Get the Most Out of Your Steam Deck With These FAQs.
Main image courtesy of Wccftech.
On February 25th, 2022, Valve changed the face of gaming on the go by releasing the Steam Deck. Despite the less than stellar success of their previous gaming consoles, Valve managed to strike gold with the Steam Deck, combining gaming PC tier performance with a handheld package that gives the Nintendo Switch a worthy competitor. And with the release of the Steam Deck OLED last November, it’s clear that Valve continues to innovate in the mobile gaming space.
Although the original Steam Deck has been out for over two years now, there still might be a few Steam Deck FAQs that even early adopters have missed out on. So whether you got your hands on one at release or just hopped on the train with the new OLED model, here’s some Steam Deck FAQs that are sure to up your game.
We’ll be covering:
For our first Steam Deck FAQ we’ll be showing you how to enter Desktop mode. In addition to being a gaming console, the Steam Deck can be used like a regular PC. By default, you’re placed in the Steam Deck’s unique UI ecosystem. But you can exit that UI and start using the Deck as a PC fairly easily. Valve even outlines the process on the Steam support page.
To get to Desktop mode, navigate to Power from the default Steam menu and select “Switch to Desktop.”
And if you ever want to get back to the Steam UI, simply click the “Return to Gaming Mode” link.
Now depending on how familiar you are with computer operating systems, you may find yourself confused on first switching to Desktop mode. You see, instead of using the ever familiar Windows or Apple OS, Valve opted to use its own proprietary operating system called SteamOS, which is based on Linux. Linux, for the uninitiated, is a highly customizable but not so user-friendly operating system that is popular with those in the STEM fields. If you have a computer science nerd in your life, you might have seen them use Linux from time to time.
Now thankfully, SteamOS isn’t nearly as unapproachable as a default Linux installation. It should suit your needs fine if you’re looking to do some basic web browsing, productivity work, or media consumption. We’d recommend sticking to the SteamOS Discover store when installing new applications though.
We know not everyone has the time nor desire to learn a new operating system. If you find Linux and SteamOS aren’t to your liking, you can try to install Windows OS on your Steam Deck (you can technically get MacOS running on Steam Deck, but in practice there is little reason to). This can be a daunting process, but if you follow these steps, as laid out by XDA, you should have no problem getting Windows up and running on your Steam Deck.
As a word of caution, despite what qualms you have with SteamOS, it’s clear that Valve has optimized the operating system to work with the Steam Deck as harmoniously as possible. Such optimizations are not present when switching to Windows, so you may not have as smooth of an experience as you hope for.
The easiest and safest way to get Windows on your Steam Deck is to dual boot with a microSD card. Dual booting is essentially running two operating systems on one computer. By using the microSD card, we can install Windows while still having SteamOS to fall back on.
XDA lays out these prerequisites:
First, you need to download Windows 11 on the PC. Make sure you save it as an ISO file and put it somewhere on your computer that’s easily accessible.
Next, you’ll slot your microSD card into the PC and use Rufus to install Windows 11 on it. In the Rufus application, select the ISO file you saved, select the “Windows To Go” image option, and name your SD card under volume label. Once that’s done, click Start, select what version of Windows you're installing, and check all the boxes under Windows User Experience. Click OK and let Rufus work its magic.
You’ll also need to download all the Steam Deck Windows drivers. Extract all the download files to a new folder, label it Steam Deck Drivers, copy that folder, then paste it into your microSD. It may take a while for the transfer to complete so sit tight.
Now it’s time to slot that microSD into your Steam Deck. Hold the reduce volume button and the power button to reach the Steam Deck Boot Manager. From there, select your microSD card and wait for the Deck to reboot. Once it comes back online, hold your Steam Deck vertically and follow the instructions laid out on screen. You can switch to landscape mode in the display settings once you reach the Windows desktop.
On the desktop, navigate to your microSD’s files and install all the drivers you downloaded earlier. These are all the files you need to run:
If you followed all the instructions, you should now have a functional Windows installation on your Steam Deck. Test some games and make sure everything is performing to your standards. And remember, you’ll have to use the boot manager whenever you want to load into Windows.
To go along with your access to the SteamOS or Windows desktop, you’ll probably want to know how to right click. Unfortunately, the Steam Deck touchpad and touchscreen don’t have right click functionality. To right click, you have to press the L2 trigger on the left side of the Steam Deck.
If that seems off to you, don’t worry. There is a way to reassign which triggers are the left and right click. From the Desktop, open Steam and navigate to controller settings. There you can change your controls while in Desktop mode.
As with a normal PC, your keyboard is an essential part of navigating on the Steam Deck. While the SteamOS Big Picture Mode does a good job of bringing up the virtual keyboard automatically when a text field is selected, Desktop mode may require you to open it manually. To open bring up the keyboard manually, press the Steam and X button at the same time.
Xbox’s Game Pass has been a huge boon to the gaming community since its introduction in 2017. It gives gamers access to hundreds of games, indie and triple-a alike, for a price as low as $10 a month. Having access to Game Pass on Steam Deck would do a lot for your mobile gaming library.
Unfortunately, you can’t actually download Game Pass games on the Steam Deck. However, you can still access Game Pass via cloud streaming. We’ll walk you through how to get it up and running in this section. Note that you’ll need a decent internet connection to have a good experience while streaming games. And of course, make sure you actually have a Game Pass subscription.
You’ll first need to install Microsoft Edge. In Desktop mode, go to the Discover app (shopping bag on the left side of the taskbar) and use the search bar to search for Microsoft Edge. Click Install when it pops up.
Once that’s done, click the Application Launcher button, go to Internet, and select Microsoft Edge. You’ll be prompted to add it to Steam.
Next, use Application Launcher again to open the Konsole and input “flatpak --user override --filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.microsoft.Edge” in the text field.
Now, in Desktop mode, launch Steam and navigate to Microsoft Edge properties. input “-- window-size=1024,640 --force-device-scale-factor=1.25 --device-scale-factor=1.25 --kiosk “https://www.xbox.com/play” at the end of the Launch Options field. You can also rename Microsoft Edge to “Game Pass” or whatever you’d like.
You’ll also want to right click on Microsoft Edge in your Steam Library, select Manage, and then Controller Layout. Pick the controller layout you prefer when using Game Pass (Gamepad with Mouse Trackpad is preferred).
Now you’re ready to actually open Game Pass on your Steam Deck. Head back to Gaming Mode and find Microsoft Edge among your Non-Steam Games. When you launch it, you'll be greeted by an Xbox sign in page. Once you sign in, you’re good to go. The Xbox Cloud gaming library will be yours to enjoy.
If your Steam Deck ever starts acting up and you can’t seem to fix it, you may just have to factory reset it. We hope you’ll never have to use this Steam Deck FAQ, but sometimes it's the only option. The process will wipe all the data on your Steam Deck. Make sure to back up any important files before attempting to reset.
In Gaming Mode, navigate to Settings and then System. Go to the Advanced Menu and select Reset to factory state. Click confirm and that's that.
And that’s the end of our list. These Steam Deck FAQs are sure to get you out of a bind or give you access to a new aspect of the Deck that you were missing out on. Did we miss anything? Leave some FAQs of your own down in the comments below.
