Desktop and Tray
SteamShell keeps a notification-area icon whenever it is running, including while it is acting as the Windows shell. It is the escape hatch: everything below is reachable with a keyboard and mouse alone, with no controller involved.
| Item | Does |
|---|---|
| Open Quick Menu | The same overlay the L3+R3 hold opens |
| Open Settings | The desktop Settings editor |
| Open Diagnostics | Status, live log and the Health Check — see Debugging |
| Learn Controller… | Teach SteamShell a pad XInput cannot describe — see Controller Learner |
| Delete Learned Profile | Undo the above for the attached device |
| Automatic Mouse Throughout Desktop | Toggle desktop-wide automatic mouse mode |
| Return to SteamShell | Go back to the shell after exiting to the desktop |
| Reload Settings | Re-read the INI without restarting |
| Exit SteamShell | Close the shell and restore the desktop |
An Installation moved item appears above these when the recorded install path no longer matches reality; it opens Setup Assistant to re-record it.
Return to SteamShell and Exit Steam to Desktop are not drawn. Neither has anything to offer: the first would hand SteamShell a presentation takeover the user opted out of for the session, and the second would offer to leave a desktop that was never left.
Everything else is the same, and the tray matters more there — in Alongside mode it is the main way to reach SteamShell, because there is no shell surface to summon it from. See Shell & Alongside modes.
A learned profile that came out wrong does not merely fail to help — it reads as a stick held over, so the pointer runs off on its own and Settings becomes hard to reach with the very device the profile broke.
So the learner and its undo are both here, and the tray needs only a keyboard. The same
two sit in the Settings window and on Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D. The point is that none of the
routes to them requires a working controller.
The XFE companion carries the same two items in its tray, for the same reason.