Using the on-screen keyboard on your Steam Deck is super easy. All you have to do is press one or a couple of buttons while in Game Mode and Desktop Mode. Once the keyboard’s up, you can type on it with the two trackpads, the touch screen, or with the controller.

In Game Mode

In Game Mode, you can summon the Steam Deck on-screen keyboard by holding the Steam button and pressing the X button. Note that you cannot summon the keyboard with the Steam button + X combo everywhere in Game Mode.

For example, you can’t call the keyboard when on Home Screen or inside the “Settings” menu. On the other hand, you can summon the keyboard in-game anytime you like. Pressing the A button while having a text box selected —like, for instance, when you select the “Search” tab located on the Home Screen, as shown in the screenshot below— activates the keyboard as well.

In Desktop Mode

To summon the Steam Deck keyboard in Desktop Mode, press the X button on your Steam Deck while in Desktop Mode. Pressing the X button to summon the on-screen keyboard works virtually anywhere in Desktop Mode, as long as you have Steam running because Steam’s needed for the custom Desktop Mode button mappings to work.

Some of the keyboard hotkeys include pressing Y for space, X for backspace, R2 for Enter, etc. You can see the rest of the hotkeys on the screenshot below.

Don’t forget that you can freely type on a physical keyboard like you’d on a regular PC if you’ve a physical keyboard, or a keyboard and mouse, connected to your Steam Deck.

To customize your Steam Deck virtual keyboard, press the Steam button and select the “Settings” tab. Once inside the “Settings” menu, scroll down to the “Keyboard” tab.

Once there, you’ll see a slew of keyboard-related options, including the option to switch the keyboard theme, adjust the haptics and the keyboard layout, etc.

One way to get new Steam Deck keyboard themes is visiting the Points Shop on the Steam marketplace. To do this on your PC, open Steam, select the “Store” tab, and then click the “Points Shop” button.

Once there, click the “Keyboards” tab to shop for new keyboard themes.

You can browse new Steam Deck keyboard themes much faster on your Steam Deck. Here’s how: go to the keyboard settings —Steam button > Settings > Keyboard— and then click the “Visit the Points Shop” button located in the keyboard settings menu.

Once there, you can buy new themes for your Steam Deck keyboard for 5,000 Steam points a pop.