Guides How to Set Up Virtamate (VAM) in VR with Meta Quest

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How to Set Up Virtamate (VAM) in VR with Meta Quest - An easy guide for new users setting up VaM to work in VR with Meta Quest.

Guide: How to Set Up Virtamate (VaM) in VR with Meta Quest 2/3
Tested April 2025 – Beginner Friendly, SteamVR Method

There are ways to run VaM in VR without Steam, but for first-time users, this is the easiest and most reliable method to get things working. It uses SteamVR and Meta Quest Link, both free.

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What You Need to Install (on your PC):

1. Steam + SteamVR
2...

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Hello, nice guide, but just a question, isn't launching vr via the updater for the first launch then directly in the quest library after, the fastest way to go vr ? That's how I always did and never had to setup anything

SuperSamoth said:

Hello, nice guide, but just a question, isn't launching vr via the updater for the first launch then directly in the quest library after, the fastest way to go vr ? That's how I always did and never had to setup anything

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It may be, but I have heard people saying they had issues setting up VR for the first time and have never been able to get it to work. It seems there are a lot of ways to do it, this way I think just assures you have everything and don't have any issues.

VamEssentials said:

It may be, but I have heard people saying they had issues setting up VR for the first time. It seems there are a lot of ways to do it, this way I think just assures you have everything and don't have any issues.

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Oh ok fair enough, cheers mate !

Thanks for linking to all my guides

Why SteamVR and all that? I use VirtualDesktop, it's not free but I note a huge difference in performance (you can start it without using SteamVR)
And also you can start VAM directly from the headset with VirtualDesktop

henshin said:

Why SteamVR and all that? I use VirtualDesktop, it's not free but I note a huge difference in performance (you can start it without using SteamVR)
And also you can start VAM directly from the headset with VirtualDesktop

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Yes I agree, Virtual Desktop is better in many ways. You can run it without having to run the SteamVR and Meta Quest Link app. And because of that you will likely see a performance increase. And for 4000+ series Nvidia cards, just switching to Virtual Desktop and not running Meta Quest Link app can allow you to not have to deal with trying to always disable Meta Quest Link's Asynchronous Warp, which can cause issues with 4000+ series cards running Virtamate. I personally use Virtual Desktop and recommend it for the performance increase as well.

But I saw there was no regular setup guide and saw posts from people when told to get Virtual Desktop that they just wanted to try out VAM in VR and didn't want to spend extra money on something if they didn't even know if they liked it or not, or if it would even work well with their PC.

I think for new users starting out, they needed a guide on just setting it up for free to at least try out before considering spending money or time on ways to increase performance.

That is how I set it up initially when I first got VAM. I prefer to test it out in VR first the free way, to see what it's like, and if I like it, I then got Virtual Desktop. From what I see Virtual Desktop has increased their price from when I got it, and increased it again since last time I even checked. It's now at around $25. I want to say I spent $10 on it, and remember seeing it at $15 for a long time.

Yes Virtual Desktop is awesome, but before someone spends that much, I think it's nice to see what VR is even like in VAM.

For those that read this and think should I just get Virtual Desktop then, yes you should. But I do think having a general knowledge of how VR works with VAM the default way first, will help you understand guides or other users instructions on setting it up with Virtual Desktop better. You'll then better understand what someone even means by bypassing SteamVR from loading and why you are even doing that. It's because it's typically required to load that way. And you'll also learn how to setup your keybinds in SteamVR prior. So there are some benefits to just figuring it out the regular way first.

If you want to get Virtual Desktop. You get it on the Quest App and it's forever connected to whatever account you use. If you sign in with another account, you have to switch to one you have it purchased on, so it's important to purchase it on one you don't forget the login for or you may have to buy it again on your account. I feel like I likely bought it twice by now but at the lower rate.

So if on Quest, you get the Quest loading version that is connected to your sign in. You get it directly from their store. I personally would recommend, getting it literally on your headset, to make sure it's on the right account while you are in VR. It will add it to your available apps and put it on your Quest headset right away.

Then you go to the Virtual Desktop website and download the free desktop streamer app to put on your PC and connect to the paid for version that is on your headset.


You connect it to your Destkop and view your Desktop and click and launch VAM.

You can then run a script to run it without launching SteamVR and can uninstall Meta Quest Link App altogether as it's not needed. SteamVR will require it when launching but Virtual Desktop is launching it a different way that is more like remoting in and viewing your screen and then launching it.

In many ways Virtual Desktop is a dangerous program, it's used to remote in to computers. Other programs/apps/viruses can access it to access your computer and view everything. So keep that in mind when using it. But outside of that, it's a great program, just don't run it when not needed.

This guide is more for new users that just want to set up VAM and try it out first before seeing if they want to spend money on additional things like Virtual Desktop.

I recommend following this guide to learn more about how you can set it up and use it and read the discussion on it there if you have any problems:

@henshin

I think the ultimate question is if you're a new user and see Virtual Desktop is $25. Do you buy Virtual Desktop?

Or do you use that $25 to sub to your favorite clothing creator, model creator, and scene creator instead and use the free VR version method?

I would argue that it would be better to spend that on subbing first to some of your favorite creator's Patreon's first to get their latest content and support them on continuing.

You then have better scenes, better models, and better clothing, and maybe even better plugins, based on what you are actually into, with decent free VR. And then if you are really into it, you can then go further to try to up your VR performance. Just my thoughts if I were to start over as a new user.