How to Install a Stream Deck Profile
Under a minute, and four of the five steps are obvious. The one that is not: the download holds 18 profile files per platform, and only one of them is yours. Here is which.
This profile's own key art, drawn by the same code that builds the files you install — and a starting point, not a fixed layout. Once it is imported, every key, folder and page is yours to move, rename, re-icon or delete in the Elgato Stream Deck app. What this page cannot be is the rest of the box: one theme of the ones it ships, one Stream Deck models of six, one platform's key combinations, and no dials.
What you need first
- An Elgato Stream Deck — any model: Stream Deck Mini, Stream Deck Neo, Stream Deck MK.2, Stream Deck XL, Stream Deck +, Stream Deck + XL.
- The Elgato Stream Deck software for macOS or Windows, installed and seeing your device. Version 6.0 or later.
- A profile download — a folder containing .streamDeckProfile files.
The five steps
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Open the download and find your platform's folder
The download is a folder, not a single file. Inside it there is a macOS folder and a Windows folder, each holding the profiles built with that platform's key combinations. Open the one matching the machine you are on — and later the other one too, if you work on both.
A profile installed from the wrong platform's folder will import without complaint and then fire the wrong combinations, which is the single most common thing people write in about. If shortcuts fire the wrong action, this is the first thing to check.
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Pick the one file that matches your device and theme
Inside your platform's folder there is one .streamDeckProfile per device and per theme — 18 of them for an app profile (6 devices × 3 themes: Dark, Plain and Brand). Take the one whose name carries your model: Mini, Neo, MK.2, XL, +, + XL.
The rest are not leftovers — they are interchangeable spares. Install a second one later to change theme or to move the profile onto a different deck; nothing needs to be uninstalled first.
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Double-click it
The Elgato Stream Deck software opens and imports the profile in under ten seconds. There is no separate installer, no file to copy into a directory, and nothing to unzip beyond the download itself.
If double-clicking does nothing, the Stream Deck software is not installed or is not the handler for .streamDeckProfile. Install it from elgato.com first; the file will then open on a second attempt.
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Bind it to its application so it switches on by itself
Open Stream Deck → Preferences → Profiles, select the profile, click Application and pick the app. From then on the deck changes to this layout whenever that application comes into focus, and reverts when it loses focus.
Profiles in this catalog already ship with their target application set, so this step is usually already done — check it rather than redo it. It only needs doing by hand when the app is installed somewhere non-standard, or when you want the profile bound to something other than what it was built for.
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Rearrange anything you like
The layout is a starting point, not a lock. In the Stream Deck app you can drag a key to another slot, rename it, change its icon, move it between folders, add your own actions or delete what you do not use.
Reinstalling the original file later restores the shipped layout without touching your other profiles, so experimenting costs nothing.
Profile, icon pack or plugin?
Three things are sold for a Stream Deck and they are not interchangeable. The steps above install the first one; the other two arrive the same way — open the download — but land somewhere else in the Stream Deck app, which is why one of them can look like it did nothing.
- Profile 187 in the catalog
- A finished layout for one application: every key already bound to a command, named and drawn. It uses the actions your Stream Deck already has — it adds no new ones.
- Lands in your profile list, next to the ones you already have, and switches itself on when its app takes focus. This guide is about this one.
- Icon pack 46 in the catalog
- Key images and nothing else — one glyph per command, no layout and no bindings. It works on any profile, including one you built yourself.
- Lands in your icon library. Nothing visibly changes until you click a key's icon and pick the pack as the source.
- Plugin 15 in the catalog
- Software that teaches the Stream Deck new actions — reading a live number, calling a service, driving something the deck could not reach. A profile arranges actions; a plugin is where new ones come from.
- Lands in the actions list on the right of the app, for you to drag onto a key. It does not rearrange anything by itself.
What is actually in the download
This is the part no help page explains, and the reason a first install takes longer than it should. A profile here is not one file; it is the same layout exported across every grid and theme it supports, so that one purchase covers every device you own on both operating systems.
| Your model | Dark | Plain | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini 6 keys | Mini-dark | Mini-plain | Mini-brand |
| Neo 8 keys | Neo-dark | Neo-plain | Neo-brand |
| MK.2 15 keys | MK.2-dark — the one to double-click | MK.2-plain | MK.2-brand |
| XL 32 keys | XL-dark | XL-plain | XL-brand |
| + 8 keys + 4 dials | +-dark | +-plain | +-brand |
| + XL 36 keys + 6 dials | + XL-dark | + XL-plain | + XL-brand |
The 57 game profiles in this catalog are the exception: they ship the game's own skin in one or two variants rather than the three themes the 130 application profiles carry.
Install troubleshooting
- What is a .streamDeckProfile file?
- It is the Elgato Stream Deck software's own layout format: a single file holding every key's action, label and icon for one profile. Double-clicking it imports the whole layout at once. It is not an installer and it does not change anything outside the Stream Deck app.
- Which file do I install if I have several Stream Decks?
- Install one per device — they coexist. Each file is built for a specific grid, so the Stream Deck XL file and the Stream Deck Mini file are both in the download and both can be imported. The Stream Deck app shows each device's profiles separately.
- The profile installed but the shortcuts do nothing. Why?
- Almost always one of three things. The profile is bound to a different application than the one you are in, so check Preferences → Profiles → Application. Or it was installed from the wrong platform folder, so the key combinations are the other OS's. Or the application itself has the shortcut disabled or remapped — a few apps ship with shortcuts off by default and a few let the user reassign them.
- Do I need to uninstall a profile before installing another version?
- No. Importing a newer file adds it alongside the old one rather than overwriting it, so you can compare them and delete the one you do not want. Deleting a profile in the Stream Deck app does not touch the downloaded file.
- Does installing a profile change my existing layouts?
- No. A profile is additive — it appears as a new entry in your profile list and your current layouts are untouched. The only thing that changes automatically is which profile is shown, and only when the bound application has focus.
- How many profiles can I have installed at once?
- As many as you like. The software switches between them on application focus, so people running several of these keep one per application and never choose manually. Each profile's folders live inside it, so they do not interfere.
Nothing installed yet?
187 profiles in the catalog. The busiest benches:
All benches · Compare Stream Deck models · Plugins · Icon packs
Still stuck?
Write to adxcool@pm.me with the profile name, your device and your OS, and you get an answer within 2 business days.