I recently bought a Steam Deck from a friend who had it for a short time. He had some emulators and cool stuff installed, and his Steam account was still logged in alongside mine. A few days ago, he changed his password, and now I can’t sign in to my account or add a new one. The weird part is the buttons and sticks don’t work when I’m at the sign-in screen, so I’m using the touchscreen.
I can’t seem to log in to another account, and when I click on my friend’s account, it prompts me for his login details, which he’s understandably reluctant to share. I also suspect that I can’t factory reset the device properly. I tried accessing the factory reset option in the settings, but nothing happened. Holding down the three dots and the power button is also a no-go, as I think I can’t access that menu unless signed in.
So, I’m stuck and would love any solutions to get this sorted!
3 Answers
Honestly, it seems like your Steam Deck has made its choice on who it wants to belong to! Just kidding! But seriously, getting it reset might be tricky without your friend’s help.
Hey, if you didn’t find an answer with a search, don’t stress! Your post is still here, and someone will pop in soon with advice. Don’t forget to update us if you find a solution for others in the future!
It sounds like you might need to change the primary account on the Steam Deck. Your friend can temporarily log in to his account, and from there, you can set your account as the primary. If you can’t do that, you might be locked out due to anti-theft measures. As a last resort, someone suggested re-imaging it might work because, technically, it’s just a PC. But definitely try getting your friend’s help first!
And yeah, just to stress this – if you have physical access to the device, it’s usually straightforward to reset things if necessary.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll reach out to him and see if he can help me log in temporarily.