Activate SSH on Steam Deck

Follow this simple guide to activate SSH on your Steam Deck.

Security comes first, and because of this it's no wonder that SSH is deactivated on the Steam Deck by default. There are, however, reasons to activate it; to transfer files using SFTP or connecting to your Steam Deck using SSH.

How to Active SSH on Steam Deck

Follow this step by step guide to activate SSH on your Steam Deck:

1. Switch to Desktop Mode

Switch to Desktop Mode by pressing the Steam button, selecting Power followed by Switch to Desktop.

2. Launch Konsole

Start the Terminal equivalent called Konsole by opening the "Start menu" and opening Konsole under the System folder.

3. Create a Password

Create a password for the standard user ("deck") by typing:

passwd

Now select a good, personal password that is safe and easy to remember.

4. Enable SSH

Enable the SSH daemon by typing:

sudo systemctl enable sshd --now

The SSH daemon will now be enabled, will start automatically with each reboot (in both Gaming Mode and Desktop Mode) and the --now tag makes sure the daemon starts right now as well.

Connect to Steam Deck Using SSH

First of all, you need to find your Steam Deck IP address. You can do this by typing ip addr | grep inet in the Konsole; it usually starts with 192.168.x.x.

As soon as you have the IP address of your Steam Deck you can connect to your Steam Deck by using a SSH client like puTTy on Windows or the Terminal on Linux or MacOS;

ssh deck@192.168.0.22

You can also transfer files to the Steam Deck using an SFTP client like WinSCP.