You can either install Windows on the internal SSD or run it off a microSD card. There are two ways to run Windows on the Steam Deck. RELATED – Are Steam Deck Owners Running into Joystick Drift Problems How to Install Windows on Steam Deck However, for those who want to embrace all these issues and caveats, here’s how to install Windows on a Steam Deck. Lastly, there is no way to restore your Steam Deck to SteamOS, so if you go all-in at installing Windows on your handheld device, you will be stuck with it until Valve releases a public recovery image for users to use to revert back to SteamOS. You can only get Windows 10 to run on Steam Deck as Windows 11 requires a firmware TPM which currently hasn’t been worked out in the Steam Deck’s BIOS. Furthermore, you will need an Ethernet to USB-C adapter to connect to the internet and the speakers don’t work on Windows as well. This is so because the Windows drivers for Steam Deck aren’t finished, this can hamper the performance. However, running Windows OS on Steam Deck comes with problems of its own and isn’t recommended at this point. However, Valve has done everything to make the Steam Deck similar to a PC, even allowing users to take matters into their own hands and swap in a new Windows OS to replace its SteamOS or dual boot, whichever feels okay.

The handheld PC comes with SteamOS out of the box, a Linux distribution from Steam. Running Windows OS on Steam Deck seems to be the best option if you want to play or download games from other stores.

Steam deck runs windows