Custom songs beat saber oculus quest 2

Beat Saber is one of the most popular VR games, but there’s much more than the vanilla content included with the title. If you want to go further, it’s time to learn how to get custom songs on Beat Saber.

Read on as we walk you through the process to access custom songs for Beat Saber on Oculus Quest devices.

Warnings When Installing Custom Beat Saber Songs

For this process, you’ll need to own Beat Saber and have played it at least once.

Before we start, be aware that this process involves installing a modded version of Beat Saber on your Quest. Doing so is technically against the Oculus terms of service, meaning that there’s a chance (however small) that this could get your account banned. However, many people do this with no issue, so there’s low risk.

Read more: Things You Must Do When You First Get an Oculus Quest 2

Aside from account issues, note that you’ll likely have to downgrade your version of Beat Saber to install custom songs. This means that you’ll lose access to newer DLC packs, and some features may break (including online play).

Updating Beat Saber will restore normal functionality to the game, but will also remove your custom songs. We’ll walk you through backing up your game first to avoid losing anything.

Step 1: Install SideQuest and Enable Developer Mode

First, download SideQuest on your computer. This is a useful utility that allows you to sideload apps and games on your Quest. If you’re not familiar, sideloading refers to the process of installing apps from outside an official app store.

For this to work, you need to enable Developer Mode, which in turn requires you to create an “organization” with Oculus. Visit the Oculus Developers page and sign in with your Facebook/Oculus account.

Make up an organization name and check the I understand box, followed by Submit. Agree to the terms that appear, then you may be asked to verify your account.

Once that’s done, if you’re using Windows, visit the Oculus ADB drivers download page and install them to let your device interface over ADB. This isn’t necessary on Mac or Linux. Extract the downloaded ZIP file, then inside you’ll find a file called android_winusb.inf. Right-click on this and choose Install.

Enabling Developer Mode

Now you need to enable Developer Mode on your headset. The easiest way to do this is by opening the Oculus app on your phone and going to Menu > Devices. On the main page for your headset, scroll down and tap Developer Mode.

Since you’ve set up an “organization,” you should be able to enable the Developer Mode slider here.

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Connect your Quest headset to your computer using a USB cable. Put on your headset and you’ll see a message asking if you want to allow USB debugging. Choose to Always allow from this computer to let your computer to send commands to your headset.

At this point, you should see the dot at the top-left of SideQuest’s screen turn green. This indicates that you’re ready to proceed.

Step 2: Back Up and Uninstall Beat Saber

Unfortunately, you can’t add custom songs to Beat Saber while you’re on the current version. At the time of writing, version 1.17.x is the latest that works with custom songs, while 1.19 is the current release. If you’re on a newer version (check the Version field on the Beat Saber Oculus Store page to confirm), you’ll need to downgrade to an earlier version first.

Before you downgrade, it’s a good idea to back up your Beat Saber data so you don’t lose anything. To back up the entire game, click the nine-square icon at the top of SideQuest to show all your games.

Here, click the Gear next to Beat Saber. Hit Force Close App to make sure the game isn’t running, then choose Backup Game Data (and Backup APK File if you want a copy of the game’s installer file too).

As a safety net, you can also back up the game’s individual data files. To do this, click the Folder icon at the top of the SideQuest window and browse to the following location:

sdcard > Android > data > com.beatgames.beatsaber > files

Here, click the Save icon next to each file ending in .dat. You don’t have to save the .dat.bak files, and can save settings.cfg if you want. You’re prompted to choose a location on your computer to save the files.

You're ready to uninstall Beat Saber so you can install an older version. On the Apps page in SideQuest (the nine squares at the top), click the Gear next to Beat Saber and choose Uninstall App.

Step 3: Downgrade Beat Saber

Now it’s time to install an older version of Beat Saber. Open a new tab to oculus.com and make sure you’re logged into your Facebook/Oculus account. Then, download a copy of Beat Saber’s 1.17.1 APK. If you see an error, make sure you’re logged into Oculus using the same browser and own the game.

Once the Beat Saber APK downloads, drag and drop it into the SideQuest logo on the Apps page, where you uninstalled the game.

This will install the older version of Beat Saber on your Quest, which may take a minute. SideQuest will tell you when it’s done.

Step 4: Install BMBF

Finally, you’re prepared to install BMBF (it doesn’t stand for anything), through which you’ll access custom Beat Saber songs. To install it, search for “BMBF” using the search bar inside SideQuest. On the app’s page, click Download App (Sideload) to install it on your Quest.

Once this install completes, unplug your headset and put it on. Hit the Oculus button on the right controller to pull up the navigation menu, then select the nine-square Apps icon on the right side. In the resulting menu, open the top-right dropdown (it might say All currently) and change it to Unknown Sources.

You’ll see BMBF in the list. Open it, then the app will guide you through the steps to modding your copy of Beat Saber so you can use custom songs.

This is an automated process; pay attention to the prompts about what options to select in order for it to complete successfully. You’ll need to grant permission for Beat Saber to access files on your device, among other toggles.

Once BMBF completes, you’ll see its main playlist screen. If it isn’t responding, close the app with the X in the bottom-left and open it again.

Step 5: Add Custom Songs and Enjoy

Now you’re ready to add songs to Beat Saber and enjoy them in-game. There are several ways to do this, most of them involving the BMBF app on your Quest.

Inside BMBF, you’ll see several tabs along the top. Use the Browser section to open BeastSaber, which has tons of custom songs to browse and download. Search for a song or browse its recommended list, then select the Download button to add it to the install list.

If you don’t want to do all this on your headset, visit the SyncSaber tab. This lets you sync songs you’ve bookmarked on BeastSaber’s website after creating an account. Enter your BeastSaber username here to pull everything you’ve bookmarked. You can also choose to sync trending songs, artists you’ve followed, and more. Be sure to sync your profile each time you make a change and want to import those songs in-game.

When you’re ready to try your songs, jump back to the Playlists tab to manage them. You can make new playlists and sort them here, though you might prefer to do this with a desktop app like Playlist Editor Pro. Finally, select the Sync to Beat Saber button in the top-right to add the songs to your game. You must sync songs every time you add new ones., or they won't appear in your game.

Each time you launch Beat Saber, you may see two prompts. One asks you to update the game, while the other asks you to restore the official version of the app. Make sure to choose Update Later for the first window, and never choose Restore on the second. You can close the prompt and move on; updating or restoring will undo all your work above.

Once inside Beat Saber, you’ll find all your songs on a new Custom tab. They behave like the rest of the game, so you can add them to your favorites, practice, and more.

You can also download new songs from inside Beat Saber using the new panel that appears on the left side of the main menu. This lets you browse BeastSaber (and other services) and add them to your list.

Not all custom songs are created equal, so check out the ratings to see what other people think. It might take a bit of searching to find good ones.

Enjoy Endless Custom Songs in Beat Saber

Now you have everything you need to enjoy custom Beat Saber songs on your Oculus Quest. There are thousands of tracks to explore, letting you dive into the genres you enjoy.

As you work your way up to the highest difficulties, Beat Saber will become a great video game for getting exercise.

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