How to Reinstall Steam OS on a Steam Deck

 

To reinstall SteamOS on your Steam Deck:

1. Download the SteamOS Recovery Image.
2. Write the SteamOS Recovery ISO to a USB drive with Rufus or Balena Etcher.
3. Boot into SteamOS Recovery.
4. Select "Reinstall SteamOS."

If your Steam Deck suffers from SteamOS-related issues—failing to boot, being unresponsive or any other similar problem—you might want to reinstall or reimage SteamOS. Knowing how to restore SteamOS is also handy when you want to switch back from Windows to SteamOS. Here’s how to do it.

Table of Contents

What You'll Need for a Steam Deck Recovery
How to Restore SteamOS on Your Steam Deck
Step 1: Download the Steam OS Recovery Image
Step 2: Create SteamOS Recovery ISO With Rufus or Balena Etcher
Step 3: Boot Into SteamOS Recovery
Step 4: Reinstall SteamOS
Step 5: Go Through the SteamOS Setup Process

What You’ll Need for a Steam Deck Recovery

To reinstall SteamOS, you’ll need a 16GB or larger USB thumb drive, or a microSD card, to use as a bootable drive. The bootable drive has to have a capacity of at least 16GB since the SteamOS recovery image takes more than 8GB of space on the bootable drive.

Warning: Everything currently stored on the USB drive or SD card you use will be erased, so make sure you back up any existing data if you don’t want to lose it.

If you have a USB-C thumb drive, you can connect it directly to your Steam Deck. The same goes if you have a microSD card lying around. If you don’t have one of those, you’ll either need a USB dock or a USB-A to USB-C adapter.

You can also use a mouse, but it isn’t needed since you can use Steam Deck’s touch screen during installation. The installation procedure includes only three or four clicks—or taps—anyway.

How to Restore SteamOS on Your Steam Deck

Step 1: Download the Steam OS Recovery Image

You can download the recovery image by visiting Valve’s Steam Deck Recovery Instructions page.

Once you’re there, you can find the Steam Deck recovery image under the first step of the “Steam Deck Recovery Instructions” part of the page. Click on the provided link and download the SteamOS recovery image.

Next, you need to unpack the SteamOS recovery image archive with WinRAR, 7-Zip, or any other unzipping tool you prefer. Once the app unzips the image, move on to the second step.

Step 2: Create SteamOS Recovery ISO With Rufus or Balena Etcher

Now, you should download Rufus or start the app if you’ve already installed it on your PC. Note that you can use other tools for creating a bootable drive: Valve recommends Balena Etcher in case you’re on MacOS or Linux. In this guide, we’re only covering the process with Rufus.

Once you enter Rufus, select your USB flash or microSD card as your Device.

Under the “Boot Selection” menu, pick “Disk or ISO Image,” and then click on the “Select” button and locate your SteamOS recovery image file.