How to Set Up Decky Loader on Your Steam Deck

[@Greydawg]

This is a great video because often Decky Loader has to be reinstalled after updates to either the Deck itself or the plugins, so it's useful to come back to as updating it (er, basically reinstalling it once it's already on your SD) essentially seems to fix any issues every time. Decky Loader is more important to me than even emulation outright. Thankful!

[@YourPlayer2]

Many thanks! I hadn't considered that but yes, the same installer file should UN install Decky Loader as well.

[@Fixated2]

Thanks for making this one! Your tutorial got my previously installed decky loader that had vanished get updated and working. All my old settings and animations were still there after updating.

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh that's awesome! Glad to hear all of your customizations were preserved and that you're back up and running, Fixated :)

[@MotownBatman]

Thanks, I Acquired a Deck from someone who couldn't pay me owed money. Its been sitting for a year, figured I'd do something with it; This was Perfect Thank You New Sub: Dryden, Michigan

[@YourPlayer2]

You're most welcome! Glad you were able to grab a Steam Deck and hope you have a blast with it, dude :D

[@thuaners]

this is so helpful and your instructions are easy to understand! now my An Anime Game Launcher has artwork and i couldnt be happier! :) Thank you!

[@YourPlayer2]

So glad to hear it went well for you, dude, and appreciate the feedback :)

[@stoneypride5460]

Do note that their is a problem with the stable release of decky loader, it won't show up cause of the new steam update, if you want to use decky loader, you have too use the pre release version for now.

[@irwingrodriguez921]

Is there a planned update for decky loader to work with the newest OS update? Minor pain to have to use prerelease version when it worked fine before.

[@stoneypride5460]

@@irwingrodriguez921 Decky loader stable version just got updated 9 hours ago! (At the time of writing) I haven't tested it yet but It should work now. It should be called Decky Loader stable release version 3.0.0,

[@stoneypride5460]

Just tried out the new stable release it works now!

[@irwingrodriguez921]

That’s awesome! Follow up question but is there a way to update the current version I have now without uninstalling?

[@stoneypride5460]

Yes, if you still have the Decky Loader installer file on the desktop, open it it will ask for a password and then it will give you multiple options, one of which will include updated to latest stable release.

[@JustSultan6]

thank you for this lovely review ❤

[@YourPlayer2]

@@JustSultan6 you’re most welcome, Sultan! Glad you enjoyed it :D

[@miguelsantos84]

Great video as always, Josh, I hope you're having a great day/week so far. P.S: I give you a lot of credit for talking to a camera, I started doing the same thing on PS3 with Dead Space and I never know what to say. :(

[@YourPlayer2]

Always appreciate the kind words, miguel :) Man half the time I'm second guessing myself as well and even after having done it for over a decade at this point I STILL get a little wigged out hopping in front of the camera. My advice would be to keep practicing and remember- just because you film something doesn't mean you have to publish it! I have at least half a dozen fully completed videos I just, didn't like for whatever reason :p

[@miguelsantos84]

@@YourPlayer2 Thank you for the Feedback, Josh, I will keep practicing and keep the videos for myself. Wishing you a great day. :)

[@Majin87]

Another clutch video! I had decky installed but it disappeared (assuming it’s cause I go months without updating or connecting to wifi) I was too lazy to figure it out but this video was a nice quick refresher. Now I can add proper art for the Silent Hill EE from the other video 😎. Looking forward to the RE tutorial. I tried a few months ago when I bought it and didn’t work for me. Also good to know RE2 released!

[@YourPlayer2]

LoL many thanks and happy to hear it was helpful :) I started testing RE2 but man I'm having a TIME trying to get them to work flawlessly to the point that I'm about to just go back to emulation for them :p

[@pedroloura2386]

Happened the same with my Deck, possibly the recent OS update erased it. :/

[@steveandrade3477]

Very helpful video! Thanks for the upload! I installed all of the plugins you recommended and my Steam Deck has a fresh new look.

[@YourPlayer2]

Glad to hear it, Steve and you're most welcome! They're definitely useful and I don't mind changing up the look either!

[@thorntech]

This makes me excited for when I get my steamdeck

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh nice congrats! Glad it gave you even more to look forward to be you’re in for a wild time even WITHOUT Decky Loader! Any particular games you’re most looking forward to? :)

[@thorntech]

​@@YourPlayer2Being able to play sleeping dogs on the go along with the batman games excites me for sure. I've already got 8 steamdeck games purchased without even having one.

[@YourPlayer2]

LoL I was literally JUST thinking about Sleeping Dogs earlier for an upcoming video! And hard to beat the Arkham games- Especially in Knight when Batman first summons the Batmobile and he’s like, “Evening the odds.” Chills every time 😂

[@thorntech]

@@YourPlayer2 I haven't bought it yet but I did sell my switch lite and I'm about to sell my Xbox One x and PS3 to get the steam deck.

[@stuartleckie]

I guess I’m going to go play Enslaved again. Not sure that’s what I was supposed to take from this video, but there we are 🤪

[@YourPlayer2]

LoL I mean, it IS fun and still one I want to finish thanks to your recommendation :D

[@stuartleckie]

@@YourPlayer2enslaved does dip a little 2/3s of the way through, but worth sticking with it for the end. Speaking of endings. Mafia 2 has THE BEST ending of a game if that era. All that said, my time right now is being suitably used enjoying Star Trucker 😃

[@MrQuicksand75]

Cool video. I'll have to give it a try.

[@YourPlayer2]

Thanks dude and I hope you find some good plugins for it!

[@chrisjoebekham]

thanks for this video...dam i love my steam deck

[@YourPlayer2]

You're most welcome, Chris! Still loving mine as well and actually working on a video about why the Steam deck feels like home in a gaming sense :)

[@cozywithlexii]

this helped so much ty!

[@YourPlayer2]

You’re most welcome, Lex! Glad to hear it was helpful :)

[@newblood62988]

Crazy that most of these are gone. 😢

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh weird? Still working for me though I might've missed an update.

[@AlastairGames]

fantastic, thanks!

[@YourPlayer2]

You're most welcome and glad it was helpful, Alastair!

[@ramstab]

i got this recommend just after bricking my sudo :( oh well, nice vid either way!!

[@YourPlayer2]

Gah, sorry to hear it!

[@ramstab]

@@YourPlayer2 its fine if i can use the on screen keyboard in bios

[@blackgoku8897]

Thanks 👍

[@YourPlayer2]

You’re most welcome! Thanks for checking it out dude :)

[@BobertBaratheon]

Interested to know where you get your opening and transition glitch/vhs affects from dude. They’re sweet!

[@YourPlayer2]

Glad you like the visuals, Bobert! Pretty sure I got them in a glitch transitions pack from VideoHive years back :)

[@BobertBaratheon]

@ thanks man, I’ll check it out!

[@YourPlayer2]

@@BobertBaratheon You're most welcome and hope they work well for ya! I just checked and there's like a TON of different ones and they have templates for different editors as well like Premiere, FCPX, etc. :)

[@BobertBaratheon]

@ top reply right there! Thank you!

[@juanperalta7180]

Is there a fix for decky loader? It’s not working anymore. I tried everything.

[@YourPlayer2]

Did you try re-running the installer to update it? That's what I did after this most recent update and it fixed it. Failing that I'd re-run the installer to UNinstall Decky Loader and then re-install it to see if that helps.

[@goated3285]

@@YourPlayer2 nvm I remembered it and thanks for the update because I didn’t know the last update broke it until today.

[@YourPlayer2]

@@goated3285 Oh I'm glad you were able to get it sorted!

[@ashketchup1093]

All the plugins are gone after an update

[@YourPlayer2]

Yup, if that happens you can re-run the Decky Loader installer and then update it to restore functionality. Failing that you MIGHT try re-installing it entirely but I didn't have to go that nuclear route with the most recent update.

[@TheDumplingMan]

Is Decky Loader still slowing down the Deck or has that problem been fixed long ago? When I first heard about Decky Loader in late 2022 I often read that it slows down the Deck. But in this video I've seen at least three interesting plugins.

[@YourPlayer2]

Not that I've seen! Maybe improvements since then?

[@thedrewcarriershow5966]

My boot animations wont shuffle they only shuffle the ones on steam can you help me please

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh weird! I don't think I've tried the option yet but I'll see if I can give it a shot here in a little while and report back.

[@Flames026]

On the animation changer about screen it says to "ensure that the startup movie is set to deck_startup.web in the settings configuration tab". Go to your settings, under customization and change the start up movie to the deck_startup.web.

[@Azendejas]

What game is on the tv in the background during the intro?

[@ryangreen8153]

Following for the same info

[@YourPlayer2]

That would be Sifu! :)

[@LeonidXR]

Thank you =)

[@YourPlayer2]

You're most welcome and hope you customize your Deck in some rad ways, Leonid! :)

[@emmanuelsanchez2580]

Why doesn’t steamgrid give me the option to change capsule art. I can change wide capsule and everything else but not just the regular capsule? Help?

[@YourPlayer2]

Hmm, not sure I've encountered that myself but if I find anything useful I'll reply here. Does it happen on every game or just a particular one?

[@emmanuelsanchez2580]

@YourPlayer2 for all. When I first got streamgrid it was fine but it’s not working correctly anymore

[@YourPlayer2]

Ah ok, it could be that a recent software update broke things. You could try re-installing it or fire up the installer in desktop mode to see if there's any update for Decky Loader available. Sometimes individual plugins also receive updates you need to apply which should be visible to you as a yellow dot when you pull up the plugins menu on the right, though I think you need to drill down into the highlighted plugin to apply it.

[@dylanparker1082]

I download decky just like you and go back into the game mode and I don't have a new option menu with the 3 dot button help please

[@YourPlayer2]

Hmmm, I didn't encounter that myself BUT the decky installer will also REMOVE decky loader if you re-run it. So, I'd give that a shot and then run it a 3rd time to put it back and see maybe it was a bad installation. Failing that you could always try to re-download the original installer file and see if that helps. Kind of a longshot but should at least help isolate the issue a bit. Best of luck, dude, and if you do get it sorted I'd love to know what you found!

[@joshrivas8602]

I was able to download protondb but the icon won’t show on the games

[@YourPlayer2]

You might need to do a reboot or update your Decky Loader. I had something similar after an OS update a few weeks back but after running the update all went back to normal functionality. Failing that uninstalling/re-installing it might also help!

[@BcnEggNChz_]

Hey, what's that game playing behind you on the big screen? Looks like a beat em up type. Plz help

[@YourPlayer2]

That would be Sifu! :)

[@benjaminsheffer6945]

I'm not sure why, but the install decky file doesn't want to install decky; it opens up the konsole, but then it doesn't prompt a password or allow me to input anything. I'm at a loss. I even tried setting up a password, and still no luck

[@djrocuall]

It’s fine as of right now no version of decky works with the current version of steam os so you’ll need to wait for an update anyway.

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh that's odd? I haven't encountered that myself but you might try re-downloading it and starting fresh? Maybe there was an update performed to the installer since last you tried?

[@djrocuall]

@@YourPlayer2 I tried to work on it all day today actually. Found no fix. I haven’t turned my steamdeck on in like 6 months. Decided to start taking it places with me and couldn’t get my decky to work. Uninstalled reinstalled. Tried the different versions. Had nothing taking up the port slot decky needed. Asked countless forums to no avail. I just gave in and hard reset my deck. I was able to put everything on a micro ssd so I didn’t lose too much. Decky is now comfortably working on my deck now tho so I guess that’s the good news.

[@3xtrathin674]

I went back to game mode but dont see the plug icon

[@abdelouedraogo1679]

Power the SD off and then on again! I just did that a minute ago

[@YourPlayer2]

Hmmm, you might have to re-run it but here's a link to the common issues section on the DeckyLoader github page as well which might be helpful - github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-loader#-common-issues

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh good catch!

[@voidenterthehighlights]

I followed all the installation steps but decky doesn't show up

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh that's unfortunate? Might have to do a software update for the Deck itself first or failing that you might try checking documentation on their site here - decky.xyz/

[@actarus4631]

When i try to re-install deckyloader (because of steam updates), it says I never provided a sudo password but it also asks for that sudo password. Any tip anyone ? Already tried Decky! but no luck.

[@YourPlayer2]

Hmm, normally when you get that prompt you can just say yes or 'ok' if I remember right and it will set one for you automatically if you never manually set the password before and then remove it once it's done performing any installation actions. If you DID set the password at some point earlier on you might need to track down what it was or find some means of recovering it. Hope this helps!

[@actarus4631]

@ thanks for your help but I never provided a password and still says both ‘password not provided’ then ‘wrong password’ on Konsole

[@lerjae]

Followed these steps and got Steamgrid and the other plugins but the other ones aren't showing up, is this a bug?

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh weird? If you installed them through the plugin store and they still don't show up you might try re-running the installer or doing a reboot first.

[@lerjae]

@YourPlayer2 a simple restart has done the trick

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh that’s great news! Glad to hear you got it sorted :)

[@ja3sstuff]

​@@YourPlayer2had the exact same problem and a simple restart fixed it, thank you!

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh that's awesome! Glad to hear you're back in action, ja3 :)

[@vijayvenkat6799]

Hi bro I downloaded god of war from f**girl and installed game is working fine but it showing the keyboard settings on the screen while playing, example to run press w instead of up arrow so it tough to understand the game is there any ways change the game layout

[@YourPlayer2]

Not sure I've seen that myself, unfortunately- Although you might check the controller mappings within PCSX2 if that's what you're using for emulation. You might have to bring it up in the Desktop mode, however! Beyond that I believe is Steam + X brings up/hides the keyboard so you might try this as well.

[@faystoface3134]

Hi, need your help... I don't remember my password. Is there a way to recover it? or delete it all and start again?

[@YourPlayer2]

I don't think I've encountered that myself but if you're referring to the prompt where it says one isn't set you should be able to let the installer do it for you automatically and then it should remove it for you.

[@generimposter]

Why CSS Loader doesn't work, themes are broken?

[@YourPlayer2]

Did it ever work for you or is it failing from the jump? If it's the former it's entirely possible a software update could've broken the functionality and you might need to re-install or wait for an update.

[@lildonx222]

Could you do a video on how to download a vpn ?

[@YourPlayer2]

Maybe someday! Haven't messed with one on the Deck yet but if I do not sure why I wouldn't :)

[@vedranart]

anything for simple installing of C++ Runtime? :P Tnx!

[@YourPlayer2]

LoL not off hand BUT I did find this thread on reddit which may prove helpful. Looks like they advocate for re-directing the game file target to hit the installer for the c++ runtime instead and changing it back? I'll see if I can give it a shot later but if you beat me to it lemme know if it works XD www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/14hy344/microsolf_visual_c_runtime/

[@jprogeny7206]

Is this the oled steam deck?

[@YourPlayer2]

Nope! I'm still rocking the original model for now :p

[@reshiramwings5000]

It asked me to install it, and I clicked yes, but it did absolutely nothing.

[@YourPlayer2]

That's unfortunate- you might try checking out the github page here and checking their common issues section or giving it another go after the next update! github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-loader#-common-issues

[@reshiramwings5000]

@YourPlayer2 It took 2 hours of retrying until I decided to try turning on Developer Mode in the Gaming mode before it worked. No tutorial I saw mentioned needing that to be turned on.

[@YourPlayer2]

@@reshiramwings5000 Oh! I just checked my system and I do NOT have Developer Mode turned on so I'm wondering if that's a recent requirement in light of updates that have come out since this video? Either way, I'll make a note of it for future reference in case anyone encounters similar behavior. Sorry you had such a rough go of it but definitely appreciate the additional info! :)

[@AustinLaNoue]

Found this because Decky-Framegen just dropped

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh! I'm not familiar with that so I'll have to look it up :)

[@DefKingofOnePiece]

i forgot my password for deck log in 😢 so I will lost everything

[@YourPlayer2]

Oh because of that Decky Loader install prompt? You might try allowing it to set a password for you but yeah, if you totally forgot your password and have one set you might need to do a reset at some point if you want to make changes that require the password. But hey, at least Steam syncs you library/save data in many cases so hopefully the losses will be minimal if you have to go that route :)

[@Filthyanimal9]

Aside from ProtonDB, looks like Decky Loader is just a bunch of cosmetic stuff I couldn’t care less about. Thx!

[@YourPlayer2]

Yup, a lot of it is cosmetic but the ProtonDB has saved me more than a few times when I was about to give up on getting a game to run well!