you might dual-boot SteamOS with Windows on the unit.
Heres a thorough guide on installing Windows 11 on your Steam Deck.
Windows is familiar to many and is fairly easy to use.
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Having Windows on your Steam Deck can also make it a work laptop or desktop replacement.
Thankfully, there are plenty ofSteam Deck accessoriesthat can make doing real work on it a breeze.
But you will need a few hardware accessories as well.
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you could alsoinstall an SD card on your Steam Deckas long as it’s decently fast.
Head toVentoys GitHub pageand on the right side, click onReleases.
Scroll down toAssetsand punch the ZIP folder that says Windows on it.
Extract the contents into a folder on your PC.
GParted is an ISO used to create partitions on your internal SSD on your Steam Deck.
The new partition will be where youll place the Windows installation.
To download it, head toGParted.organd hit theamd64.isodownload file.
Windows 11 ISO
To put Windows onto your Steam Deck, youll of course need the installer.
it’s possible for you to easily find this onMicrosofts Windows 11 page.
Click onDownload, then select your language.
Windows Drivers for Steam Deck
Windows doesnt support all the Steam Decks hardware straight from the get-go.
This will make things way more convenient.
Youll then pick the storage equipment you want to store Ventoy on.
In our case, its the 32GB SD card.
you could now insert the SD card into the Steam Deck.
To do this, shut down your Steam Deck first.
Once its off, hold down the volume down button and power button until you hear a chime.
Once youre in the boot manager, pick the SD card or flash drive.
This should show Ventoy and both the Windows and GParted ISOs.
Use GParted to Partition Your Internal SSD
You’ll now need to partition your Steam Deck’s SSD.
It’s better to have the option to switch between the two than be stuck with just Windows.
On Ventoy, select GParted to run it.
you could run it in normal mode, but if that doesnt work, grub2 might do it.
Once GParted is open, youll be greeted with a few things before you might get to partitioning.
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Firstly, youll need to pick the tweaks.
Pick the first oneGParted Live (Default controls).
Next, selectDont touch keymapand then select your language.
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Finally, youre ready to partition your SSD.
To partition your SSD, right-click (left trigger) on the/homepartition or the largest partition on the SSD.
Click onResize/Moveand move the right wall to the left, leaving the empty space as a new unallocated partition.
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Finally, tap on thegreen check markin the toolbar.
Forgetting to do this will not apply your partition changes.
Windows 11 Setup on the Steam Deck
Now you’re ready to install Windows on your Steam Deck.
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This prevents the ISOs or Ventoy from malfunctioning.
With Ventoy open, this time opt for Windows 11 ISO.
Just follow the setup by choosing the right language and keyboard layout until you reach the Windows key section.
There, you might safely chooseI dont have a product keyif you dont have one.
Proceed until you reach theWhere do you want to install Windows?screen.
Youll want to scroll to the very bottom and go for the drive that saysUnallocated space.
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Next, clickNew,and itll automatically add the right size for you.
It will then start installing Windows onto that partition.
Once Windows 11 is installed, youll have to go through another setup process.
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To do this, open up your File Explorer and punch the Ventoy drive.
If youre prompted to restart, dont do it yet.
you’re able to restart once youve installed all the drivers to make it easier.
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Once theyre all installed, you might now kickstart your Steam Deck.
This is most likely due to other USB devices plugged into your Steam Deck like a keyboard and mouse.
This is why we used an SD card in our installation.
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Remove all USB devices except your flash drive or use a USB-C flash drive if possible.
If you insist on creating a new partition in GParted, verify its in NTFS format and not ext4.
Dont plug in any USB devices during the installation to avoid this issue.
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Let go of the power button but hold down the volume up button until you enter the BIOS.
Once youre in the BIOS, selectBoot from file > eps > efi > steamos > steamcl.efi.
This should boot you back into SteamOS.
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On desktop mode, hit the Steam Deck icon on the bottom left and open Konsole.
you could then try adding the same command in Konsole and adding your password after pressing Enter.
It will then show your boot options.
it’s possible for you to verify it by shutting your Steam Deck down and entering the boot manager.
Then go toSteam > tweaks > Controller > Enable Steam Input for Xbox Controllers.
You should then be able to use both trackpads like on SteamOS.
You may also configure it by scrolling down and editing it on theNon-game controller layouts.
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