How to turn off steam Theater mode

[Cosmologist]

Im trying to play GTA 5 with a VR mod and steam keeps putting me in the theater mode its unusable becasue when i move my head its just the sides of the theater and the camrea moves in gta but i cant see it

[Stryder]

Find the game in your Steam Library. Right click on it and choose Properties. There should be 2 check boxes: uncheck the one that says "Use Desktop Game Theater while SteamVR is active".

[lotusteve]

thankyou. i need to turn this off as well but did not know where to look for the setting.

[Hnojco32]

For me it doesnt work

[Hummer Guy]

Is there a way to disable this for non-game programs as well? I’ve been using Soundpad while playing VR for a long time now, and only today it’s forcing me to view Soundpad in theater mode and not in the background. I checked my properties for Soundpad and I didn't see any checkboxes to let me disable desktop game theater.

[Silex]

Would also love to know how to kill this stupid "feature" for non-game apps. Even on the fallback 1.27.5, it's forcing the Bigscreen Driver config tool into theatre view now. Is anyone at Valve even testing what they push to endusers these days?

[Kupker]

It seems there was an update which now forces all non VR apps to run in game theatre and it cannot be disabled in steam settings anymore. I noticed it today, when I started Microsoft Flight Simulator and it started in game theatre which limits my FPS to 30, which is unplayable.

To fix this just rename: c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\tools\steamvr_desktop_game_theater\win64\steamvr_desktop_game_theater.exe to something else.

[beanz]

You can disable steam theater by renaming that useless program. But Now there is no way to use virtual desktop with steam games. Opening the game closes virtual desktop and vice versa. I hope this gets fixed.

[itzGoldz._.]

Ok so there’s something going on with the theater whenever I open soundpad then rec room it opens steamVR then back to soundpad if anyone knows how to fix this please let me know

[Dodgy]

wish there is a way to completely remove Theater mode and big picture mode, i never eve touch this 2 things

[Bulba kruK]

Originally posted by Kupker:

It seems there was an update which now forces all non VR apps to run in game theatre and it cannot be disabled in steam settings anymore. I noticed it today, when I started Microsoft Flight Simulator and it started in game theatre which limits my FPS to 30, which is unplayable.

To fix this just rename: c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\tools\steamvr_desktop_game_theater\win64\steamvr_desktop_game_theater.exe to something else.

HI! I Checked this folder, but i dont have exe file. Only TXT

[Hummer Guy]

I think I may have found a solution to this. Go to your SteamVR settings, show advanced settings, go to your Dashboard settings (This tab only appears when you have shown advanced settings), and then set "Present Non-VR Applications on Theater Screen Upon Launche" to off.

[Agathos Deimon]

Originally posted by Muscle Man:

I think I may have found a solution to this. Go to your SteamVR settings, show advanced settings, go to your Dashboard settings (This tab only appears when you have shown advanced settings), and then set "Present Non-VR Applications on Theater Screen Upon Launche" to off.

While this seems to work. Performance in some applications is still extremely bad compared to previous versions. Some games have become unplayable as SteamVR for unknown reasons now takes alot more CPU and GPU performance than before.

[Turd Ferguson]

Same issue here, games that were previously flawless in VR have become extremely laggy.

I only have a text file for theatre not an exe also.
Tried to turn off that setting Present Non-VR Applications on Theatre Screen Upon Launch but still laggy

[𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣☢]

laaaaggggyyyyyy

[aaron.leiby]

Same issue here, games that were previously flawless in VR have become extremely laggy.

Which specific games are you having problems with? If any mods have been applied, please list those as well.

Also provide which headset you are using and if applicable, streaming software.

There was a report of Euro Truck Simulator 2, for instance. I tested this with Quest 2 over QuestLink using the oculus beta branch of the game, launched with “-openvr” option, on a 2080, but it ran flawlessly, locked to 72Hz (the default hmd refresh rate using that method).