How to disable Steam Input in Steam Deck or Steam

Some Steam Deck users reported that they experience peculiarity when using a controller. This is due to the Steam Input feature, and if it is enabled, one can use any controller in a supported game. This sounds useful, but sometimes, it causes the controller to behave in an odd manner. In this post, we will see various methods to disable Steam Input in Steam Deck or Steam Client.

Disable Steam Input in Steam Deck or Steam

The following are the methods by which you can disable Steam Input in Steam Deck.

1. Turn off Steam Input from In-game settings
2. Turn off Steam Input in Big Picture Mode
3. Switch Steam Deck to Desktop Mode and disable Steam Input
4. Switch to Old Big Picture Mode and disable Steam Input

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Turn off Steam Input from In-game settings

Let us start by disabling Steam Input from the settings of that particular game. Therefore, the change will not be applicable to all the installed games. To do the same, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Close the game, not just by exiting it, but by ending its process from the Task Manager.
2. Once you are in Steam, go to your Library.
3. Now, right-click on the game and select Properties.
4. Then go to Controller and then from the drop-down menu Disable Steam Input.

This will do the job for you.

2] Turn off Steam Input in Big Picture Mode

If you are unable to disable Steam Input with the previous method or you just want a different option to do the same, use the Big Picture Mode. Big Picture Mode is essentially made for controllers which is why it is important to learn how to turn off Steam Input in this mode. Follow the steps mentioned below to do the same.

1. Open Steam and then click on Steam > Settings.
2. Then go to In-Game and enable Use the Big Picture Overlay when using a controller.
3. Once the game is launched in the Desktop Mode, hit Shift + Tab.
4. Now, go to Controller Options and then set Steam Controller Support to Forced Off.

This will do the job for you.

Read: Fix Game Controller not working in Steam on Windows PC

3] Switch Steam Deck to Desktop Mode and disable Steam Input

If you are a Steam Deck user, you need to switch to Desktop Mode and then disable Steam Input using the steps mentioned in this first method. To switch to Desktop Mode, hold down the power button until the option appears and then select Switch to Desktop. You can exit the Desktop Mode when you are done with it.

4] Switch to Old Big Picture Mode and disable Steam Input

The old Big Picture Mode doesn’t have Steam Input as one of its features. However, there is no option built into Steam to allow it to use the old Big Picture Mode. That is why, we need to change the properties of Steam to do the same. You need to follow the steps mentioned below to do the same.

1. Right-click on the Steam shortcut present on your Desktop and select Properties.
2. In the Target field, you need to append -oldbigpicture.
3. Finally, click Apply > Ok.

Once done, you need to set Steam Controller Support to Forced Off using the steps mentioned in the second method.

Hopefully, you can disable Steam Input using one of the methods mentioned in this post.

Read: How to reset Steam Deck?

How do I disable Steam Input in non steam games?

If you want to disable Steam Input in any non-Steam game, you need to first start the game in Big Picture Mode. For that, just go to Steam > Settings > In-Game and then enable Use the Big Picture Overlay when using a controller. Once your game is launched in Big Picture Mode, hit Shift + Tab, go to the Controller Option, and then set Steam Controller Support to Forced Off. This will do the job for you.

Read: How to install Windows 11 on Steam Deck?

How do I turn on Steam Input?

Steam doesn’t provide an option to disable Steam Input for all the games at once. However, you can disable Steam Input for a particular game. For that, first of all, close the game you want to disable Steam Input in, then go to its settings. There, you need to go to the Controllers tab and then select Disable Steam Input. To know more, check the first method mentioned earlier in this post.

Also Read: Steam running slow or lagging on Windows PC.