How to Use Remote Play on Steam

Whether you just want to get away from your desk for a moment or you’re out in the garden and want to do some gaming, having the option to remote play on Steam is an absolute game-changer. Allowing you to stream games from your main gaming computer to another device means you get the same performance as you would from your main system, but without being tethered to your desk. In this guide, I’ll explain how to use remote play on Steam on both a laptop and a Steam Deck so you can follow the process and get gaming on the go.

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How to Remote Play to Another Laptop or PC on Steam

To remote play on another laptop or PC, you first need to enable remote play on your main system. In these examples, I’ve named my PC ‘Beast’ and my laptop is called ‘Beast Jr.’

First, go to your PC that you want to stream from and click ‘Steam’ in the top left corner. From here, go to the ‘Settings…’ option and then scroll down to the ‘Remote Play’ option in the left-hand sidebar menu.

Here, you first need to toggle on the ‘Enable Remote Play’ option at the very top. There are other settings further down this menu, such as setting up a permanent connection PIN (more on that later) or enabling advanced host options, but you don’t need to use this if you don’t want to.

With this done, open Steam on your laptop. In my case, I’ve done this on Beast Jr, and gone to the same ‘Remote Play’ menu within the Steam Settings menus.

Here, you need to click on the ‘Connect’ option next to the name of the computer/ device that you want to stream the game from. In the screenshot below, you can see ‘Beast’ is there, so I’ve clicked ‘Connect’ next to it.

This then brings up an ‘Authorize Device’ screen on the PC/device you want to stream from. In this example, it appears on ‘Beast.’ On the device you want to remote play on, in this instance ‘Beast Jr’, you’ll be given a four-digit authorization code. Enter this on the PC you want to stream from and click ‘Confirm.’

authorize remote play on steam master device

With this done, select the game you want to remote play on your laptop, and the green button should now say ‘Stream.’ If it doesn’t, click on the little downward-pointing white arrow just next to it, and you should now find the ‘Stream From:’ option.

To remote play a game, remember it must be installed on the device from which you want to stream it.

Remote Playing on a Steam Deck

The process remains the same when remote playing on a Steam Deck. Head to the ‘Remote Play’ menu within the Steam settings and click on the device you want to connect to. Enter the authorization code on the device you want to stream from that appears on your Steam Deck screen, and then load up the game you want to play.

Remote play on the Steam Deck is particularly useful as it can help graphically demanding games look and run a lot better on the handheld device without having to go through the lengthy optimization process. However, keep in mind that Steam remote play will require a fairly fast and stable internet connection to prevent dropouts and latency issues.