The Steam Deck is a powerful portable gaming PC, but it can come with limited storage space, especially the base model with 64GB of internal storage. If you plan on installing many games, consider adding more storage to your Steam Deck.
Thankfully, three ways exist to add more storage to your Steam Deck. In this guide, we’ll highlight all those ways and walk you through the steps to expand your Steam Deck’s storage. So, let’s get to it.
How to Upgrade Steam Deck Storage
With the help of more storage, you can widen your games library on the Steam Deck. What’s more? You can use the extra space to store videos and watch movies on the Steam Deck, too. However, before you add more storage to your Steam Deck, it’s essential to understand how to do that.
One of the simplest ways to expand the Steam Deck’s storage is with the help of a microSD card. These tiny cards can pack a punch in terms of storage capacity and are readily available and affordable.
Alternatively, you can choose to connect a USB drive or external SSD to the Steam Deck. However, you must mount and format it differently to use it as your Games Library. Lastly, you can upgrade the internal SSD, which is more complex. Also, do note that this will void your warranty. Let’s dive deep into these methods.
Method 1: Use a MicroSD Card With Steam Deck
Let’s discuss the simplest way to add storage to your Steam Deck. Since the console has a microSD card slot, you must buy a microSD card for your Steam Deck. Then, set it up as the default location for your games library. Here’s how to go about it.
Step 1: Insert the microSD card into the microSD card slot at the bottom of the device.
Step 2: Now, it’s time to format it for use with the Steam Deck. To do that, press the Steam button to open the Steam menu. Tap on Settings to proceed.
Step 3: Switch to System settings from the left sidebar.
Step 4: Now, scroll down to the System Settings section. Here, tap on the Format button next to ‘Format SD Card’.
Step 5: Select Confirm to proceed.
The Steam Deck will first test your SD Card. It will then proceed to formatting it.
Once done, the formatting bar will be replaced by the Format button. If something fails, you’ll get a notification for the same. However, there will be no notification shown if everything goes right.
Step 6: Now that your microSD card has been formatted, it’s time to use it for your games library with the Steam Deck. To do that, navigate to the Storage settings from the left sidebar.
Step 7: In the Storage Settings, select MicroSD Card and press X on your Steam Deck.
And that’s it. Your MicroSD card is now your default download location for new games.
Method 2: Use a USB Drive or External Storage With Steam Deck
You can also use a USB drive or external storage device to add more storage to your Steam Deck. The Steam Deck supports various USB storage devices, including hard drives, solid-state drives, and flash drives.
You can plug an external SSD directly into your Steam Deck or connect to it with the help of a Steam Deck dock. However, making the drive usable with the Steam Deck is tedious. Here’s how to go about it.
Note: Before proceeding, we recommend using an external keyboard with your Steam Deck since the process involves a lot of typing. Alternatively, you can press the Steam + X keys together to open up the virtual keyboard. However, it would be strenuous.
Step 1: Press the Steam button on your Steam Deck and select Power. Now, tap on ‘Switch to Desktop’ to proceed.
Step 2: Inside the desktop mode, we’ll use the terminal to configure our external drive. For that, first launch the Konsole app from the Application Launcher.
Step 3: Now, type passwd inside the terminal window. You can set a custom password of your choice.
Step 4: Once you’ve added a password, connect your external drive to the Steam Deck. Then, navigate to Application Launcher > System > KDE Partition Manager.
Step 5: You must enter your password into the partition manager. Once done, highlight your chosen drive, right-click on the partition, and select Delete.
Step 6: Now, in the unallocated space, right-click again and select New. This will take you to the process of creating a new partition.
Step 7: For the new partition, select a couple of settings. First, set the file system to ext4. Secondly, ensure to add a name or label to the drive. For this guide, we’ll call it ‘ExtSSD’. Then, press OK.
Step 8: You’ll notice the tasks have been added to the ‘Pending Operations’ job queue. Click on Apply in the top left-hand corner to start the formatting.
Step 9: The KDE Partition Manager will ask you for confirmation. Click on ‘Apply Pending Operations’ to proceed.
Step 10: Once formatted, mount the drive. To do that, click on the USB icon in the taskbar.
Step 11: In the pop-up window, highlight your external drive. Then select ‘Mount and Open’ to mount the drive to the Steam Deck.
Step 12: Now, while the drive has been mounted, change the permissions for it to be accessible by the Deck. To do that, open the terminal again, type the following command, and press Enter.
Note: Replace the ‘drive name’ with the label you added earlier. So in our case, that’d be ‘ExtSSD’.
sudo chown deck /run/media/deck/[drive name]
Step 13: Your external drive should have the proper permissions. Now, to create the Steam Library on your external drive, open the Steam app.
Step 14: Inside, click on the Steam icon at the top and select Settings.
Step 15: Select Storage from the left sidebar. This will take you to the storage settings.
Step 16: Tap or click on the Internal Drive. This will open a drop-down menu. Click on Add Drive.
Step 17: You will now get a pop-up window for adding a new Steam library folder. Ensure that your external drive is selected. Click on Add to proceed.
Step 18: Once done, select the drop-down menu once again. Your external SSD should now show up in the list.
Step 19: Now, it’s time to set it as the default game location. To do that, switch back to the Gaming Mode on your Steam Deck. Then, press the Steam button and select Settings.
Step 20: Go to the Storage section. You will notice both the Internal Drive as well as your external storage.
Step 21: Select your external storage and press the X key on your Steam Deck to set it as the default location for downloading games.
You’ll notice a star icon next to the drive indicating your preference has been applied.
And that’s it. You can now use your external drive to add more storage to your Steam Deck. However, remember that if you decide to put your Steam Deck to sleep or restart it, the drive will be unmounted. In that case, you must switch to the Desktop Mode and mount it again. To do that, follow steps 9 to 11.
Method 3: Increase Internal Storage of the Steam Deck
Replacing the internal SSD of the Steam Deck to increase its storage is a more complex procedure that isn’t recommended for users uncomfortable with opening their devices. Additionally, it’s important to note that this action will void your Steam Deck’s warranty.
To carry out the SSD replacement in the Steam Deck, you’ll need a new M.2 2230 SSD with a capacity of up to 2TB. After obtaining the new SSD, power off the Steam Deck and remove the back cover. Then, swap out the internal SSD with your chosen new SSD. Once this step is completed, reattach the back cover and power on the device.
Source: iFixit
To reinstall SteamOS on the Steam Deck, you’ll need to create a bootable USB. You can obtain the SteamOS recovery image and follow Steam’s instructions for installing SteamOS on your Deck.
FAQs on Adding More Storage to Steam Deck
1. Which file system does Steam Deck use?
Steam Deck uses the ext4 file system for its internal storage. You can also use ext4 for external storage devices, such as microSD cards and USB drives. However, Steam Deck supports other file systems, such as NTFS and exFAT.
2. Does Steam Deck support NTFS?
Yes, Steam Deck supports NTFS. It can read and write to NTFS drives. However, using NTFS drives for gaming on Steam Deck is not recommended, as some games may not work properly. It is best to format your storage drives as ext4 for optimal performance and compatibility.
3. What is the maximum storage capacity that Steam Deck supports?
Steam Deck supports microSD cards up to 1TB in capacity. It also supports external USB storage devices up to 2TB in capacity
Enjoy More Storage
Adding more storage to your Steam Deck is a great way to increase the number of games you can install and play. There are various ways to add more storage, so you can choose the method that best suits your needs and budget. If you are looking for the easiest and most affordable way, we recommend using a microSD card.
While you can plug an external drive into the Steam Deck, it involves the hassle of mounting the drive each time you wake your Deck from sleep. On the other hand, while replacing the internal storage is a one-time process, it voids your warranty. However, both these methods will offer more storage than a microSD card.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
