How to Install Decky Loader on Steam Deck

Decky Loader is a handy tool for the Steam Deck which gives you access to a wide range of plugins at the click of a button. The plugins vary depending on what you would like to achieve. You can completely customise your interface with CSS Loader, install games from Epic or GOG, show ProtonDB badges for your games and even clean up unused files. There’s also PowerTools for tweaking CPU and GPU settings if you feel the need. The Decky Plugin Store is full of useful plugins for almost anything you can imagine.

Installing Decky Loader on Steam Deck Guide

Disclaimer: Decky Loader is a third-party tool. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Having Decky Loader installed while running SteamOS updates can potentially cause boot issues. It is best to wait a few days after an update is released, update Decky Loader first and then run the SteamOS update. This gives the developer time to ensure compatibility with the latest SteamOS version.

1. Swap into Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck
2. Open Firefox, head to the Decky Loader website and select ‘Download’
3. Move the installer to your desktop and double-click to run
   For future updates, keep this installer on your desktop.
4. Enter your admin/root password to allow the installer to run
5. When Prompted, select ‘Latest Release’ to install.. the, uh.. latest release
   Select Pre-Release if you’re a developer, or want to screw around with Pre-Release software.
6. The installer is now finished and you can return to Game Mode.

Decky Loader can also be installed via Konsole with the following command, if you prefer:

curl -L https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/deckyinstaller/releases/latest/download/install_release.sh | sh

How to Access Decky Loader and Install Plugins

When in Game Mode, press the ‘…‘ button on your Steam Deck and move down to the menu icon that looks like a power plug. This is the main Decky Loader menu:

To install plugins, click the small box icon for the plugin browser:

Here, you can download whichever plugins you would like to use. You can either search for something specific or scroll through the list to find anything you might like to install.

Once installed, your plugins will appear in the main Decky Loader menu and will have associated settings on how they behave which you can customise to your liking.

My Top 3 Decky Loader Plugins

When it comes to my Steam Deck, I keep things pretty simple. Plugins like CSS Loader and PowerTools are great for customisation and performance tweaks, but I mainly stick to practical plugins that assist me in playing games or keeping things up to date.

Right now, I only run 6 plugins. Here are my top 3:

1. Junk Store

Junk Store provides a one-click install option for your GOG and Epic Games libraries directly through Decky Loader. GOG support requires a small one-time fee of $6 which I think is a small price to pay for its functionality. There are some mixed opinions about it in the community, but I’m definitely a fan.

2. ProtonDB Badges

ProtonDB Badges displays game compatibility details right in the Steam Deck interface and links through to ProtonDB’s community compatibility reports. It’s pretty handy to reference when browsing through your library.

3. Storage Cleaner

I only recently installed Storage Cleaner and it’s been great. It will scan your compatdata and shader cache folders, making it easy to clear out any unused data without leaving Game Mode. Simple, but effective.

How to Uninstall Decky Loader

1. Swap into Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck
2. Run the Decky Loader installer again
3. This time, select Uninstall Decky Loader.

Just like installing Decky Loader, you can also uninstall via Konsole:

curl -L https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-installer/releases/latest/download/uninstall.sh | sh