Steam Deck: Install Windows on a Bootable microSD Card USING ONLY THE DECK!

Easily one of the most requested tutorials on Reddit - the ability to create a bootable Windows microSD card without needing a Windows PC and using ONLY the Steam Deck itself. This doesn't touch your Deck partitions AT ALL. It is reversable by simply removing the card. It doesn't take over your boot.

This process erases the entire contents of the microSD card.

To get around the requirement of Rufus and Windows, I have created the Windows To Go image for you that will fit on as small as a 16GB microSD card (but you really need something bigger; 256GB is recommended and I highly suggest you use a SanDisk Extreme class card which is what is shown in this video).

You will need at least 16GB free on your internal storage (since we're using the microSD card slot to write the image).

This image is for Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. YOU WILL EVENTUALLY NEED A KEY. There is no piracy involved with this image. It was created from a CLEAN, LEGIT Microsoft ISO download right from their website using Rufus as a Windows to Go edition. Nothing was altered, injected or changed - I realize this requires a level of trust. Windows 10 Pro keys are pretty cheap. Sorry for the weird file hosts but 15GB is a big ask for a free hosting option. I only pay for 1fichier - sorry if that sucks.

Please do not ask for Windows 11. This is my one and only Windows-On-Deck tutorial. :)

Note: It is normal for the screen to rotate during install (even though you don't see it in my video). This gets fixed later, just rotate that Deck for those portions :)

THIS PROCESS SEEMS TO WORK WITH THIRD PARTY DOCKS THAT HAVE AN SSD/M.2 DRIVE BAY. JUST WRITE THE IMAGE FROM ETCHER TO IT (all partitions will be lost).

LINKS FROM VIDEO
=================
Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit TO GO Image (all links are the same IMG file)

Koofr

1fichier

Mega

If these all dry up let me know.

Balena Etcher

Steam Deck Windows Drivers

Resize-C Partition Manager (portable)

[iyyuchtus]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this tutorial. Got my Steam Deck yesterday and was having a really hard time creating a bootable microSD card for whatever reason. This one saved my day!

[LyricalViking]

Thank you so much for this dude. I was quite pissed when I tried to go the Windows2Go route myself but couldn't due to my selected MicroSD not having the fixed attribute for GPT. I was devastated because I had just bought another SD card specifically to run windows 10. After hours of searching I found you.

[gprivat]

Dude, you really saved my days dude. Thank you so much for this tutorial, you even provided links for Windows 10 to go

[GrantMooreD]

Been struggling to do this for weeks, and boom! All done in no time at all, thanks so much for sharing the ISO, I simply could not figure out how to do it only owning a Mac

[Underthanoa]

Man, thanks a lot for making this video and providing these resources. I was able to follow along and do this every step of the way. Thank you so much for your hard work!

[jakeanderson]

Thank you mate, this tutorial is excellent, super easy to follow and no mucking around with unnecessary fluff.

[drofwarcnwahs]

Outstanding tutorial. Thanks much. This is exactly what I was looking at doing so you saved me time in researching it. Thanks again.

[DawidDgk]

the best guide on internet by far!

thank you so much. it took me a week to find a good guide.

this one worked after two hours!

[RyanKorea]

EXCELLENT video! Couldn't have asked for a better one. Well done and thank you!

[manic_misfit]

Straight forward and easy to follow. Thanks for the help.

[shananigans]

You are so wonderful! I have used this tutorial twice now, once for myself, and once for my fiancé…you made it possible for us to get RedM on our Decks, and I seriously wish I could hug you🤗💜

[Bend]

Thank you so much! I was banging my head against a wall trying to install Windows to my sd card with the Rufus method and kept hitting blue screen errors on boot.
Tried this method and it worked like a charm!

[malikthetechnician]

Bro u don’t know how much u just help the community 😢❤

[calebfoster]

I hope your channel becomes more popular! You’re the real MVP of the Deck community!

[Dr.Ferret.f]

Thank you my friend. Your tutorial was very helpful. I finished it all in an hour because I like to be slow about this stuff. That way I don’t mess up of course. Anyways, thanks again.

[draygonfire]

Awesome video. Need more from deck videos from everybody great job man.

[Xislex]

easy to follow, you made sure to consider beginners and explained every small important details

[victorolaniran]

I do not consider myself a hard-core tinkerer, but since I got the steam deck, I have been forced to learn quite a lot fiddling with the device. Thanks a lot for the video

[FalloutofContext]

Followed this video to a T, was the easiest tutorial I've ever followed! Thanks man!

[sabercat]

Thanks a bunch! Worked great with external SSD! Somehow I could not prepare a good WinToUSB img by using Win 7, cause on Steam Deck it always showed like something is messing with Windows and please repair it, but at the same time it was working good on regular PC. However your img was just what Steam Deck needed!