Steam Deck Not Charging: How to Fix

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This is an issue that happened to me in the past few days, and I thought I may share the solution in case anyone encounters the same kind of issue in the future. Note that this is something that happened on my original Steam Deck (not the OLED version).

The charging problem

There are quite a few different failure modes when it comes to charging, so let me clarify the one I have encountered here, bullet-point style:

  • The Steam Deck had no problems charging until now
  • The battery is in a good state (in my case the batttery health is at 99% according the the info in the desktop mode)
  • The USB-C connector seems to work properly (the white power led turns on when connected to power)
  • The Steam Deck refuses to charge the battery when connected to power.
  • The battery does not drain when connected to power, but does not recharge either.
  • This happens regardless of the charger used (official and non-official ones alike)
  • Numerous restarts did not solve the problem at all
  • Charging overnight did not work either

So if you are in the same kind of situation, keep on reading.

The solution that worked

It may be a software or hardware issue, and I had to go into the Steam Deck’s BIOS to fix this:

  • Shut down your Steam Deck
  • Hold the Volume + button while you press the power button to restart it.

You should now see the Steam Deck BIOS menu.

From there:

  • Go into the Setup Utility
  • There will be a battery/power menu on the side-bar. Go in it.
  • Enable the “storage mode” for the battery.

What this does is that it effectively disconnects the battery from the device so that it will can remain idle for long periods of time (like when your Steam Deck is shipping).

This should result in the shut down of your Steam Deck.

You can now plug in your charger in the USB-C port, and power your Steam Deck again. This will in turn disable in “storage mode” for the battery and attempt to charge the battery again. In my case, this action solved the issue, and the battery was able to charge to its full capacity just like before.

Hope this helps!