Steam Deck: Use EXT4 drives on Windows - Prepare your microSD card before your Steam Deck arrives!

A LARGE SCREEN IS RECOMMENDED FOR VIEWING THIS VIDEO.

NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU FORMAT IN EXT4 AND NOT THE DEFAULT EXT2 OR YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO WRITE TO THE DRIVE ON YOUR DECK!

NOTE2: 03:52 ... make SURE you remove the volume label. Clear the field completely and leave it blank. This is important

READ THIS: MAKE SURE AFTER FORMAT, YOU UNMOUNT AND REMOUNT - SELECTING CUSTOM PERMISSIONS AND USING 777 FOR THESE PERMISSIONS.

Some of the common questions I hear is:

"Can I create my microSD card and fill it full of games BEFORE I get my Steam Deck so I do not have to download them all on the Deck?"

"Can I manage my microSD card on Windows and copy my emulation stuff over?"

The answer has been universally "no" - Windows cannot format nor access the EXT4 file system used by Steam Deck.

Linux Filesystem for Windows allows you to FORMAT, mount, read AND WRITE to your EXT4 formatted drives like your Steam Deck microSD cards, external drives, etc. just like any other drive on your PC.

I've been using it for several weeks and know how to use it safely and effectively.

With this tool you can safely format an SD card for use with the Deck. I'll show you how to take your existing PC's Steam games and pre-load your microSD card with your games so it is ready for your Deck to arrive. Use this to manage your existing microSD card; copy lots of roms, bios files or media over without slow internet sync tools or SSH.

Note: Despite warning you to use the paid version of the product for this video, at the time of shooting - the trial version should allow you to complete the tasks in this video. The product is pretty cheap at $20 - since I cannot control what restrictions the trial version may have later, I recommend using the paid version to avoid issues.

-- Links To Products --
Linux Filesystem for Windows (10 day trial)

Directory Opus (File Manager) - 60 Day Trial

Chapter Jumps:
00:00 - Intro
00:23 - Bumper
00:27 - Download and Install Linux File System
01:45 - Formatting a fresh 64GB Sandisk card with EXT4
02:15 - Figuring out Disk # for SD card
03:25 - The Formatting Process
06:03 - Looking at an EXT4 formatted SD card
08:10 - Copying Steam Games to microSD
17:45 - Testing the Card in Deck
21:52 - End of Primary Content
22:09 - Start of Recap
23:30 - Basic Troubleshooting
25:15 - Bonus Dopus Tricks
27:45 - Closing Discussion

[brianfossett]

Worked like a charm, now lets hope the steam deck likes the micro sd at Christmas when i get my deck. Thanks for the great guide.

[reverenddak]

Excellent and thorough video. The free trial for Linux Filesystem works great. I don't have my Deck yet, but I'm gonna preload an SD card before it arrives.

[benpregent]

I initially had an issue with the drive not showing up in the Linux File system for windows after formating but deleting the volume and recreating one in disk manager did the trick. Thanks for the great video!

[bobthomas]

Great video!
Formatted the SD card on the Steam Deck and then used the trial Linux File Syestem to mount the SD and copy the data.
Worked without a hitch! Wish I had found this video days ago! Thanks!

[masterdynamite]

Super helpful video! Linux File System just saved me from re-installing the whole OS.

[hi-tych]

I got my deck yesterday, and I figured how to do this a day before watching your video. Lol just wanted to comment to say it works and Great job!

[senseal]

Thanks for this guide. Helped me to uderstand so i can preload a drive with games for my deck as i might get it when i go away to a campsite with awfull internet.

[supercheetah]

A free way to do this would be to use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) from the Windows Store, but it's quite a bit more complicated, and would only be accessible from inside the Linux virtual machine that it uses, but if anyone wants a rabbit hole to junp into, it's a good way to learn about Linux.

[SadieKiller]

You are a fucking legend, thank you mate, i was worried i'd need to buy a USB to C type adaptor thing, but your video saved me, much appreciated :)

[troywallace]

Waiting for my steam deck to get here has sucked, but this gives me something to do while I wait, thanks :)

[supergooglelee]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Without it I’d still be squinting my eyes while using the track pad trying to select files and copy them on the small steam deck screen.

[cumulusvapes]

This worked to convert my ssd to ext4 thanks!

[mamaharumi]

This seems a lot easier than the other methods, thank you. Is this the only software that does this though, or are there alternatives? and can I just skip the formatting if my card is already being used and was formatted via the steamdeck?

[SavingPrivateBob]

I didn't expect the transfer speeds to be so slow. Got myself a USB 3.0 pen drive adapter for my SD card, which is top of the line too. Guess I'll stick to Winpinator

[SikSlayer]

Another way to get to the Disk Manager is to right click on the start button. Nice little power menu of such apps.

[AdarBronsteinart]

For some reason, any file I'm transferring to the mounted Ext4 MicroSD drive has permissions issues and cannot be modified in the Steam Deck as they are all set to Root.
How can I transfer files with this technique without everything getting locked?

[Monztuh]

thanks bro it worked for my PNY 1tb micro sd card! The first attempt i stuck it in my deck tried to format it and it gave me errors twice so i unplugged plugged it back in and it wasnt even visible anymore. i put it in my pc and it didnt even show up so i got a replacement from amazon and used this method. Thankssss!

[parranoic]

Wouldn't it be easier just to boot a live image of Linux, format, copy all the stuff I need and then just unplug everything ?

[stevencamilleri]

Have you tried installing some games directly? All my games error when installing towards the end. Getting write errors.

[danieltaroyan]

I used the application “Linux File Systems for Windows by Paragon Software” in order to transfer data from PC to steam deck, I did everything that was necessary, I connect the SD card to the steam deck and it complains that the SD card is not the right format. On the computer it says that the SD card format is ext4