How to Use the Steam Machine in Desktop Mode

The Steam Machine is a SteamOS console, but unlike a PlayStation or Xbox it hides a full Linux PC under the hood. Press the right buttons and you drop into KDE Plasma, a complete desktop with a file manager, a web browser, an app store, and a terminal. This is the single biggest reason to pick a SteamOS box over a closed console: when you need to do something the gaming UI can't, you can.

Here's how to get into desktop mode, what's safe to do there, and how to get back to your games without breaking anything.

Switching to desktop mode

You don't reboot or flip a hardware switch. SteamOS just swaps the interface:

1. Press the Steam button (or open the menu) from the gaming-mode UI.
2. Scroll to Power.
3. Select Switch to Desktop.

The screen blinks and you land in KDE Plasma — taskbar at the bottom, a "Return to Gaming Mode" icon on the desktop, and a start-menu-style launcher in the bottom-left corner. Your Steam library keeps running in the background, so the switch takes only a few seconds.

If you plan to spend real time here, plug in peripherals first (see below). Navigating a desktop with a gamepad works but is slow.

Plug in a keyboard and mouse

Desktop mode is built for a pointer and keys. You have options:

• USB / USB-C: Any wired keyboard and mouse work instantly via the Steam Machine's ports.
• Bluetooth: Open the launcher, search Bluetooth, put your device in pairing mode, and connect. This persists across reboots.
• No peripherals on hand? The gamepad's right stick moves the cursor, the right trigger left-clicks, and pressing Steam + X opens an on-screen keyboard. It's a usable fallback, not a way to live.

A cheap wireless keyboard-and-touchpad combo is the single best accessory for desktop mode if you tinker often.

The browser: Firefox

SteamOS doesn't ship a browser preinstalled, but installing one takes a minute:

1. Open Discover (the app store — bag icon in the taskbar).
2. Search Firefox.
3. Click Install.

Firefox lands as a Flatpak and shows up in your launcher. It's the full desktop browser — extensions, password sync, 1080p/1440p video, the lot. You can also add it to your Steam library as a non-Steam shortcut so it's reachable from the couch (more on that below). Chrome and Chromium are in Discover too if you prefer them.

The app store: Discover and Flatpak

Discover is your safe, default way to install software. Everything in it is a Flatpak — a sandboxed app that installs to your user space, not the protected system. That's the whole point: you can install freely without touching the read-only OS.

Good things to grab:

• Firefox / Chrome — browsing.
• Heroic Games Launcher — Epic and GOG games outside Steam.
• VLC — plays any video or music file.
• OBS Studio — recording and streaming.
• Discord — voice chat as a real app.

Just search, click Install, and the app appears in your launcher. Updates also come through Discover, so check it occasionally.

File management

The Dolphin file manager (folder icon) handles everything you'd expect:

• Browse your Home folder, Downloads, screenshots, and any attached drives.
• A plugged-in USB stick or external SSD appears in the left sidebar — drag files to and from it.
• Mount network shares (SMB/NAS) by typing smb://your-server into the address bar.
• Your microSD card and any internal game library show up here too, so you can move ROMs, mods, or media around manually.

This is where desktop mode quietly beats consoles: real, unrestricted file access to your own storage.

Installing non-Steam and downloaded apps

Three routes, in order of how much they touch the system:

1. Flatpak via Discover — the right answer 95% of the time. Sandboxed, updatable, reversible.
2. Flatpak from Flathub via the website or terminal — for apps not surfaced in Discover. flatpak install flathub <app-id> from Konsole (the terminal).
3. Adding any app as a non-Steam game — open Steam in desktop mode, Add a Non-Steam Game, point it at the executable or Flatpak. Now it launches from gaming mode too, with controller support and Proton if needed.

Avoid trying to install raw .deb or .rpm packages or running pacman — the system partition is read-only by design, and fighting it leads to broken updates. Flatpak exists precisely so you don't have to.

Returning to gaming mode

When you're done:

• Double-click Return to Gaming Mode on the desktop, or
• Use the launcher's logout option.

The interface swaps back in a few seconds and any non-Steam shortcuts you added are waiting in your library. Nothing you installed via Flatpak gets lost on the switch.

A note on the read-only system (where it's safe to tinker)

SteamOS uses an immutable, read-only root: the core OS sits on a protected partition that system updates overwrite wholesale. This is a feature — it's why a botched tweak rarely bricks the machine, and why updates apply cleanly.

What that means in practice:

• Safe and persistent: anything in your Home folder, all Flatpak apps, browser data, game saves, and settings. These survive updates.
• Risky / wiped on update: changes to system files, manually installed system packages, or anything that required disabling read-only mode (steamos-readonly disable). A future update can erase these and break things.

Rule of thumb: if Discover or Flatpak can do it, do it that way and you'll never have a problem. Only drop to the terminal and touch the system when you genuinely know why — and expect to redo it after major updates. For most people, the browser, file manager, and app store cover everything, and that's a far more open machine than any console. See which device fits you and our methodology for how we test.