How to use your Steam Deck as a PC controller

The Steam Deck is an excellent handheld gaming console, and that's partly due to its fantastic controls. Inspired by the original Steam Controller, it features two haptic touchpads, four back buttons, and gyro support in addition to the typical buttons found on a controller. The quality of the Deck's controls is top-notch, and it would be a shame if they were limited to just the Deck itself.

The good news is that they can actually be flexibly connected to your PC! There are two easy ways to use your Steam Deck as a controller for your PC, one is a little easier than the other. Here's how to turn your Steam Deck into a regular PC controller.

Using Steam Remote Play

Stream on your Steam Deck, but use your PC for viewing

While Remote Play is intended for slightly different streaming, such as from your main PC to your Steam Deck, it's also a way to use the Deck as a controller for your PC. This is the easiest of the two methods to set up and will probably work best for most users.

1. Make sure the game you want to play is installed on your main PC. If you're trying to play a game that isn't available on Steam, add your game to Steam manually.
2. Connect the PC and your Steam Deck to the same network. For better performance, your PC can be connected via Ethernet instead of WiFi.
3. Open Steam on your PC, click on the steam icon top left and select Settings.

   

4. Navigate to Remote playback Make sure that Remote playback is activated.

   

5. Activate Advanced Host Optionsand then activate Play audio on the host.

   

6. On your deck, find the game you want to stream in your library and select Electricity. If Play is what you see instead of Electricityclick on the arrow next to Play and select Stream from your PC.

   

7. Choose your desktop Name of PC from the pop-up menu.

   

And that's all. With this method, you stream gameplay to your deck, but instead of looking at your deck's screen, you're looking at your PC's display. You should also know that when you open the Steam overlay, it will open on your Steam Deck and not your PC, screenshots will be taken on your deck, and you'll have just as much control over your PC as you would with any other controller.

Also, this method requires a good Wi-Fi connection to achieve good latency. To improve performance on a poorer connection, you may need to reduce the resolution in your deck's Remote Play settings (you can find these by clicking Steam buttonthen go to Settingsand then to Remote playback Tab).

Use VirtualHere to turn your deck into a controller

A somewhat shabby method, but it works

While Remote Play is convenient and works almost instantly, it's a bandwidth-inefficient way to use a controller and may be slow or non-functional for your needs. There is a way to turn your deck into a real controller, however, even though Valve never designed the Steam Deck for such use. A very clever Reddit user figured out how to do just that in a somewhat tedious but overall not too difficult process, and the result works quite well.

Setting up the Steam Deck

1. Press the Steam button on the deck.

   

2. Choose Performanceand then select Switch to desktop.

   

3. Open your favorite web browser and go to the VirtualHere website to VirtualHere USB Server for Linux (x86_64).

   

4. After downloading, open the Start menu and navigate to Settings > System Settings, and open the app.

   

5. Navigate to user and change your password, which is not created by default, I recommend setting a simple value.

   

6. Then open the dolphin File Manager and navigate to Documents Folder.

   

7. Create a folder called virtually here. Make sure everything is in lowercase.

   

8. Navigate to Downloads Folder and cut the vhusbdx86_64 the downloaded file.

   

9. Go back to virtually here and paste the downloaded file.
10. Right-click on the file and select Characteristics.

    

11. In the Permissions Activate the tab Is executable and then select OK.

    

12. Open Steam and click Add game in the lower left corner and then click Add a non-Steam gameand click on Browse.

    

13. Navigate to virtually here Folder.

    

14. Change the file type to All filesselect the vhusbdx86_64 and click on Open.

    

15. Find vhusbdx86_64 in the list, select the check box next to it and select Add selected programs.

    

16. Find the entry for the vhusbdx86_64 File in your Steam library and select the Manage icon, Then Characteristics.

    

17. In the Shortcut tab change the text to Goal To:

    env

18. Change the Start in Field in:

    "./"

19. In Startup options insert the following:

    -u LD_PRELOAD konsole --fullscreen --notransparency --hold -e sudo /home/deck/Documents/virtualhere/vhusbdx86_64

    

20. Rename the app to something like Controller and maybe add an icon.

And that's all you need to do on your deck. Now let's move on to what you need to do on your PC.

Setting up your PC

1. Before we turn to your PC, go to your Wi-Fi Settings on your Steam Deck, press A Click or touch the network you are currently connected to and make a note of Steam Deck IP address. It should start with 192.

   

2. Then open the Controller App that you have set up on your deck. You must enter your password and can call up the virtual keyboard with the Steam key + X. Don't worry if your password doesn't appear in the window, this is normal.

   

3. Now go to your PC, download the VirtualHere Client version for your PC's operating system and follow the steps to install.
4. After installation, open the VirtualHere Client program. You may see some things under USB hubs, but you're not finished yet.
5. Right-click on USB hubs and click on Specify hubs.

   

6. Click Add and enter your IP address of the deck and add: 7575 until the end.

   

7. You should now see something that says Steam Controller. Double-click it and your Steam Deck will behave like a standard Steam Controller.

   

If you want to disconnect your deck from the PC, right-click USB hubs and click on exit. Then you can use your Steam Deck to Steam button and click on End game. If the deck does not respond even after disconnecting, you must restart the deck by holding down the power button and clicking Restart.

Overall, this method works pretty well, although it's not perfect. Most of the problems come from the deck itself. It's annoying to have to enter a password every time you open the controller app (which is why we'd keep it as simple as possible), and quitting the controller app can force a restart, which is even more annoying. Still, it has advantages over Remote Play and is arguably better for people who want to play games outside of Steam.

Using the Steam Deck as a controller is excellent, but not seamless

Whichever method you choose, you'll have a good but buggy experience. Remote Play is hard to use on weak networks and VirtualHere is a bit wonky. Since using the deck as a controller presents the same problems as using the Wii U GamePad, it may not be ideal to use such a large device as a controller. You'll also need a good charger for it due to the high power consumption.

That said, the overall experience is still good with either method. And if you plan on using your Steam Deck as a controller with your PC, keep in mind that you may need a good case in case you drop it.