You finally got it. The Steam Deck is sitting there, glowing, ready to run Elden Ring in the palm of your hand. But then your partner wants to play their own save of Stardew Valley. Or your kid wants to try Spider-Man without accidentally deleting your 100-hour RPG progress. Suddenly, you’re staring at the login screen wondering if steam deck multiple accounts is even a thing that works smoothly.
It does. Sorta.
Valve built the Steam Deck on SteamOS, which is basically a modified version of Arch Linux. Because it’s a PC at its core, it handles user switching much better than a Nintendo Switch does, but there are still some weird quirks that can drive you crazy if you don't know the workarounds.
Why Multi-User Support is a Big Deal for Handhelds
Most people treat the Deck like a console. They expect to just swap profiles and have everything "just work." On a traditional PC, you’d just log out of Windows and log back in, or swap Steam accounts. On the Deck, Valve made it more seamless by allowing you to add multiple profiles directly from the "Settings" and "Accounts" menu.
Here’s the thing: honestly, the most annoying part isn't adding the account. It's the storage.
If you have two people using one Deck, you’re sharing that internal SSD. If you have the 256GB model, you’re going to hit a wall fast. You’ve got two sets of shaders, two sets of compatibility data, and potentially two copies of the same game if you aren't using Steam Family Sharing correctly. It gets messy.
Setting Up the Second Account
Adding a new person is simple. Hit the Steam button. Go to Settings. Find "Account." There’s a big "Switch Account" button.
Once you add that second person, their face (or avatar) shows up on the wake screen. It looks slick. You just tap the profile, and the Deck reloads the library for that specific person. It remembers their specific controller layouts, too. This is huge because if I like inverted Y-axis (don't judge me) and my friend doesn't, we don't have to fight over the settings every single time we swap.
The Magic (and Headache) of Steam Family Sharing
You can’t talk about steam deck multiple accounts without talking about Family Sharing. This is the glue that keeps a multi-user household from going broke.
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Basically, it lets one person share their entire library with another. But Valve recently updated this with "Steam Families," replacing the old "Family View" and "Family Sharing" systems. It’s a lot better now. Before, if I was playing Ape Out, my brother couldn't play Cyberpunk from my library at the same time. Now, with the new system, multiple people can play different games from the same shared library simultaneously.
The catch? You still can't both play the same game at the same time unless you own two copies.
What About Non-Steam Games?
This is where it gets tricky. If you’ve spent time in Desktop Mode installing EmuDeck, Heroic Games Launcher (for Epic and GOG), or Battle.net, those don't just automatically show up for the second user.
Linux permissions are picky.
When you install something in the "deck" user's home folder, the second account might not have permission to see it. If you want to share your emulated collection of retro games across multiple accounts on one Steam Deck, you usually have to move those files to a shared partition or a microSD card that isn't locked down to one user’s specific home directory. It’s a bit of a technical rabbit hole, but for most people just sticking to the Steam store, it’s a non-issue.
SD Cards and the "Locked" Library
One weird behavior I've noticed involves microSD cards.
If User A formats an SD card and installs games on it, User B can usually see those games. However, if User B doesn't have "ownership" of those games through Family Sharing, they’ll see a "Purchase" button instead of a "Play" button.
It feels broken. It isn't. It’s just DRM doing its job.
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To fix this, make sure User A has authorized User B on that specific device. Sometimes you have to jump back into Desktop Mode to ensure the SD card mounts properly for all users, but usually, a quick toggle in the Steam Family settings fixes the "Purchase" bug.
Performance and Shaders
Steam Deck uses "Shader Pre-caching." This is why your Deck is always downloading tiny updates. It’s downloading pre-compiled shaders so your games don't stutter.
When you have steam deck multiple accounts, the system doesn't necessarily double the shader storage if you're both playing the same game, which is a relief. But if User A plays Starfield and User B plays Forza Horizon 5, you are eating up a massive amount of "Other" storage. This "Other" category is the bane of 64GB and 256GB Deck owners.
Keep an eye on it. Use a tool like DeckCleaner or Storage Cleaner from the Decky Loader plugin store to purge shaders for games you haven't played in a while.
Privacy Matters
If you’re sharing a Deck with a sibling or a nosey roommate, you might wonder about privacy.
When you switch accounts, you aren't just switching a library; you're switching the whole environment. Your chat messages won't pop up on their account. Your screenshots stay on your profile. It’s a clean break.
However, if you go into Desktop Mode, things are a bit more open. By default, the Steam Deck uses a single Linux user named "deck." This means if someone knows their way around the file manager (Dolphin), they could technically find your screenshots or save files in the local folders. If you really need top-secret privacy, the Steam Deck isn't quite there yet, as it doesn't create separate Linux system users for every Steam profile. It just swaps the Steam client's identity.
Common Glitches to Watch For
Sometimes the "Switch Account" button just... hangs. You’ll see the spinning Steam logo forever.
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Don't panic. Usually, this happens because a background update is stuck. Force a restart by holding the power button for 10 seconds.
Another weird one? Cloud Saves. If User A logs out before the "Cloud Sync" is finished, and User B logs in, sometimes the sync gets paused. This can lead to a "Cloud Out of Sync" error when User A goes back to their PC. Always make sure that little blue icon next to the Play button is a cloud with a checkmark before you swap profiles.
Offline Mode and Multiple Users
The Steam Deck is a portable machine. You’re going to be on planes or in cars.
Offline mode is already a bit finicky on SteamOS. When you add multiple accounts into the mix, it gets even more complicated. For a second account to work in Offline Mode, they must have logged in while online on that specific Deck at least once recently.
If you're planning a trip, log into every account while you still have Wi-Fi. Launch a game on each account. This "checks" the license. If you don't do this, User B might find themselves staring at a "Log in to Steam to verify" message while you're at 30,000 feet. It sucks.
Actionable Steps for a Seamless Experience
To make the most of your shared handheld, you need a strategy. Don't just wing it.
- Join the Steam Families Beta (or Main Branch): Make sure everyone is in the same Family group. This simplifies the library sharing tremendously and eliminates the "one person at a time" rule for different games.
- Standardize Your Storage: If you're sharing games, install the heavy hitters on the internal SSD and keep indie titles or personal "non-shared" games on separate microSD cards. You can even color-code the cards with stickers for different users.
- Use a PIN: If you have kids and don't want them buying Hentai Nazi (yes, that's a real game on Steam) on your account, set a Lock Screen PIN. Go to Settings > Security. You can set a PIN for wake-up, for login, or just for switching to Desktop Mode.
- Install Decky Loader: Specifically the "Storage Cleaner" plugin. This is non-negotiable for multi-user Decks. It helps you see exactly who is hogging the space with their shader caches and allows you to delete them without hunting through Linux subdirectories.
- Sync Your Saves: Always, always wait for the cloud sync. If you're in a rush, just put the Deck to sleep, but don't log out of the account until you see the sync is done.
The Steam Deck handles multiple accounts better than almost any other gaming handheld on the market right now. Better than the ROG Ally, which relies on the clunky Windows user switching, and certainly with more flexibility than the Nintendo Switch's rigid ecosystem. It isn't perfect, and the "Other" storage bug will likely haunt you at some point, but as a shared family device, it’s remarkably capable.
Just remember that you're sharing a single set of hardware. If User A drops the Deck and cracks the screen, User B is out of luck too. Shared accounts are easy; shared physical responsibility is the hard part.