.

Count Arnold IV invited Lutheran preachers to his lands, including Steinfurt, to help correctly convert the people to Protestantism.

In 1806, with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the county was absorbed by the Grand Duchy of Berg over the protestations of the Bentheim-Steinfurt family, then led by Count Louis William Geldricus Ernest.