Shortcuts and Essentials

If you are new to the Steam Deck or have never used Linux before it might help to familiarise yourself with the below shorcuts and essentials.

Enter Desktop Mode

All non-steam games currently have to be installed from desktop mode. To do this press the steam button go to power and then select Switch to Desktop. 

Virtual Keyboard

Hold the Steam + X  buttons to enter text when required.

Virtual Mouse

Hold the Steam button to use the right trackpad as a mouse at any time. This is useful when you're playing a game and suddenly encounter a menu that can't be closed with the controller buttons.

Modify Desktop Control Setup

The default desktop control setup uses the right trackpad as the mouse and left mouse button and the left pad as the right mouse button. This is good for some tasks but not all so you'll want to add some more, to do this enter desktop mode and open steam using the desktop shortcut (not return to gaming mode). In the top left steam menu open settings, then select the controller tab and finally click 'Desktop Configuration'.

The below settings are what I use and they make web navigation in particular much easier:

• D pad and left joystick > Keyboard arrow keys, this makes scrolling web pages much easier
• Right joystick > Joystick mouse, this provides an alternative to the touch pad
• A button > Left mouse button, alternative to the right touch pad
  
• B button > Right mouse button, alternative to the left touch pad
• Right bumper > Mouse button 5 'forward', used for web naviagtion
  
• Left bumper > Mouse button 4 'back' , used for web navigation

Linux Console

This is available under the application menu as 'Konsole', you may have to input or paste commands here.  

Set a Password

Set a password for the Steam Deck, it will ask you for this before doing certain tasks like accessing the network. To set it open the console (as above) and type passwd and press enter. You'll then be asked to enter a new password for your device, the password will be invisible as you type. Make sure you remember it!

Setup File Sharing On Your Desktop

I would recommend setting up file sharing from your desktop/laptop to the Deck for easy file transfer. The hardest part of this is actually configuring Windows which can be infuriatingly unhelpful. It is too much for me to cover step by step but you should be able to find other guides on the internet for this.

Take Screenshot (Gaming Mode Only)

Hold the Steam button and press the right bumper - doesn't work in Desktop mode