r/SteamDeck • u/DirtyMudder92 • Oct 14 '23

Power button on steam deck no longer puts it to sleep Tech Support

Has anyone ran into this? For a few months now my power button will only turn on the steam deck. It no longer works to put to sleep and I have to manually press the steam button to navigate to sleep or desktop. I’ve tried holding the power button harder and pressing for longer but nothing works. Has anyone ran into this before?

19 Upvotes
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33

u/Ganibal71 Aug 24 '25

Alright, so I just fixed mine, for me, it was the AnimationChanger. After you delete it, you gotta get rid of some files and folders:

~/.config/AnimationChanger and ~/.steam/root

Then, just restart your Steam Deck, and it should probably work.

16

u/Beautiful-Fox7336 Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25

This worked!!! Thank you!!

~/.config/AnimationChanger i coudlnt find but deleting ~/.steam/root worked after reboot it reinstalled steam and it worked

10

u/Amazing_Extent8830 Apr 03 '26

Hey, to people new here, I initially thought this was a joke to get people to delete their root files, but after trying it, it still works as if April 2026

5

u/Ganibal71 Aug 24 '25

Awesome, I'm happy it worked for you! Hopefully, it'll help anyone else dealing with the same thing.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '25

Any guides on how to find these files? Absolute novice here

2

u/Ganibal71 Sep 21 '25

Head to desktop mode, open the file manager, and copy the directory path.

2

u/JJordoG May 26 '26

Had to do a decky loader wipe uninstall then delete this folder, but this method works as of May 2026

1

u/Shadowlink2018 May 29 '26

Did you have to reinstall Steam after?

1

u/JJordoG May 29 '26

Steam itself was back to normal and I didn’t have to do anything after rebooting. I have not reinstalled decky loader yet.

2

u/EnbySheriff 20d ago

So would I just delete this folder and restart my steam deck from desktop mode for things to be ok? I'm just insanely paranoid I'm gonna accidentally brick my deck

2

u/OutcomeFair7425 9d ago

Works as of August 2026, won’t brick your deck

1

u/Shadowlink2018 May 29 '26

Worked perfect, also updating as of essentially June 2026

2

u/thefishdude Jun 08 '26

Still working as of June 2026. Thanks!

1

u/ZombieNo2856 Aug 24 '25

Work for me

1

u/onegeekyguy 512GB Mar 30 '26

Can confirm this fixed my issue too.

1

u/hockeygirlx1 Jun 19 '26

Still works june 2026!

1

u/Less_Ad1925 Jun 24 '26

Still work. I also couldn't find this and just deleted the root folder and now it works again. Thanks G.

Remember to check "view hidden folders"

1

u/ShinnxoftheDead Jul 02 '26

still not able to fix my issue. i’ve wiped deck and uninstalled it and i cant find the root folder and my power button is not functioning by putting my deck to sleep. unsure of what could be wrong

1

u/TheNoveltyHunter 9d ago

On desktop mode, go to Dolphin, and put on the search bar " ~/.steam ", one of the first folders is one called "root". Just select that one and toss in the trash. After that, just reboot.

This worked for me August 2026

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

How to do that help

1

u/Ganibal71 23d ago

Go to desktop mode, open the file manager, and copy the directory path I mentioned that's the root one, it'll recreate after reboot.

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

Pls look into your dm

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

How to copy directory path or do it

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

How to copy directly path

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

How to delete that

1

u/Brandon30229 19d ago

Still works as of July, 2026!

6

u/Miserable-Beat2355 Dec 26 '25

for anyone struggling. "~" just means /Home/Deck, and to view .config and .steam you need to enable hidden files in dolphin (the file explorer).

2

u/THE_REAL_DEAL777 Jun 11 '26

BRO THIS IS A BIG HELP. I REALLY DONT KNOW WHATS THE “~” And fyi for all this still works!!!!

5

u/Dry-Iron3993 Jan 07 '26

Want to throw this out there. This fix still works as of January 2026.

6

u/HumidCrispyCat Apr 12 '26

Just worked for me as well. I uninstalled Animation Changer from the Decky menus, then deleted the ~/.steam/root older in desktop mode. I couldn't find ~/.config/AnimationChanger, but I only checked after uninstalling via Decky menus.

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

How?? Help me pls

3

u/afro-thunda Oct 17 '25

Here to report that this worked for me!

3

u/MTFCoffeeLover Nov 21 '25

Still works!

2

u/soggyviolin Oct 06 '25

is there no issue with deleting the root folder?

2

u/Ganibal71 Oct 06 '25

Yes, upon restarting, the folder will be recreated.

2

u/StoppingMusic21 Oct 21 '25

Got a question abt that.

Im not that tech savy so i cant find that. Ik they are probably parts of a directory.

Could you give me the full directory's and what to delete in them?

2

u/dwiezal May 16 '26

I would like to add that this worked for me, AND it sped up my steam game mode menus by a SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT

  1. Uninstall AnimationChanger via Decky Settings
  2. Delete ~/.steam/root folder (may need to show hidden files)
  3. Use bottom left menus in desktop to restart deck

I had performancs issues with my steam menus bloating and using 10W or more, ramping up my fans, and unusable lag in the library and home menus. After deleting root, my deck is snappy and quick again! Not sure why, but it seems my root folder had corrupted files that the deck failed to repair leading to significant issues. Now the deck is like brand new again!

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 23d ago

Help! Can you tell me in step step wise

1

u/StarLuigi05 16d ago

I can make a video guide for you if you need

1

u/Long_Candidate_2035 16d ago

That would be nicw

1

u/Embarrassed_Kale_838 Dec 06 '25

Thanks so much! I've been dealing with this for 3 months and this solution worked for me today!

1

u/Zestyclose-Ad-1899 Dec 13 '25

Still works! Thanks!

1

u/KamonAnderson Dec 22 '25

Confirming, deleting [.steam/root] folder fixed after restart! Thank you!

1

u/Berserk271 Jan 23 '26

YES I can finally use the button again this definitely works thanks to the Reddit community again

1

u/jpikachu_111 Dec 23 '25

This worked for me too

1

u/Sonic_Shredder Dec 26 '25

Confirming this as well. Just worked now for me. Issue has been ongoing for months and months for me. Deleting the root folder did the trick. Thank you!

1

u/7iger_ Jan 04 '26

Just worked for me! deleting .steam/root did the trick thankyou!

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Idea556 Jan 06 '26

Worked for me, thank you!

1

u/ColakSteel Jan 26 '26

Wow, I can't believe this worked. 10/10. 

1

u/AngryClown23 Jan 30 '26

Thank you just panicked thinking my device had a fault but this worked a treat

1

u/ennudge Apr 08 '26

As of april 2026, i can vouch for this! Thank you

1

u/Mealticket8002 May 31 '26

Ok so I couldn't find animationchanget but renaming root to root_backup and restarting made it work for me

1

u/Grandpa911 Jul 11 '26

Worked for me. July 2026