The Steam Deck and EmuDeck Hotkeys I Actually Need

EmuDeck does a great job of setting up emulators on the Steam Deck, and then leaves you to remember a different set of button combos for each one. That's a lot to keep in your head mid-game, so this is the cheat sheet.

The good news is that EmuDeck keeps things consistent. Select is the hotkey button almost everywhere, and the same few combos do the same things in most emulators.

The Deck's own shortcuts

These work everywhere, in and out of emulators. Holding the Steam button on its own shows the full list.

Shortcut	What it does
Steam + B (hold)	Force-quit the current game
Steam + X	On-screen keyboard
Steam + L1	Toggle the magnifier
Steam + R1	Screenshot
Steam + L2	Right mouse click
Steam + R2	Left mouse click
Steam + right stick	Use the stick as a mouse
Steam + right trackpad	Use the trackpad as a mouse (click it to left-click)
Steam + left stick up / down	Screen brightness up / down
Steam + d-pad right	Enter
Steam + d-pad down	Tab
Steam + d-pad left	Escape

Tip

Steam + d-pad left is the one to remember. A lot of emulators and launchers want Escape to back out of something, and it saves hunting for the keyboard.

RetroArch

RetroArch has the longest list, because it covers so many systems.

Hotkey	What it does
L3 + R3, or Select + R3	Quick Menu
Select + R1	Save state
Select + L1	Load state
Select + d-pad right / left	Next / previous save slot
Select + R2	Fast-forward
Select + L2	Rewind
Select + A	Pause and resume
Select + B	Screenshot
Select + Y	Swap disc
Select + X	Show frame rate
Select + d-pad up	Toggle run-ahead
Select + L3	Reset the game
Select + Start	Quit the game

And three that only apply to the Nintendo DS core:

Button	DS feature
L3	Close and open the lid
L2	Blow into the microphone
R2	Change the screen layout

The standalone emulators

The standalone emulators share a smaller set. Here's what each one supports:

Emulator (system)	Quick Menu	Save / load state	Fast-forward	Quit	Extra
Dolphin (GameCube, Wii)	Select + R3	Select + R1 / L1	Select + R2	Select + Start
PCSX2 (PS2)	Select + R3	Select + R1 / L1	Select + R2	Select + Start
DuckStation (PS1)	Select + R3	Select + R1 / L1	Select + R2	Select + Start
PPSSPP (PSP)	Select + R3	Select + R1 / L1	Select + R2	Select + Start
Citra (3DS)	Select + R3	Select + R1 / L1		Select + Start	L3 swaps screens
Cemu (Wii U)	Select + R3			Select + Start
MAME (arcade)	Select + R3, or Steam + d-pad down	Select + R1 / L1	Select + R2	Select + Start, or Steam + d-pad left	Select is Coin, Start is Start

Habits that save grief

• Save states are for convenience, not for keeps. Use them to pause mid-level. For anything long, like an RPG, save in the game as well. A state can break when an emulator updates; an in-game save almost never does.
• Select + Start first, Steam + B second. Quit the normal way so the emulator can write its saves and settings. Force-quit is for when it's frozen.
• Go easy on fast-forward. It's great for loading screens and grinding. Leave it on too long and the audio and some games get glitchy.
• Check your slot. If a state won't load, you're probably on a different slot. Select + d-pad left and right cycle them in RetroArch.

Heads up

EmuDeck updates now and then, and emulators change their own defaults too. If a combo here stops working, check the hotkey settings in that emulator before assuming something's broken.

If you want the old games to look the part while you're at it, I set up CRT shaders with Mega Bezel on the Deck. For the native Linux games on the same Deck, Deckport gets them into Game Mode with their artwork. And if you're weighing up a smaller device to carry these same emulators around, the handhelds-by-chipset guide is where I'd start.