Install SD card on Steam Deck
It's time to expand the memory on your Steam Deck. But is it as simple as inserting an SD card? Do you have to perform any special formatting? Let's see how to set up your SD card on your Steam Deck in the following article!
Can any SD card be used on the Steam Deck?
The Steam Deck is not fussy when it comes to SD cards. Assuming you've avoided the mistakes to avoid when choosing an SD card, there should be no problem. The Steam Deck supports SD, SDXC, and SDHC cards and can handle capacities up to 2TB.
Writing and reading speeds are very important for performance reasons, so choosing a faster card will be beneficial. However, the Steam Deck can only read at a maximum speed of 100MB/s.
There are plenty of great microSD card options for the Steam Deck if you haven't picked one yet.
How to format an SD card for the Steam Deck
The Steam Deck uses a specific format, so you need to erase the entire SD card when adding additional memory to the device.
Start by inserting the SD card into your Steam Deck. The SD card slot is located at the bottom right side of the device, right below the right speaker.
When you insert the SD card into the Steam Deck, you will be prompted to format the card so the device can read it. If you follow this prompt, your SD card will be ready to use immediately.
In case this prompt does not appear, all you have to do is navigate to Settings then to Storage. You will see your SD card listed here. Press Y to open the options menu and press Format Drive.
Once the Steam Deck completes, your SD card will no longer be readable on Windows or Mac devices.
How to install and move games to your Steam Deck's SD card
Once you have installed the SD card, you can choose to install games directly onto your SD card or manually move installed games by opening the game's Properties and clicking on Installed Files.
You can freely move games back and forth, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, your SD card will not be as fast as the Steam Deck's built-in SSD. For most games, this is not a concerning issue, assuming you are using an SD card fast enough to start with. However, newer games, and especially those with SSD requirements, may perform worse or load longer if installed on an SD card.
Second, accessing folders on your SD card is slightly different than accessing the SSD.
You will find your SD card at the bottom right of the Dolphin explorer window. It is named primary. Steam games will be in the steamapps folder of this device.
However, unlike Windows, this is not the actual file path. If you need to reference anything installed on your SD card, the file path will be as follows:
run/media/mmcblk0p1
This information is only necessary if you are doing something more advanced, such as modifying your games or applying patches.
Considering the importance of additional space for the Steam Deck experience, it's good that the SD card is very easy to install and use. Whether you've purchased a brand new SD card or you're taking one out of an old phone, inserting the card and formatting it is easy. Just make sure you're using a card fast enough to meet the demands of your games.
