When the biggest library in PC gaming went mobile with Valve’s Steam Deck, there are few rivals that can even compete. Released in February 2022, the all-black handheld gaming computer looks like a bigger Nintendo Switch with access to far more games. It uses the Linux distribution SteamOS that directly integrates the Steam storefront. For anyone who already has a number of games in their Steam library, it’s a straightforward and effective way to play them on the go with few frills. But there’s a whole lot more you can do with the Steam Deck if you know some of its tricks, because technically it’s a mobile computer with a Linux operating system with a lot of flexibility.

Whether you’ve only just finally gotten your hands on a Steam Deck or are looking for new ways to use it, here’s a guide to basic setup and some of the most useful features and tricks to get the best use out of it.

Steam Deck Setup Basics

Creating a Steam Account

You need a Steam account even just to purchase a Steam Deck, but it doesn’t have to be the same account that you log into the console with. Create an account on Steam's official website for free using any email address. Then, once you verify that email address, you can set up your password.

Logging Into Steam Account on Steam Deck

Once you’ve gone through the basic set-up process which includes connecting to a Wi-Fi network, you’ll have to log into or create a Steam account. To do this, either scan the QR code with a mobile device that has the Steam app or manually enter your username and password using the track pads or touch screen. The login process also includes getting a code from a verification email, so have that email handy. Once you’re logged in, you’ll have immediate access to your Steam library.

How to Update the Steam Deck

Similar to other gaming consoles and mobile hardware, the Steam Deck receives regular updates to its core system to smooth out bugs and improve overall performance. When these roll-out, a yellow exclamation mark will appear over the Settings gear icon. If you've just received your Steam Deck you'll want to make sure it's updated to the current version before getting to your games. Here’s the process for updating it:

1. Press the Steam button
2. Select Settings
3. Select System
4. Select Check for Updates
5. Available Software Updates will then appear with a description of what’s included. Select Apply to begin the download.
   1. Note: You have to be connected to the internet to download any updates
6. After downloading and installing the updates, the Steam Deck will restart.

The console defaults to only Stable updates, but you can also opt into Beta or Preview updates to essentially help Valve smooth out the software. To do this, you have to change your System Update Channel.

How to Change Your System Update Channel on Steam Deck

If you’re interested in testing out future system updates for Valve, you can opt in by changing your System Update Channel. Here are the three available channels:

• Stable - Recommended experience for most users.
• Beta - Testing for new Steam features. Updates frequently.
• Preview - Testing for new Steam and system-level features. Updates frequently. You may encounter issues.

To change your System Update Channel, follow these steps:

1. Press the Steam button
2. Select Settings
3. Select System
4. Look for the “Beta Participation” section and select the dropdown menu for System Update Channel
5. Select which of the three channels you want
6. The Steam Deck will then make any necessary updates if you selected Beta or Preview

How to Know If a Game Works on Steam Deck

Per the official Steam Deck website, Valve reviews the entire Steam catalog and categorizes each game based on its level of compatibility, placing it in one of four categories. Here’s all four with Valve’s official descriptions:

• Verified - The game works great on Steam Deck, right out of the box.
• Playable - The game may require some manual tweaking by the user to play
• Unsupported - The game is currently not functional on Steam Deck.
• Unknown - We haven't checked this game for compatibility yet.

Whether it’s through a web browser or the Steam app on a desktop computer or mobile device, you can filter your library by “Hardware Support” and then select an assortment of the four categories.

If you’re browsing the store, every game’s landing page will have a field will have a small field below supported languages and above the ESRB rating called “Steam Deck Compatibility.” It will list one of the four categories with a Learn More button that has more specific details.

Every Verified game will work well on the Steam Deck with no issues. Controller inputs will automatically work well and no visual elements will be obscured. Playable games will definitely launch, but the “manual tweaking” could mean a few different things. In some cases, there are minor bugs that might not be bothersome at all. In others, the controller scheme may not work properly, requiring you to simulate a mouse and keyboard using the track pads and buttons. This is cumbersome to say the least, but it’s possible to integrate a community-made controller configuration to help.

Some Unsupported games are merely a work in progress; Valve has yet to fully integrate the game. Other games may be Unsupported because they’re VR or have something like an anti-cheat software that’s not configured to the platform. With games like Destiny 2, however, were deliberately made Unsupported due to security concerns with the platform using Linux, which is less secure than Windows. If a game is flagged as unsupported but does not have any specific reasons why, then it may actually be playable.

Unknown games merely have not been verified in any way yet, so in those instances it may just take time but can still be played on the Steam Deck in the meantime.

How to Access the Store on Steam Deck

Valve has a program called “Great on Deck” that flags all of the games that function best on the Steam Deck. When you go to the store on the console, the default landing page will filter by this and present only Verified games that offer a “great experience” on Steam Deck.

To access the Store, follow these steps:

1. Press the Steam button
2. Select Store
3. To search for a specific game, select the search hourglass icon at the top of the screen

Steam Deck Optimizations and Other Features

How to Manually Select a Controller Config

Especially if a game has been on Steam for some time, there’s a strong chance that if it’s flagged as Playable instead of Verified that the gaming community has already created control layouts. To manually change this, follow these steps:

1. Go to a game’s page.
2. Select the controller icon on the right side of the page just under the banner art.
3. In the next screen, you can manually Edit Layout, but that requires intimate knowledge of the game’s controls.
4. There are a few different default options, but you’ll want to pres R1 to tab over to Community Layouts.
5. Browse the options and select one that has the Steam Deck icon rather than the controller icon.

Steam Deck Button Shortcuts

Some of the Steam Deck’s more nuanced features aren’t exactly intuitive, but there are a few button shortcuts that come in handy. They all typically involve the Steam button on the left side of the console and one of the many other buttons.

Game Mode Shortcuts

• Force Game Shutdown (Steam button + long press B)
• Summon Keyboard (Steam button + X)
• Screen Brightness Up (Steam button + Up on left analog)
• Screen Brightness Down (Steam button + Down on left analog)
• Joystick Mouse (Steam button + right analog)
• Touchpad Mouse (Steam button + right touchpad)
• Enter Key (Steam button + right on D-pad)
• Tab Key (Steam button + down on D-pad)
• Escape Key (Steam button + left on D-pad)
• Toggle Magnifier (Steam button + L1)
• Right Mouse Click (Steam button + L2)
• Left Mouse Click (Steam button + R2)

Desktop Mode Shortcuts

• L1 - Left Ctrl
• R1 - Left Alt
• Y - Space
• X - Summon keyboard
• B - Escape
• A - Return
• Upper Left Paddle Button - Left Shift
• Lower Left Paddle Button - Windows key (also called the Super key)
• Upper Right Paddle Button - Page Up
• Lower Right Paddle Button - Page Down
• Start - Escape
• Select - Tab
• D-Pad and Left Analog Stick - Arrow keys

How to Take a Screenshot

There’s no dedicated screenshot button on the Steam Deck, which is the case on most other pieces of gaming hardware these days. But there is a button command. You have to press and hold the Steam button and R1 simultaneously.

All screenshots automatically appear in the Steam Deck’s Media section. To access them, press the Steam button, then scroll down to and select Media.

How to Change the Startup Movie

Every Steam Deck will play the default Startup Movie when booting up, but you can change it in the Settings for the console. Here’s how to do it:

1. Hit the Steam button
2. Select Settings
3. Select Customization
4. Scroll down to view your options for a Startup Movie
   1. You can select Shuffle Startup Movie to get a random movie every time Steam starts
   2. You can also select Use as Wake Movie to play your chosen movie when powering on your console after it’s asleep

How to Get New Startup Movies

If you want to acquire new Startup Movies, you can spend Steam Points to purchase more. Steam Points are earned when you make purchases on Steam.

1. Hit the Steam button
2. Select Settings
3. Select Customization
4. Scroll down until you see a Visit the Points Shop button next to Find More Startup Movies
5. This will redirect you to the Points Shop where you can spend points to unlock more Startup Movies.

How to Download a Web Browser and Other Apps

Because the Steam Deck runs on Linux, it’s technically a full computer rather than a mere game console. As such, you can download just about any program by searching for it while in Dekstop mode. Google Chrome is the easiest to install merely by tabbing over to the Non-Steam section of your library:

1. Press the Steam button while in Game Mode
2. Select Library
3. Select the Non-Steam tab
4. You should get a pop-up about Non-Steam Shortcuts and an Add Chrome button

To install other apps, follow these steps:

1. Enter Desktop Mode
   1. Push the Steam button
   2. Select Power
   3. Select Switch to Desktop
2. Select the Discover tab toward the bottom
3. Press the Steam and X buttons to bring up the keyboard, then search for your desired app
4. Select Install
5. Once it’s done installing, you can use the app while in Desktop mode

To add the app to game mode, follow the above steps first and then continue here:

1. Select Application Launcher on the bottom-left
2. Highlight the app and right-click with the L2 button
3. Select Add to Steam
4. This will make the app appear in your Library under the Non-Steam tab while in Game Mode

Note that not all apps will work well on Steam Deck.

How to Play Xbox Game Pass Games on Steam Deck

There are more complicated ways to get the Xbox Game Pass app on the Steam Deck by installing Windows or some kind of Windows emulator, but it works just fine streaming games via a web browser like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. As long as you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, run one of these browser apps while in Desktop Mode and then go to https://www.xbox.com/en-US/cloud-gaming. That will give you access to Game Pass games through the service's cloud gaming feature.

How to Use Epic Games Store on Steam Deck

Getting the Epic Games Store to function one a Steam Deck is a bit more complicated because you need the launcher app to access your games library. You could theoretically download Epic Games Store as you would any app while in Desktop Mode, but you’re likely to run into performance issues. The most complicated workaround would be to run some form of Windows instead of SteamOS.

How to Install Windows 11 on the Steam Deck

The Steam Deck’s Linux-based SteamOS has built-in limitations that essentially make it very hard to play non-Steam games on the console, but because it’s Linux, there’s still a lot of flexibility to download and utilize a totally different operating system. With Windows, the Steam Deck becomes a more portable gaming PC with access to other libraries like Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Pass, but it’s not exactly super reliable or considered worth the effort.

As of the time of publish Valve is working on a dual-boot wizard that will eventually allow users to boot SteamOS or Windows on command, but it’s unclear when it will be available. In the meantime, you can do this manually by installing Windows to a USB Drive, USB-C drive, or microSD card and executing the process externally.

The best option is to boot Windows using the external storage rather than replace SteamOS with Windows outright.

1. Go to Microsoft’s Download Windows 11 page on your Windows PC
2. Select Download Now in the Create Windows 11 Installation Media section
3. Open the file once it’s downloaded (it should be called something like “mediacreationtool”), and follow the basic setup until you reach “Choose which media to use.” Select ISO file and save it to your desktop.
4. While it downloads, install Rufus, an app that creates bootable drives, and insert your microSD card into your computer if you haven’t already.
5. Launch Rufus, and select your external storage in the Device section.
6. Under Boot selection, select Disk or ISO image and load the ISO file
7. In the Image Option field, select Windows To Go
8. Name your microSD card in the Volume Label field with something like Windows Steam Deck
9. Select Start then choose your Windows edition.
10. In the Windows User Experience pop-up box, make sure you select Prevent Windows To Go from accessing internal disks
    1. If you want to use a Microsoft account, then leave the second option (Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account) unchecked.
    2. The third option allows you to create a local account which isn’t necessary
    3. Leave the fourth option checked to mirror the regional options, saving you some setup time.
    4. The final option allows you to skip privacy questions.
11. Select OK to begin the installation
12. While you wait for the install, you’ll also need to download various drivers to optimize Windows functionality on the Steam Deck. Go to the Steam Deck - Windows Resources support page and download the drivers corresponding to your Steam Deck console into a new folder on the same external drive.
    1. Note: You can also wait to install these drivers until after you’ve already booted up Windows on your Steam Deck, but relying on the Steam Deck's Wi-Fi connectivity will likely make it a slower process.
13. When you’re ready, turn off your Steam Deck and insert the external drive.
14. Hold the Power button and Volume Down buttons to access the Boot Manager
15. Select the EFI SD/MMC Card option under EFI Boot Devices. Your Steam Deck will boot up Windows and begin the setup process.

Other Great Steam Deck Features

• Nintendo Switch Controls - If you prefer a game’s controls to more closely resemble the Switch — where the rightmost button is accept and the bottom is cancel — when you can select “Use Nintendo Button Layout” in the Controller section of the Steam Deck’s Settings.
• Create Custom Collections - Spend some time on your desktop’s Steam app or in your web browser to create some Collections in your Steam Library. Just select Library, then Collections, and you can create named folders bundling games together. A good starting point is to
• Activate Night Mode - To make your bright Steam Deck screen easier on the eyes, use the “Schedule Night Mode” option in the Display tab of Settings to schedule a darker display during specific hours of the day.
• Adjust Notification Settings - While gaming on your Steam Deck, you will still get pop-up notifications about what your friends are playing, but you can disable them outright or customize what you receive in the Notifications section of Settings.
• Remote Play from Your PC - As long as you’re on the same network as your PC, you can easily stream a game from the PC to your Steam Deck. When viewing a game in your library select the down arrow next to the Install/Play button and select your computer. This allows you to play games not optimized for the Steam Deck and conserve battery life.
• Customize Your Keyboard - Similar to how you can purchase alternate Startup Movies in the points shop, you can also purchase different styles for your Steam Keyboard.

Corey is an entertainment journalist who specializes in Rick and Morty and Destiny 2. He also can’t stop replaying Fire Emblem: Three houses. Father of two cats and two humans. Find him on X, née Twitter, at @coreyisafox.