Accessing Your Steam Deck Remotely: A Guide to SSH

The Steam Deck's versatility extends beyond gaming, offering desktop functionality for various tasks. Remotely accessing its internal storage is often desirable, and Secure Shell (SSH) provides a secure method for doing so. This guide details enabling and using SSH on your Steam Deck.

Enabling SSH on Your Steam Deck

Follow these steps to enable SSH:

1. Power on your Steam Deck.
2. Access the Steam menu (usually a button).
3. Navigate to Settings > System > System Settings > Enable Developer Mode.
4. Return to the Steam menu.
5. Select Power > Switch to Desktop Mode.
6. Open Konsole (terminal) from the Start Menu.
7. Set a password (if not already set): passwd. Create and confirm a strong password.
8. Start the SSH service: sudo systemctl start sshd.
9. Enable SSH to start automatically on reboot: sudo systemctl enable sshd.
10. You can now access your Steam Deck remotely using an SSH client.

Important: Avoid modifying or deleting system files to prevent OS corruption.

Disabling SSH on Your Steam Deck

To disable SSH:

1. Open Konsole from the Start Menu.
2. To disable SSH on reboot: sudo systemctl disable sshd.
3. To immediately stop the SSH service: sudo systemctl stop sshd.

Connecting to Your Steam Deck via SSH

After enabling SSH, use a third-party SSH client for remote access. Warpinator is a user-friendly option; install it on both your Steam Deck and your PC and run it on both devices simultaneously for easy file transfer.

For Linux users, a simpler method exists. Open your file manager and enter sftp://deck@steamdeck in the address bar, replacing "deck" with your Steam Deck's hostname if different. You'll then be prompted for the password you set earlier.