Welcome to the Steam Deck & SteamOS forum. Valve's Steam Deck brought PC gaming to a handheld in a way that just works, and it's also a superb emulation machine. This forum covers both the LCD and OLED models, SteamOS running on other devices, and the mods and upgrades people love to make.
How this forum is organised
Threads go into one of four subforums:
• General discussion: news, setups, games, accessories and chat about the Deck and SteamOS
• Mods & upgrades: SSD swaps, screens, shells, docks and accessories
• Emulation on Steam Deck: EmuDeck, RetroDECK, ES-DE and getting everything running
• Help & troubleshooting: something isn't working and you need a hand
Emulation problems can go in either Emulation on Steam Deck or Help & troubleshooting; if the emulator works but you're tuning it, choose Emulation, and if something's broken, choose Help.
What belongs elsewhere
• Deciding between a Deck and something else? Ask in Which handheld should I buy?
• Windows handhelds such as the ROG Ally and Legion Go have their own forum, ROG Ally, Legion Go & PC handhelds. If you're running SteamOS or a SteamOS-like system on one, either forum is fine, but say which device you have.
• Announcements and leaks go in Handheld news & reviews
Starter knowledge for new owners
• Game Mode is the console-style interface; Desktop Mode is a full Linux desktop. Most tinkering, including emulation setup, starts in Desktop Mode.
• Proton lets many Windows games run on SteamOS. Valve's Deck Verified ratings and community reports are both useful guides.
• Per-game performance settings, such as frame rate limits and power limits, can extend battery life a long way on lighter games.
• SteamOS has an immutable system partition, so changes outside your home folder can be undone by updates. Install apps through the Discover store or flatpaks where you can.
• Valve provides an official recovery image if things go badly wrong. Keep a USB stick handy.
• SteamOS is now available on more than just the Deck, and community systems like Bazzite offer a similar experience. Support varies by device and changes often.
Legal and safety
KZE is homebrew-friendly but never piracy-friendly. No links to or requests for ROMs, ISOs, BIOS files, firmware dumps, keys, cracked games or pre-loaded drives, or where to find them. Dump your own games and BIOS. No malware, and no selling or paid services.
House rules
The general KZE rules apply throughout: be kind, English only (posts in other languages are translated automatically), no spam, no keyboard mashing and no self-promotion spam. Please use Report on anything that breaks the rules. This welcome thread is locked, so choose a subforum and start your own thread.
Dexter
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