Steam Deck isn’t another run-of-the-mill portable gaming console. It runs on Steam OS, which is based on Linux. You can change a lot of things about Steam Deck to make it more personal without having to tinker much with the settings.

With the latest update to Steam OS, Valve has made it much easier to use custom boot animations on Steam Deck. If you decide to modify Steam Deck on a deeper level, you need to understand the device better. We have presented two easy ways that you can easily change the boot animation of your Steam Deck.

Let us get started.

How to Install Custom Boot Animation on Steam Deck by Using the Desktop Mode

Before we begin, make sure you have a strong internet connection and a keyboard handy. You will need an Internet connection to download the boot animation files and a keyboard to type some commands.

1. Switch to the Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck. We have a complete guide on this for you to follow.
2. Find a boot animation you like. There are lots of boot animations you can find online for Steam Deck, both on Reddit and on the Steam Deck repo website.
3. Either type in steamdeckrepo.com into your browser or search for Steam Deck Repo on Google.
4. Scroll through and find a boot animation you like and click download to save it. You should now have downloaded a .webm file.
5. Create your folders and copy your boot animation. Follow the steps below.
6. Open the file explorer app (called Dolphin).
7. Check the Show hidden files option.
8. Navigate to your home directory (/home/deck).
9. Navigate to .steam/root/config.                                                                                                                           
10. Create a uioverrides folder and enter it.
11. Create a movies folder and enter it
12. Copy the .webm file you downloaded earlier and put in this folder.                                                    
13. Make sure it’s called deck_startup.webm.
14. Restart your Steam Deck.

When you restart your Steam Deck, the boot animation should now be applied!

How to Install Custom Boot Animation on Steam Deck by Using the Customization Menu

Before we begin, make sure you have a good internet connection and a keyboard handy. You will need an Internet connection to download the boot animation files and a keyboard to type some commands. Some of the steps below are a repeat of the previous method.

1. Switch to the Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck. We have a complete guide on this for you to follow.
2. Find a boot animation that you like. There are lots of boot animations that you can find for Steam Deck online, both on Reddit and on the Steam Deck repo website.
3. Either type in steamdeckrepo.com into your browser or look on Google for Steam Deck Repo.
4. Scroll through and find a boot animation you like and click download to save it. You should now have downloaded a .webm file.
5. Create your folders and copy your boot animation. Follow the steps given below.
6. Open the file explorer app (called Dolphin).
7. Enable Show hidden files.
8. Navigate to your home directory (/home/deck).                                                                                                    
9. Navigate to .steam/root/config.                                                                                                                           
10. Create a uioverrides folder and enter it.
11. Create a movies folder and enter it
12. Copy the .webm file you downloaded earlier and place it in this folder.
13. Make sure the file is named deck_startup.webm.                                                                                                     
14. Once you have them all moved, put your Steam Deck back into Gaming Mode.
15. Once you are back in gaming mode, click the Steam button to open up the menu.
16. Click on settings.
17. Now go to the settings. Scroll down towards the bottom of the menu and look for customization.
18. Click on Customization
19. In the customization menu, you will see all your movies at the bottom. If all the movies you downloaded are in the right place, they will show up here.
20. Now, just highlight the movie you want to use, click on it, and that will now be the movie you see when the machine boots up every time.

You can save multiple movies here, so find as many as you want and download them. Any movies you buy from the Steam Points store will also show up here. There’s also a switch that lets you shuffle the movies if you want Steam Deck to select a movie each time you turn it on randomly.

How to Change the Boot Animation on Steam Deck

Once you start tinkering with your Steam Deck, you can not go back to the default themes and boot animations. One of the biggest strengths of Steam Deck is that Valve gives users all the freedom to customize it however they want. This is a big part of Steam Deck’s popularity.

We have a lot of other articles on Steam Deck if you are interested. Make sure you check them out. Leave your Steam Deck suggestions in the comments below.

FAQs About Installing a Custom Boot Animation on Steam Deck