The mechanisms of electron heating in low‐pressure bounded rf plasmas are analyzed. These processes are determined by the combined effect of electron interaction with the rf electric field, reflections from the walls and collisions. It is shown that when the discharge gap is small with respect to the electron mean‐free path the finite size of the plasmas is crucial for the stochastic heating. A classification of heating regimes is performed and expressions for the power deposition are derived. In many cases, even though in a semi‐infinite plasma heating exists, in a bounded plasma the electron motion is regular and there is no collisionless heating. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.