How to type on the Steam Frame

The built-in Steam keyboard

The Frame comes with SteamVR's virtual keyboard. You point the controller's laser at a key and pull the trigger, as Road to VR's review describes. It's fine for short things and slow for whole sentences.

Opening it

In desktop mode the keyboard doesn't open by itself when you select a text field. To bring it up, use the Show keyboard button just below the desktop window, next to Float in world, View in theater, More options and Close. The same button hides it again.

The usual way to type is to point the controller's laser at a key and pull the trigger.

There is also a second way. With the laser on the keyboard, push the left thumbstick in any direction. The laser disappears and a key is highlighted instead. Move the left stick to move the highlight, and press A to type that key. Press either grip button to get the laser back. In our testing this stick mode took some getting used to, and we found the laser the more dependable of the two.

Tested on SteamOS 0.3.0 (stable), October 2026. Valve hasn't published keyboard instructions for the Frame, and beta builds are changing how controller navigation works, so details may differ on newer versions.

Getting to desktop mode

Desktop mode is a regular Linux (KDE) desktop that runs next to your other apps. Valve's Steam Frame guide says to open it from the dashboard menu: select +, then Launch Program, then Desktop. In the desktop, the controller acts as a laser mouse. The trigger is a left click, and pressing in the thumbstick is a right click.

Known problems

• Some games never ask for the keyboard. VR.org found that 11 of the 23 games in the Frame's "Playable" tier show a text field that never opens the on-screen keyboard (VR.org, September 11, 2026). The game's developer has to fix it, so report it to them. Separately, FramePort (below) says it ships per-game fixes for some Unity apps whose text fields close as soon as you select them.
• Non-US layouts. There's an open SteamOS bug where, in desktop mode with a German layout, the virtual keyboard sends US key positions (Z and Y swapped) (SteamOS issue #2871).
• While streaming from a PC, the keyboard sometimes didn't appear at all. Valve lists that as fixed in SteamOS 0.4.1 (Steam Frame news), so update if you're behind.

Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

Put the keyboard in pairing mode (see its manual), then pair it in Steam Settings > Bluetooth in the VR dashboard, as Valve's guide says. Pairing is in Steam's settings, not in the KDE desktop's settings (Steam discussion).

Owners report that Bluetooth keyboards type normally in desktop mode, and the reporter of the layout bug above notes their Bluetooth keyboard typed correctly. Rough edges people have reported on the Steam Frame forum (single reports, and they may change with updates):

• No visible mouse pointer in desktop mode. One workaround from the thread: hold Ctrl+Super to highlight it briefly (a KDE desktop effect, so you need a keyboard connected) (thread).
• Re-pairing after a restart: one owner had to pair again after powering the Frame off (thread).
• Games streamed from a PC: one owner reports the keyboard and mouse work in desktop mode but don't reach games streamed from their PC (thread, October 5).

A real keyboard is the right choice for long writing at a desk, as long as you can touch-type with the headset on.

Typing from your phone or computer

Both of these are free, open-source apps you install on your computer, not the headset. Both need the Frame and the computer on the same network.

Free on-screen keyboards

These are community apps you run instead of, or alongside, the Steam keyboard. All are free and MIT-licensed.

Full Keyboard for Steam Frame

A full-size keyboard with F1–F12, arrows, a numpad, Ctrl and Alt, plus Copy and Paste buttons, and layouts for 11 languages. To install, download the release file in the Frame's browser and run a few commands in a desktop-mode terminal. The README says no sudo is needed. It works in the dashboard and local apps, not in streamed VR games. The Steam keyboard stays as it is. Version 0.6.0 came out October 6.

Two forks (amirhh00, adepssimius) add a microphone key that dictates with whisper.cpp. As of October 6 neither offers a ready-made download, so you'd build it from source.

tnkboard

A tenkeyless keyboard from the author of FrameYap. It has real modifiers (hold Ctrl with one laser while you press keys with the other), an F-row and macro keys. There's no prebuilt release yet, so it's for people comfortable building from source.

frame-jp-keyboard

Japanese 12-key flick input with kana-kanji conversion, plus an English QWERTY layout with word suggestions, shown on top of Steam's keyboard. One-line installer, no sudo, needs Developer Mode. The README (in Japanese) warns that it relies on undocumented parts of Steam, so a Steam update can break it.

Voice typing (speech to text)

The Steam keyboard has no microphone button or built-in dictation (checked on a Frame in October 2026). Community apps fill the gap. Five of the six below run on the headset itself, so your voice stays on the Frame. Facts are taken from each project's own README or store page on October 6, 2026. We haven't tested every one on a Frame.

The table scrolls sideways.

"Not documented" means we couldn't find it in the project's README or store page, not that it's missing. If you maintain one of these and something here is wrong, email support@gripspeak.com and we'll fix it.

Notes on each

• frame-voice (DeeJanuz) types words live while you talk, and it has wake-word commands you can hook scripts to. It reads more like a developer's own setup than a packaged app. Its README says typing assumes a US layout and ASCII.
• FrameYap shows your words on a panel first and types only when you press A, so nothing goes out until you've checked it. An opt-in Auto insert setting skips that step. It installs into your home folder with no sudo, and it's listed in the community awesome-steam-frame list.
• fuelCell also copies every dictation, so you can paste it again, and adds controller shortcuts for copy, paste and select all. Its installer asks for your password once only if the system doesn't already let apps type; on our Frame's stock SteamOS that permission was already there, so you may never see the prompt. Its README says typing in the SteamVR dashboard and this version's controller shortcuts haven't been verified on a real Frame yet.
• Gripspeak is ours. Recognition runs on the headset and works offline after a one-time activation. It's English only. Outside Steam's own windows it types plain English characters and expects a US keyboard layout. Refunds within 30 days, no reason needed.
• whisper-frame was published on October 6 and changes daily, so expect it to move fast. Saying "clear" or "submit" at the start or end of a dictation clears the field or presses Enter.
• Yap is for PC VR. It runs on a Windows PC as a SteamVR overlay, so it only applies when you stream from a Windows PC. It doesn't run on the Frame by itself, and we haven't tested it with a Frame.

If your voice comes through badly with a fan or other noise nearby, Frame Mic Tuner (free) adds a dashboard panel that switches the Frame mic's echo cancellation and noise suppression.

Which should you pick?

About this guide

I make Gripspeak, so I have a stake in the voice typing section. I've tried to describe every tool from its own documentation and to leave out claims I couldn't check. Apps for the Frame appear and change every few days, so this page carries a date and gets rechecked. If something is wrong or missing, email support@gripspeak.com.

Last checked October 7, 2026.