How to access VR mode on Steam

Valve’s Steam Frame VR headset is finally making its way to fans, albeit very slowly. Similar to its pre-order rollout for the Steam Machine, the company is once again opening pre-orders via a reservation lottery to reduce scalping. However, those who don’t want to wait for the $1,000 Steam Frame can access VR on Steam right now – with the right hardware, of course.

Steam lets you play VR games through its launcher through SteamVR, the app Steam uses to connect to VR headsets. This platform supports most headsets, including offerings from Valve, HTC, Meta/Oculus and many others.

It lets you interface with VR games through the Steam launcher, as well as giving you access to SteamVR Home and all the nifty settings in the app’s dashboard. Getting this all started requires just a few simple steps, and there are a few more you can follow to take your VR experience to the next level.

If you have a Steam account, you can simply search SteamVR in Steam and install it for free. Once the app is installed, you can start it directly and log into your Steam account if you are not already logged in (unless you are using the app offline).

To get the ball rolling from there, you’ll need to make sure your headset, controllers, and any other required sensors are all plugged into your PC. If you want to use a wireless connection, you will need to equip your device with the Steam Link application, compatible with Meta Quest 2, Quest 3 and Quest Pro, as well as the HTC Vive Focus and PICO headsets.

If you’re starting from scratch, there will be a little diagnostic work to do before SteamVR can render your games and desktop in VR. SteamVR will make you choose between Room scale Or Standing only space settings. You’ll need to prepare the space (about 6.5 feet by 5 feet), if you choose the former, before showing up to track the headset and controller to make sure everything is connected and ready to go. To keep an eye on how much space you have, you may also want to turn on the Chaperone system from inside the Playground in Settings.

Before you start anything, you’ll notice that you’re in SteamVR Home, a digital hub where you can invite friends to chat and interact via avatars. You can also decorate the space with items purchased on Steam or unlocked through certain Steam achievements.

With a simple press of the menu or system button on your controller, you will be able to bring up the dashboard. Here you can browse Steam and choose VR-enabled titles to play from your library or new titles from the store, as well as change your VR settings. You can also view your computer’s desktop in virtual reality from this area.

Whether or not you’re using one of the best VR headsets available in 2026, SteamVR will allow you to keep tabs on all your tech with its settings, some of which can get quite advanced. By tapping the cog icon in the right corner of the dashboard (or accessing Settings via the Desktop button in the left corner), you can tweak things to your liking and open up not only the aforementioned Chaperone system, but all sorts of brightness, resolution, and graphics toggles.

Here you can also play with more advanced settings, including Motion smoothing (moderate the frame rate of a game to reduce motion sickness), Controller BindingsAnd Advanced image syncs (which shows you the performance of individual VR applications).