Getting WoW & CurseForge on the Steam Deck /u/IsolatedAngel World of Warcraft

This isn’t meant to be a super in-depth guide. Just a couple of tips/links to point you in the right direction and offer some starting points.

How to Get World of Warcraft and CurseForge on the Steam Deck
Here are a couple of videos that can help you. They’re just in order by most recently uploaded but essentially are mostly the same steps.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nohsVQIHp7I
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNiCUD4qI-A&t=2s

While the above are pretty straight-forward, I also recommend a couple of things to make things easier.

• Decky Loader: Decky Loader is a plugin loader for the Steam Deck that can let you add features, tweak the interface, etc. How to Install DeckyLoader
• CSS Loader: CSS Loader is a specific plugin for Decky Loader that enables users to customize the appearance of their Steam Deck interface. Once Decky Loader is installed search for CSS Loader and add it. Once installed look for the following:
  • Transparent Keyboard by Wormss9
  • Smaller Keyboard by jasonofthestorm
  • These two made a huge QOL difference for me on my steamdeck.
• SteamGridDB: SteamGridDB is a platform that provides artwork for games in your Steam library. This is especially helpful when you have non-Steam games or emulated stuff. Bonus because while I highly recommend you install it through Decky Loader, you can also visit their site in desktop mode, search for your game, download the image and manually upload the artwork.

How to Get CurseForge to Run in Gaming Mode

Here’s what I did in Desktop Mode:

1. If your CurseForge app is named something like CurseForge-1-122233-11.AppImage, rename it to just CurseForge.AppImage.
2. Right-click the file, go to Properties, and make sure Open With is set to **AppImage Pool (**To install this incase you don’t already have it: open the Discover app Search for “AppImage Pool,” then click Install to download ).
3. In the Permissions tab, make sure Access Permissions for Owner, Group, and Others are set to View & Modify.
   • Click Apply and close.
   • If the permissions don’t stick, try this:
     • Uncheck Is Executable, change the permissions, and apply them.
     • Then recheck Is Executable and apply again.
4. Once that’s done, right-click the .AppImage file and select Add to Steam.
5. Open Steam in Desktop Mode, search for the CurseForge shortcut, and click the gear icon to open Settings.
   • In the Shortcut tab, set Launch Options to: –no-sandbox
   • In the Compatibility tab, make sure Force the use of a specific compatibility tool is unchecked.

How to Get CurseForge to Sync Successfully

Here’s what I did in Desktop Mode:

1. Find Your CurseForge App wherever you installed it.
2. Open the CurseForge app and try logging in as usual.
   • Your browser will open, prompting you to complete the sign-in process. Once done, it will tell you that you can close the browser because you’ll be redirected to the app
3. Look for the Redirect ButtonRight-click this button, select Copy Link, and paste the link into a new browser tab. Don’t hit enter – just paste it to make copying easier for later The link should start with cfauth:// Open a Terminal (Konsole)
4. Search for Konsole in the start menu.
   • Open it, minimize it, set it aside.
5. Get the Path to the App
   • Go back to the folder where your CurseForge.AppImage is located.
   • Right-click the file and select Copy Location
6. Go back to Konsole and do the following:
   • Start with the path to your CurseForge App. It could look something like: /home/deck/Applications/CurseForge.AppImage
   • type “
   • Paste the cfauth:// link you copied earlier.
   • Close it with another “
   • Enter
7. Done! You can then complete and move forward with setting up the sync options.
   • The whole text in the Konsole would look something like /home/deck/Applications/CurseForge.AppImage "cfauth://your-login-link"
   • Yes there is a space after appImage.
   • Yes the parentheses are needed before and after the link.
   • Yes the link will be long AF.

Don’t forget to add the artwork! Once all is said in done and if you downloaded deckyloader and SteamGrid DB you can go back into gaming mode find both WoW & CurseForge -> Gear Icon -> Change Artwork.

Maintenance

In gaming mode I will update AddOns and such in CurseForge, then exit and open WoW. However if CurseForge says it has an update itself, I do so within Desktop mode. Only because I’ve noticed sometimes CurseForge will freeze if I do so in gaming mode.

I will run WoW updates within Gaming mode itself because idk it works like that lol.

Steam Deck Gaming Layout

I know supposedly there’s a way to import shared controller layouts but I couldn’t figure out how to do so even after looking at a couple of diff reddit posts and remember landing on a post that said something like it’s jut been a bug for like 2 years or something. But just incase: steam://controllerconfig/2651829824/3404895023

I hope this helps!

Edited for readability.

This isn’t meant to be a super in-depth guide. Just a couple of tips/links to point you in the right direction and offer some starting points.

How to Get World of Warcraft and CurseForge on the Steam Deck
Here are a couple of videos that can help you. They’re just in order by most recently uploaded but essentially are mostly the same steps.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nohsVQIHp7I
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNiCUD4qI-A&t=2s

While the above are pretty straight-forward, I also recommend a couple of things to make things easier.

• Decky Loader: Decky Loader is a plugin loader for the Steam Deck that can let you add features, tweak the interface, etc. How to Install DeckyLoader
• CSS Loader: CSS Loader is a specific plugin for Decky Loader that enables users to customize the appearance of their Steam Deck interface. Once Decky Loader is installed search for CSS Loader and add it. Once installed look for the following:
  • Transparent Keyboard by Wormss9
  • Smaller Keyboard by jasonofthestorm
  • These two made a huge QOL difference for me on my steamdeck.
• SteamGridDB: SteamGridDB is a platform that provides artwork for games in your Steam library. This is especially helpful when you have non-Steam games or emulated stuff. Bonus because while I highly recommend you install it through Decky Loader, you can also visit their site in desktop mode, search for your game, download the image and manually upload the artwork.

How to Get CurseForge to Run in Gaming Mode

Here’s what I did in Desktop Mode:

1. If your CurseForge app is named something like CurseForge-1-122233-11.AppImage, rename it to just CurseForge.AppImage.
2. Right-click the file, go to Properties, and make sure Open With is set to **AppImage Pool (**To install this incase you don’t already have it: open the Discover app Search for “AppImage Pool,” then click Install to download ).
3. In the Permissions tab, make sure Access Permissions for Owner, Group, and Others are set to View & Modify.
   • Click Apply and close.
   • If the permissions don’t stick, try this:
     • Uncheck Is Executable, change the permissions, and apply them.
     • Then recheck Is Executable and apply again.
4. Once that’s done, right-click the .AppImage file and select Add to Steam.
5. Open Steam in Desktop Mode, search for the CurseForge shortcut, and click the gear icon to open Settings.
   • In the Shortcut tab, set Launch Options to: –no-sandbox
   • In the Compatibility tab, make sure Force the use of a specific compatibility tool is unchecked.

How to Get CurseForge to Sync Successfully

Here’s what I did in Desktop Mode:

1. Find Your CurseForge App wherever you installed it.
2. Open the CurseForge app and try logging in as usual.
   • Your browser will open, prompting you to complete the sign-in process. Once done, it will tell you that you can close the browser because you’ll be redirected to the app
3. Look for the Redirect ButtonRight-click this button, select Copy Link, and paste the link into a new browser tab. Don’t hit enter – just paste it to make copying easier for later The link should start with cfauth:// Open a Terminal (Konsole)
4. Search for Konsole in the start menu.
   • Open it, minimize it, set it aside.
5. Get the Path to the App
   • Go back to the folder where your CurseForge.AppImage is located.
   • Right-click the file and select Copy Location
6. Go back to Konsole and do the following:
   • Start with the path to your CurseForge App. It could look something like: /home/deck/Applications/CurseForge.AppImage
   • type “
   • Paste the cfauth:// link you copied earlier.
   • Close it with another “
   • Enter
7. Done! You can then complete and move forward with setting up the sync options.
   • The whole text in the Konsole would look something like /home/deck/Applications/CurseForge.AppImage "cfauth://your-login-link"
   • Yes there is a space after appImage.
   • Yes the parentheses are needed before and after the link.
   • Yes the link will be long AF.

Don’t forget to add the artwork! Once all is said in done and if you downloaded deckyloader and SteamGrid DB you can go back into gaming mode find both WoW & CurseForge -> Gear Icon -> Change Artwork.

Maintenance

In gaming mode I will update AddOns and such in CurseForge, then exit and open WoW. However if CurseForge says it has an update itself, I do so within Desktop mode. Only because I’ve noticed sometimes CurseForge will freeze if I do so in gaming mode.

I will run WoW updates within Gaming mode itself because idk it works like that lol.

Steam Deck Gaming Layout

I know supposedly there’s a way to import shared controller layouts but I couldn’t figure out how to do so even after looking at a couple of diff reddit posts and remember landing on a post that said something like it’s jut been a bug for like 2 years or something. But just incase: steam://controllerconfig/2651829824/3404895023

I hope this helps!

Edited for readability.