How to use your Oculus Quest 2 to play any VR game for PC wirelessly

One of the best features of Oculus Quest 2 is that it can be manually connected via USB to your gaming PC to play more demanding VR games that otherwise could not be run natively on the headset. This is great if you want a way to play games like Half-life: Alyx, but the obvious downside is that you are now physically attached to a PC – so much for the wireless freedom that Quest 2 advertises.

Fortunately, the developers have already discovered what seems impossible: how to run system-intensive titles on your PC and transmit the visual feed to your VR device while synchronizing all your movements over Wi-Fi. It offers the best of both worlds: it allows that you play the games you want without being connected by cable to your computer.

Doing this is not as simple as installing an application in the Oculus store; there are several steps involved. I’ll walk you through the steps necessary to make this happen on your Quest 2 virtual reality headset. The same steps will probably work on Quest’s first iteration, but I only have the latest model here to test.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Get a connecting cable

While this is a guide for experiencing wireless virtual reality, you will need a wire to get started. Oculus sells an expensive 5 meter cable for about $ 80, but this is done for people who really want to use Quest 2 in wired mode. There are other, less expensive alternatives, such as Anker’s USB-C to USB Type-A 3.0 cable, which costs about $ 20 and does the job.

Many USB cables that come with modern Android phones are likely to work as well. And the cable doesn’t have to be long – we’re just doing a simple data transfer here. Unfortunately, the USB-C cable that Oculus includes with each Quest 2 did not work for this process when I tried. It is simply to charge the headset.

Enable developer settings

If you want to upload files to your Quest 2, you will need a developer account. Fortunately, it is easy to do, but it is a strange process that should be used by real developers.

• Go to this page and log into your Facebook account in the browser of your choice. Just be sure to sign in with the same Facebook account you signed up for Quest 2 with.

• The next part of the process is to name your “organization”. You can name it as you like. You can find a direct link to this page here, in case you get lost.
• With these two steps out of the way, open your Oculus mobile app (iOS or Android) and log in with the same Facebook account. Then navigate to the “Settings” panel by clicking on it in the lower right corner of the application window.
• On the next page, click on “Oculus Quest 2” just below its name, and a few more options will be expanded from within it. Click on “More Settings”
• Once there, tap on “Developer Mode” and turn it on

Install the Quest 2 driver for your PC

The next steps pave the way for you to sideload the software on the Quest 2 headset, which is a feature normally reserved for developers. If you are using a Windows PC, you will need to install the ADB drivers to allow the PC to record to the headset; according to the Oculus website, macOS and Linux systems do not need a driver.

• Download the software linked here, hosted by Oculus. (Just check the box that says you agree to the license terms – you can read it if you want – and click “Download”.)

• After downloading, extract the contents of the folder. Then, right-click on the item called “android_winusb.inf” and select “Install”.

Buy the Virtual Desktop app for Quest

The Virtual Desktop application allows you to access your PC through the lens of a VR headset. You can use it for games, as we will, but you can also watch movies stored on your PC in a variety of different virtual environments. There is a Quest specific version of the app that you can buy here for $ 20. (Make sure it says it is compatible with Quest below the purchase button.)

After purchasing it, install it in the headset. We will return to this application shortly, but for now, some other steps.

Connect Quest 2 to your PC

Connect your Quest 2 through its side-mounted USB-C port to the fastest available USB port on your PC. If you’ve done everything correctly up to this point, you’ll see a message displayed on the headset asking if you want to allow USB debugging. Allow it to continue.

Download and install SideQuest on your PC

SideQuest is a free app and store for experiences that can be loaded into your headset. For the purposes of this manual, you will only be using it to apply a necessary patch to the virtual desktop application that I just suggested that you purchase and install on your Quest 2 headset.

• Go here to find the right installer for your operating system (I used the Windows 10 version for this manual) and download

• Once installation is complete, run SideQuest
• At this point, your headset should appear as connected in the upper left corner of the SideQuest application on your PC with a green bubble. If it is not showing as connected, check for a warning on the headset display. He may be waiting for you to allow your PC to access and modify the Quest 2 file system.

Sideload the VR desktop patch for Quest 2

In SideQuest, type “virtual desktop” in the search bar. The result you are looking for is called a “virtual desktop VR patch. This is the key needed to trick your computer into thinking that your Quest 2 is a wired headset.

• With Quest 2 connected to your computer, click the “Install on headset” button on SideQuest, located just below the application’s search bar. The process should be very quick, taking just a few seconds.

Download the Virtual Desktop Streamer

There is yet another free downloadable application: Virtual Desktop Streamer. Made by the same people who made the virtual desktop app you bought on Quest 2, this app simply streams content from your PC to your headset via Wi-Fi.

• After this application is downloaded and installed, you will need to enter your Oculus username in the Streamer window
• If you don’t know right away, you can find it by opening the Oculus app on your phone, navigating to “Settings” and tapping the area that shows your name and email address. The name that will be displayed next to your avatar is your username.

• After inserting, click on “Save”
• This is the last step! But keep in mind that it is crucial to have the Virtual Desktop Streamer application open for the headset to communicate with the PC.

Open the virtual desktop in your Quest 2

If all steps have been performed correctly, you will see your PC appear in the list of devices available for connection from the virtual desktop application in your Quest 2.

Once connected, the Options button (the left Oculus Touch controller equivalent to the Oculus button) is mapped to open the top level menu of the Virtual Desktop, as shown in the image below. From there, clicking on “Games” will reveal all the games that are installed on your PC. You can simply boot each one from there, and your PC will do all the heavy lifting.

If you are not satisfied with the visual fidelity within each game, you are free to customize some settings that affect latency, refresh rate and more. Note that you will probably get a clearer and more fluid picture if your PC is powerful and your Internet connection is fast. Given the dependence on your Wi-Fi network, your wireless router also plays a big role in providing a smooth experience.

VR streaming over Wi-Fi is certainly not a perfect solution. I have a Wi-Fi 6 router ready and relatively fast internet (235 Mbps down, 19 Mbps up), and I still experience an occasional lag and slightly fuzzy image. Although with enough tweaks to the Virtual Desktop app (turning off Wi-Fi on rarely-used technology items never hurts), I think you’ll have fun.