Steam Deck Controls Cheat Sheet: Every Button & Layer

The Steam Deck does not invent a new control scheme for each game. It runs Steam Input, which routes the Deck's sticks, triggers, grips and back buttons to whatever the game expects — a controller layout when the game has native gamepad support, or a keyboard-and-mouse mapping when it does not. That means the reference you actually want is the game's own default control map.

This page collects the controls references for popular Steam Deck titles, each showing the keyboard bindings and the Xbox / PlayStation / Steam Deck button map together, so you can learn a game before it finishes downloading.

How Steam Deck maps a game's controls

If a game supports a controller, the Deck uses that layout directly — the on-screen button you see in our maps is the button you press. If a game is keyboard-only, Steam Input binds those keys to the Deck's controls, which is why the keyboard reference still matters even on a handheld. Either way, you can open the per-game control settings to confirm or change a binding.

Full button maps for popular titles

These titles all carry a complete controls reference — keyboard bindings plus the controller / Steam Deck button map. Open one to see exactly what each input does, then remap the handful of actions that feel awkward on the Deck.

Remapping on the Deck

The Deck's two (or four) back buttons and Steam Input's layers let you reach actions that are clumsy with the default scheme — a dodge on a grip, a quick-item on a back paddle. Start from the game's defaults shown here, change only what gets in your way, and keep the rest as muscle memory you can carry to a desktop later.