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If you've bought a new SSD for your Steam Deck, then you might be looking to clone your drive over to ensure that it's as seamless a process as possible. It's pretty easy to clone your Steam Deck's SSD using on-device commands, and we'll show you how to do just that. If you don't have a lot of games installed or have a fast internet connection, it's probably easier to just start from scratch, but you can copy everything over if you want.
Best SSDs for Steam Deck in 2024
If you're the technical type, you can replace the SSD in your Steam Deck with one that's faster or offers more storage for your games.
Requirements to clone your Steam Deck's SSD
If you want to clone your Steam Deck's SSD, these are the things that you'll need to do that:
- A charged Steam Deck
- An M2 2230 SSD
- Another PC
- External NVME enclosure
Step 1: Preparing your Steam Deck
Switch to desktop first and set a password
First, you'll need to switch to Desktop mode and set a sudo password.
- Press the Steam button and scroll down to power, and then select Switch to Desktop Mode.
- Hold the power button and select Switch to Desktop Mode.
Once you're in desktop mode, launch Konsole (the name for the Terminal) from the application menu list. Type "passwd" and set a password here.
Once you've set a password, you're ready to go.
Step 2: Clone the SSD using DD
This is most of the work
Once you've set your password, you'll need to plug your SSD into the external enclosure and connect that to your Steam Deck.
- In Konsole, type sudo lsblock and put in your password.
- Note the NVME enclosure's name, and your Steam Deck's NVME as well. In this case, our Steam Deck's NVME is nvme0n1, and the enclosure will typically be named sda. Basically, look out for whatever isn't nvme0n1.
- Type the following command:
sudo dd if=/dev/nvme0n1 of=/dev/sda conv=sync status=progress
- Wait for it to complete. This will depend on the size of your Steam Deck's SSD.
That's it! Now you can replace the SSD in your Steam Deck with the new one.
How to replace the SSD in the Steam Deck
Although the Steam Deck's higher-end models come with SSDs, they're pretty expensive. Here's how to install your own for less.
What to do with all of the extra space
Get a bunch of games!
Now that you have all this extra space in your Steam Deck, it's time to get some new games. We recommend any of the best Steam Deck games out there to make the most of the new storage, as you'll be able to carry more of your games library with you everywhere. A bigger SSD is worth upgrading to in the Steam Deck, especially if you struggle with the amount of storage you already have.
Best Steam Deck games in 2024
Looking for a game to play on your Steam Deck? Here are the ones that we think you'll love.
