Oculus Quest 2 is one of the best headsets for first-time VR users, and it's bringing plenty of new users into VR for the first time. Here's nine tips worth knowing right out of the gate to improve your experience. Updated – November 22nd, 2021 1. Turn on Passthrough Background & Passthrough Shortcut 'Passthrough' is when you use the Quest 2 cameras to look outside the headset. You will have seen this when you first set up the device. And while it might seem novel at first to have your 'virtual home' be some sci-fi apartment or fantasy landscape, I can tell you now that using the passthrough view as your background actually makes the headset much easier to use. That's because you can put on the headset first and then easily see where your controllers are to pick them up, instead of blindly feeling around. This is also much nicer than putting on your headset while the controllers are dangling from your wrists by their straps. Also, whenever you go back to your home space you'll be able to see your relative position within your playspace boundary, allowing you to move back to the center in case you've wandered toward the edge (don't be the next person to post a picture of the TV you broke while playing a VR boxing game). And if you want to be able to quickly peek outside your headset, you don't have to bother taking it off. With Passthrough Short enabled, you can double-tap on your headset to instantly toggle the passthrough view on and off to see who is calling your name or where to set your controllers down before you take off the headset. Here's how: Turn on Passthrough Background In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock at the bottom left to access Quick Settings. In Quick Settings, click the 'eye' icon Now instead of having a virtual home space you'll simply see the room around you until you jump into an app. Turn on Passthrough Shortcut In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock at the bottom left to access Quick Settings. In Quick Settings click 'Settings' (gear icon) at the top right On the left of the Settings section select 'Guardian' Now scroll until you find 'Passthrough Shortcut' and flip the switch Any time you can't see the outside world, double-tap the side of your headset with your hand or controller to instantly see into the real world. Double tap again to return to VR. 2. Use Voice Commands to Navigate Quest 2 & Launch Apps Only available in US with system language set to English Voice Commands on Quest 2 are often the fastest and easiest way to navigate through your headset's menus and launch games. Rather than fumbling through the app list, you can ask your headset to "launch Beat Saber." Rather than digging through the Settings menu, you can ask "show me Guardian settings." And rather than searching for a new game by typing the name into the search bar, you can say "search for The Walking Dead." Turn on Voice Commands In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock at the bottom left to access Quick Settings. In Quick Settings, click the triangular Voice Commands icon This will launch the Voice Commands setup and teach you what you can say. Enable Voice Commands Controller Shortcut In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock at the bottom left to access Quick Settings. In Quick Settings click 'Settings' (gear icon) at the top right In Settings, select 'Device' In Device, select 'Voice Commands' In Voice Commands, enable 'Controller Shortcut' (optional) We also recommend disabling 'Store Voice Commands' Now you can double-tap the Oculus button to enable voice commands. Enable Voice Commands Key-word Shortcut In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock at the bottom left to access Quick Settings. In Quick Settings click 'Settings' (gear icon) at the top right Select 'Experimental Features' In Experimental Features, enable 'Hey Facebook' Now you can say "Hey Facebook" to activate voice commands. This is especially useful when you're using hand-tracking (without controllers), because it's must faster than going through menus. 3. Record or Cast Your VR Gameplay on Quest 2 With something as cool as VR, it's natural to want to share the experience. Luckily Quest 2 has many sharing options built right in. You can record videos of your gameplay, take screenshots, cast a video to your phone or TV, or even stream to viewers online. Here's how: In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. On the menu you can now choose between Record Video, Take Photo, and Cast. You can even use the Voice Commands (that we shared in tip #2) to say "record video," "take screenshot," or "cast," to quickly do any of these actions in the midst of gameplay. Casting allows you to stream video of your experience to local devices. You can cast to your smartphone through the Oculus smartphone app, or to any compatible devices on your network like a TV with Chromecast. Alternatively you can cast to any local computer by visiting Oculus.com/cast in your computer browser. Recorded videos and captured photos are stored on the headset, you can access them in the headset through the pre-installed Files app. In the Files app you can also turn on syncing to be able to access videos and photos from your headset via the Oculus smartphone app. Alternatively you can plug Quest 2 into a computer to download videos and screenshots for editing and sharing. Continued on Page 2 » 4. Upgrade Your Headstrap—You'll Thank Us Later [caption id="attachment_97949" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] If you're happy with your Quest 2 and plan to use it frequently, we highly recommend the official Elite Strap or Elite Battery Strap accessories to improve comfort. The soft strap that's included with Quest 2 is one of the worst on any Oculus headset to date. It does a poor job of distributing the headset's weight. The Elite Strap accessories are rigid and offer a counterweight to better balance the headset. With better balance, you don't need to tighten the strap nearly as much to keep the headset in place, sparing you from discomfort and the unsightly 'VR face' after taking off the headset. Get the low-down in our full review of the Quest 2 Elite Strap accessories. 5. Avoid Direct Sunlight in Your Lenses or Risk Ruining Your Quest 2 [caption id="attachment_97929" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Photo by Road to VR[/caption] This one has been catching unlucky VR headset users off guard since the early days. Quest 2 is no different. If you let direct sunlight stream into the lenses for a long period the lenses can focus the light and burn a hole in the headset's display, permanently damaging it (much like you can use a magnifying glass to focus sunlight enough to burn a hole in a piece of paper). Make sure you don't leave your Quest 2 sitting out with its lenses facing windows. If many people use the headset, you might want to consider making it a 'rule' that it gets put away in a closet, drawer, or under a dishcloth to prevent anyone from accidentally leaving it the wrong spot for sunlight damage. 6. Check out Experimental Apps Through App Lab [caption id="attachment_99259" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image courtesy Oculus[/caption] While Oculus only allows select apps into the main Oculus Quest store, you can easily install early and experimental apps, as long as you know where to look. Oculus App Lab allows developers to officially distribute their apps on Quest outside of the main store. Installing them is as easy as having the link to the app, then clicking the button to install the app to your headset. But where do you find them? App Lab DB App Lab DB is a straightforward list of known App Lab apps. You can sort apps by Popularity, Recency, Ratting, and Price. Clicking an app will take you directly to the App Lab Page SideQuest SideQuest is a popular alternative to the official Oculus Quest store. While many of the apps on SideQuest require a more complicated 'sideloading' method, SideQuest also lists the easier-to-install App Lab apps in a special section. Here's how to find and install them: Browse the App Lab section of SideQuest When you find the app you want, click the 'Oculus App' button at the top right of the page, you'll be directed to the app's official Oculus page Click the blue button to buy or install the app, then it will appear in your Oculus library like any other app Continued on Page 3 » 7. Check a Game's Comfort Rating Before You Buy Your comfort in VR can vary drastically from one game to the next. Generally this is related to how much artificial motion an app employs. Games like Beat Saber—where you only stand in one place—tend to be comfortable for almost everyone, while games like Warplanes: WW1 Fighters—which have you twisting and turning in an airplane—can be uncomfortable for some. Luckily every app in the Oculus store has one of three comfort ratings: Comfortable – appropriate for most people Moderate – appropriate for many but certainly not everyone Intense – not appropriate for most people, especially people new to VR You can find an app's comfort rating in the 'More Info' section of the app page in the headset, or in the sidebar of the app page if you're browsing the store through a web browser. If you're brand new to VR, we highly recommend you start with 'Comfortable' experiences before moving on to trying 'Moderate', and only then, 'Intense'. This will give you a good feeling for what kind of VR experiences are comfortable for you and which might not be. Comfort in VR varies significantly from person-to-person and app-to-app, so don't feel like there's anything wrong with you if some games make you dizzy. 8. Know the Oculus Store Return Policy If for any reason you aren't satisfied with your purchase from the Oculus store, there is a straightforward return policy. You can return any app provided the following two conditions are met: It is less than 14 days since your purchase You have used the app for less than two hours This is especially useful if you buy a game that you find you can't play comfortably. How to Refund an Oculus Game Using the Oculus smartphone app: Tap your profile icon at the top left Tap Purchase History Tap the app in question and choose 'Request Refund' 9. Check Your Privacy Settings [caption id="attachment_97484" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image courtesy Facebook[/caption] Oculus is Facebook company and all Quest 2 users are required to sign in with a Facebook account in order to use the headset. It's a worthwhile exercise to double check your privacy settings so that you understand how your activity in the headset is seen by others. You can easily access the settings in the Oculus Privacy Center. Here's the settings you can control and what each does: Who will see your activity on Oculus? This controls how your current activity in VR is displayed on your profile (like which app you're using). If you don't want anyone to know what you're currently up to in VR, change this to 'Only Me'. Who can see your friends list on Oculus? This controls who can see the people you are friends with through your Oculus profile. If you don't want anyone to see who your VR friends are, change this to 'Only Me'. Who will see your Facebook name on Oculus? This controls which name people will see associated with your Oculus profile. Depending upon your setting, people may see your Oculus username or the first and last name of your Facebook profile. This also controls whether or not people can search for your Oculus profile by your Facebook name. If you don't want anyone to see your real name in VR or be able to find your Oculus profile with your real name, change this to 'Only Me'. You can also see much of the data that Facebook collects about your VR activity; it's worth browsing through this info to understand what kind of information is being stored about your activity in VR. To see the info, browse to the View Your Information section of the Oculus Privacy Center. Got more useful tips and tricks to share with new Quest 2 users? Drop them in the comments below!