Finding saves on the Steam Deck

Quick no-nonsense guide to finding your Skyrim SE save folder on the Steam Deck. Written for non-linux users.

Step 1: Enter desktop mode

Whatever your reason for trying to find Skyrim SE's save location, you will need to first switch over to the Deck's desktop mode. Note: Here, I'm assuming that you have the steam version of Skyrim SE.

First, press the physical STEAM button on the left of the device, next to the screen. Select Power from the popup menu, then select Switch to Desktop.











If you need to go back to the standard interface (called "Gaming Mode"), you can double-tap the icon in the top left of the resulting screen (using your finger on the touchscreen).

The next couple steps will be easier with a USB mouse and keyboard, but if you don't have that option, you can use the trackpads under your Deck's joysticks as a mouse (press A or push in on the track pad to click). Press the physical STEAM button + the physical X button (top right of Deck) at the same time to toggle the on-screen keyboard on/off.

Step 2: Start Konsole

Next, click the Steam Deck icon (aka Launch menu) in the bottom left of the screen. This button works similarly to the start menu on a Windows computer, if you're familiar.

Navigate to System > Konsole, which will bring up the Konsole window. This is a standard command-line interface, like Terminal on Mac or Command Prompt on Windows.

You can use any linux commands that you know in this window. The four commands that we're going to use today are:

• ~ - not strictly a command, but rather a reference to the logged on user's home directory
  
• ls - list all files in the current directory, or folder
  
• cd - "see" directory, or go to the following folder
  
• name of an installed program - run that program

Press enter after inserting a command to execute it.
If you're not sure that what you've done is working, go ahead and type ls followed by Enter (using keyboard) and see if you get a list of folders, as in the above screenshot.

Later, you may find it useful to create a desktop shortcut for Konsole. The fastest way to do this is to tap the launch menu, then find Konsole in the System submenu and hold your finger on the screen to achieve a right-click. One of the popup options will be "+Add to desktop".

Step 3: Open Dolphin to the folder

Now, go ahead and type the following into Konsole, then press Enter:

dolphin ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/489830/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Skyrim Special Edition/Saves

Hint: Use the left trigger to right-click and copy-paste!
That'll take you to the save folder in a file manager called Dolphin (like Windows Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac). You can navigate this pretty much like you would any other file manager.
Note that if you don't want to type everything out, you can make do with just

dolphin ~/.local

and then use Dolphin to navigate to share > Steam > steamapps > compatdata > 489830 > pfx > drive_c > users > steamuser > Documents > My Games > Skyrim Special Edition > Saves

And if you happen to be looking for regular Skyrim saves, too, then use the following instead:

dolphin ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/72850/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/My Games/Skyrim/Saves

You may find it useful to bookmark the folder where games are saved to your "Places" (appearing in the left-hand panel of Dolphin) for future use. This option can be accessed from any folder using the three vertical lines button in the top right of Dolphin, under "More Actions". Example below:

Results may vary. Leave comments to help others out!