To activate the on-screen keyboard while in Desktop Mode, press the X button.
To customize your Steam Deck’s keyboard press the Steam button, select the “Settings” tab, and then scroll down to the “Keyboard” menu.
To get new keyboard themes press the “Visit the Points Shop” button located in the “Keyboard” menu.
Since it doesn’t feature a hardware keyboard, Steam Deck relies on an on-screen virtual keyboard. Learn how to use and customize the virtual keyboard on your Steam Deck below.
How to Use Steam Deck’s Virtual Keyboard
Using the on-screen keyboard on your Steam Deck is super easy. All you have to do is press one or a couple of buttons while in Game Mode and Desktop Mode. Once the keyboard’s up, you can type on it with the two trackpads, the touch screen, or with the controller.
In Game Mode
In Game Mode, you can summon the Steam Deck on-screen keyboard by holding the Steam button and pressing the X button. Note that you cannot summon the keyboard with the Steam button + X combo everywhere in Game Mode.
For example, you can’t call the keyboard when on Home Screen or inside the “Settings” menu. On the other hand, you can summon the keyboard in-game anytime you like. Pressing the A button while having a text box selected —like, for instance, when you select the “Search” tab located on the Home Screen, as shown in the screenshot below— activates the keyboard as well.
In Desktop Mode
To summon the Steam Deck keyboard in Desktop Mode, press the X button on your Steam Deck while in Desktop Mode. Pressing the X button to summon the on-screen keyboard works virtually anywhere in Desktop Mode, as long as you have Steam running because Steam’s needed for the custom Desktop Mode button mappings to work.
Some of the keyboard hotkeys include pressing Y for space, X for backspace, R2 for Enter, etc. You can see the rest of the hotkeys on the screenshot below.
Don’t forget that you can freely type on a physical keyboard like you’d on a regular PC if you’ve a physical keyboard, or a keyboard and mouse, connected to your Steam Deck.
How to Customize Virtual Keyboard on Your Steam Deck
To customize your Steam Deck virtual keyboard, press the Steam button and select the “Settings” tab. Once inside the “Settings” menu, scroll down to the “Keyboard” tab.
Once there, you’ll see a slew of keyboard-related options, including the option to switch the keyboard theme, adjust the haptics and the keyboard layout, etc.
Where to Get New Virtual Keyboard Themes
One way to get new Steam Deck keyboard themes is visiting the Points Shop on the Steam marketplace. To do this on your PC, open Steam, select the “Store” tab, and then click the “Points Shop” button.
Once there, click the “Keyboards” tab to shop for new keyboard themes.
You can browse new Steam Deck keyboard themes much faster on your Steam Deck. Here’s how: go to the keyboard settings —Steam button > Settings > Keyboard— and then click the “Visit the Points Shop” button located in the keyboard settings menu.
Once there, you can buy new themes for your Steam Deck keyboard for 5,000 Steam points a pop.
Looking for other ways to optimize your Deck? Learn how to extend Steam Deck battery life or how SD cards affect game load times.
