New Steam Update Overhauls Desktop Overlay, Adds Notes

Valve released a major update for Steam on desktop. It already rolled out to all users, following a period of beta testing. The update brings a major overhaul to the app, bringing its codebase more in line with the Big Picture and Steam Deck versions of Steam. While the biggest changes will be noticed on desktop, some of the new features will also appear on Steam Deck.

Valve’s new Steam update gave the whole app a visual overhaul. Fonts, menus and colors have all been adjusted. It’s not a drastic change, however, with most of the changes being tweaks to the previous UI.

The biggest visual changes in this update are visible in the Steam in-game overlay. It has a lot more customization options, allowing users to pick the features they’re more likely to need. A toolbar allows user to pick these features, including their friends list, achievements and more. A new feature for the overlay has been rolled out too, providing users with a notepad tied to the game they’re playing. To make the notes feature more useful, windows can now be pinned to the screen during gameplay. Transparency and position of the windows is fully customizable.

It’s the latest major update to Steam since a previous update to the mobile versions in October 2022. The new Steam update has been rolled out to all desktop users now.