11 Ways to disable Steam Input in Steam Deck

Steam Input is a service on the Steam Deck (and other devices) that allows players to use any controller with supported games. Despite its usefulness, its manipulation with the controller inputs can ruin the game experience. Due to the Steam Input, you may experience undesired behavior and different controller options might be disabled by default.

Steam Input conceals the actual controller from games on the Steam Deck and provides access to a virtual controller. This could potentially lead to dual inputs from the controller. It is important to note that, at present, there is no legitimate way to disable the Steam Input system-wide; it can only be disabled on a per-game basis.

How to Disable Steam Input

Disabling Steam Input depends upon the controller, Steam Deck generation, game, and game type (Steam or non-Steam). We will list down general guidelines and you may need to amend these steps to make it work in your particular scenario.

1. Disable Steam Input Through the Game Settings

First of all, let’s disable the Input through the Game Controller Settings.

Disable Steam Input

1. Exit the Game and Steam.
2. Launch Steam and Open Library.
3. Right-click on the required game and select Manage Game.
4. Go to the Controller tab and select Disable Steam Input.

   

2. Disable the Steam Input in the Desktop Mode

If you are failing to disable the Steam Input in the Game Mode, doing the same in the Desktop Mode will get the issue resolved.

1. Switch the Steam Deck to the Desktop Mode and launch Steam.

   

2. Go to Library and right-click on the required game.
3. Open Properties and navigate to the `Controller tab.
4. Select Disable Steam Input and see if the problem is solved.

3. Disable the Input Through Big Picture Mode

The Big picture mode offers more options than the game mode and disabling the Input through this mode may do the trick.

1. Go to the Steam Settings and open In-Game.
2. Enable Use the Pic Picture Overlay When Using a Steam Input Enable Controller.

   

3. Launch the game in the Desktop Mode and press Shift + Tab.
4. Open Controller Settings and set the Steam Controller Support to Forced Off.

   

5. Restart the game and see if the problem is solved.
6. If not, uninstall Handheld Companion (if present) and see if that lets you perform the above steps.

Hide Device

1. Go to the Controller tab of the game in the Big Picture Mode and click on Hide Device (near the bottom).

   

2. Check if this solves the problem.

4. Leave the Steam Deck Beta

If you are using the Steam Deck beta, many options (such as the old picture mode) may not be available. Leaving the Steam Deck beta will let you use those options.

1. Open the Steam Settings and navigate to System.
2. Go to Beta Participation and set the System Update Channel to Stable.

   

3. Retry the old picture mode method and see if this does the trick.

5. Change the Launch Options of the Game

Certain games have launch options that can be used to disable the Steam controller support which disables the Steam Input. To do so on CSGO:

1. Launch Steam and go to the Library.
2. Right-click on CSGO and select Set Launch Options.

   

3. Type -nojoy and save the changes made.
4. Relaunch Steam and the CSGO game. See if the problem is solved.

6. Enable Force Compatibility Tool

Proton enables the playing of Windows games on Linux, which is the base OS Steam Deck runs. If the proton version is not compatible with the game, disabling the Steam Input will fail. Enabling the Force Compatibility Tool for the game will do the trick.

1. Switch the Steam Deck to the Desktop Mode and launch Steam.
2. Go to the Library and open Settings of the required game (such as DST).
3. Enable Force Compatibility Tool and set it to Steam Linux Runtime. For an Xbox controller, if the Xbox Extended Feature Support Driver is shown, install it.

   

4. Launch the game and see if this does the trick.
5. If not, disable the Steam Input by using game settings or Big Picture Mode and verify if this solves the problem.

7. Use the Terminal or Konsole

You can use Terminal or Konsole to disable the Steam Input.

Use the VGUI Command

1. Close the Steam app and launch Konsole.

   

2. Execute the following:

   steam -vgui

3. The Steam client should open in the old UI, press R1 + A keys to open Big Picture Mode.
4. Go to the required game > Controller > Force Off.
5. Launch the game and see if the problem is solved.

Use the oldbigpicture Command

1. If the issue persists, exit Steam and make sure no process related to it is running in the Task Manager or System Tray.
2. Launch Konsole and execute the following:

   steam -oldbigpicture

3. Click on the box showing the double arrows in the top right corner and the old big picture mode should open.
4. Go to the required game’s controller settings and disable Steam Input. See if the issue is resolved.

Use the ECHO Command

1. Launch Konosole and execute the following:

   echo "3-3:1.0" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/
   
   echo "3-3:1.1" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.2" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.0" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.1" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.2" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.0" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind
   
   echo "3-3:1.1" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind
   
   echo "3-3:1.2" | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind

2. Launch Steam and see if this does the trick. Remember whenever you will restart the Steam Deck, you will need to perform these steps again.

Use Script

We will list down steps for Warframe, you may customize these steps to work for the problematic game.

1. Add Warframe as a non-Steam game and set its launch options to the following:

   -cluster:public -registry:Steam

2. Enable the Force Compatibility Mode for Warframe and add the following function to the .bashrc file:

   # /deck/.bashrc
   
   controller() {
   
   case $1 in
   
   enable)
   
   echo "3-3:1.0" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind
   
   echo "3-3:1.1" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind
   
   echo "3-3:1.2" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/bind
   
   ;;
   
   disable)
   
   echo "3-3:1.0" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.1" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   echo "3-3:1.2" > sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind
   
   ;;
   
   *)
   
   printf "Usage: controller []\n"
   
   ;;
   
   esac
   
   }
   
   $ controller disable
   
   $ controller enable

3. Save the changes and use the Terminal to enable or disable the controller with the Steam Input.

If this does not work, you may use the Steam Deck Auto Disable Steam Controller script from GitHub. Use at your own risk, we are sharing it in good faith and not linked with the developers in any way.

8. Use the Customized Shortcut to Launch Steam in the Old Big Picture Mode

The old big picture mode offers the ability to disable the Steam Input and a shortcut can be created to launch the Steam in the said mode.

1. In the Desktop Mode of the Steam Deck, go to the following directory:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam

2. Right-click on Steam.exe and go to Show More Options > Send to > Desktop (Create Shortcut).
3. Go to the Desktop, right-click on the Steam shortcut, and select Properties.
4. In the Target, enter the following at the end:

   -oldbigpicture

   

5. Click on OK and launch Steam through that shortcut.
6. Go to the game’s controller settings and select Steam Controller Support to Forced Off. See if the problem is solved.

9. Use an External Controller

If the option for disabling Steam Input is not visible for the built-in controller, connecting an external controller to the Steam Deck will solve the problem.

Disable Steam Input on the Second Controller

1. Connect an external controller (wired, wireless, or Bluetooth) to the Steam Deck and launch the game.
2. Hit the Steam button and open Controller Configure.
3. Select the external controller and open Settings.

   

4. Disable Steam Input and close the game.
5. Disconnect the external controller and launch the game. See if the controller problem is solved.

Reorder the Controllers

1. Go to the controller settings in the game and click on Reorder Controllers.

   

2. Make sure the external controller is set as the first and see if this does the trick.

10. Disable the Steam Input in Through Layouts

The controller layout helps in managing the key mapping of the controller. If the Steam Input still cannot be disabled, the same can be disabled by editing the controller layout.

Edit Layout

1. Connect another controller to your Steam Deck and launch the problematic game.
2. Open the Controller Settings by pressing the Home button.
3. Select the added controller and click on Settings (next to Edit Layout).

   

4. Click Disable Steam Input and restart the game. Check if the problem is solved.

Use Templates

1. Launch Steam and navigate to Library.
2. Right-click on the game and go to Controller Settings > Controller Layout > Templates.

   

3. Switch to a generic template (such as a Gamepad) and relaunch Steam.
4. See if this clears the Steam Input issue.
5. If not, disable templates that were used before and see if that solves the problem.

Change Desktop Configuration

1. Switch to the Desktop Mode on the Steam Deck and navigate to Steam Settings > Controller > Desktop Configuration.

   

2. Press the Start key and select the required controller.
3. Press the X key to open Templates and select Gamepad.
4. Press the X key to apply the changes and relaunch Steam. See if the input issue is resolved.

11. Use Steamworks AppID

Steamworks is used to develop games and editing its settings on a compatible game will let us disable Steam Input.

1. Go to Steamwords and click on your App ID.
2. Open Application > Steam Input.

   

3. Set it to None Selected and see if that solves the problem.

If none of the above works, you may contact the controller support or game support to disable Steam Input.