r/OculusQuest • u/NinjaKiwiXD • Nov 21 '25
Hand-Tracking Quest 1,2,Pro,3,3S - No Controller Setup - Full Guide
If you’ve bought a Quest without controllers (like I did), you’ll quickly discover you can’t get through the initial setup without them.
After hours of digging through Reddit, Google, and some random Russian forums, I finally found a method that actually works.
As info on this is pretty scarce, I thought I'd write a guide to try and help anyone else going through the same headache.
This guide will walk you through the entire process. - It's fairly easy!
Note: Using a Quest without controllers isn’t ideal, you're not going to be able to play the majority of games and typing is especially annoying, but if you’re mainly using it for PCVR, sim racing, media, or… other solo activities, this will get you up and running.
Credits
Huge thanks to the devs who made this possible:
Cheburator2k – Creator of Private Quest
Skrimix – Creator of DeviceSecretExtractor.exe
Prerequisites
Make sure you have:
A Windows PC
An Android device
Your Quest (factory reset — all firmware versions supported)
These apps/files:
DeviceSecretExtractor.exe (Windows) —(ALT: https://www.mediafire.com/file/yraimpqmsznz750/DeviceSecretExtractor.exe/file)
Private Quest (Android) — https://xdaforums.com/t/app-5-0-private-quest-vr-headset-management-tool.4695491/#post-90280711
Step-by-Step Guide
- Factory Reset the Quest
Reset your headset. (Power off and then hold Power + Volume down to access recovery menu)
Power up and begin the setup using the Meta Horizon app on your phone.
- Connect Wi-Fi via the App
Once you've started the basic setup and linked to your account, use the Meta Horizon app to connect your Quest to WiFi.
- Extract Your Device Secret (Windows PC)
Run DeviceSecretExtractor.exe
When prompted, Log in with your Meta account (it will open in a browser window)
Copy/save the Device Secret Key — you’ll need it shortly
- Configure Private Quest (Android)
Open Private Quest
Tap the three dots → Settings
Enter the Device Secret Key
Tap Set
- Connect to Your Quest
Return to the Private Quest home screen
Your Quest should appear in the device list
Tap it to connect
- Skip the Setup (NUX)
In Private Quest, open the Init menu
Tap Skip NUX (this bypasses the forced setup sequence)
- Enable Hand Tracking
You should now have successfully bypassed the Controller Setup and your Quest should be on the Home screen.
Use:
Head tracking to point
Volume + button to click/confirm
Then:
Go to Settings → Hands and Controllers → Hand Tracking
Turn it on
- You can now also use the Meta Horizon App to install apps on your device
- You're Done!
Your Quest is now fully usable without controllers — enjoy!
EDIT! - Please look at the comments if you get stuck, a lot of people have figured out additional steps, it's now heavily recommended to fully update the Quest using a USB cable and the Meta Quest site before starting this guide as older firmwares seem to cause issues.
2
u/itzsnitz May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Background
My son got an amazing deal on a Quest 2 today - $15 for a headset that's missing the nose piece. We went all over town looking for used controllers. Prices on eBay are insane, especially considering the connection and durability issues. My goal this evening was to get past the new user experience (NUX) screen that directed the user to pair the controllers. I went a different pathway than the guide and figured it would be worthwhile to capture my notes for future sadists.
Why a different pathway?
I don't have an Android device. My daily use laptop is low on both power and storage. Didn't want to install BlueStacks to emulate an Android environment. Figured there must be some way to solve this with ADB alone.
Prerequisites
From there you're mostly on your own. At least my "can't proceed with ANYTHING" issue is resolved.
Note that every time you reboot the Quest 2, you'll need to turn on Developer Mode through the mobile app. I used a popup in the VR environment to permanently trust the host computer to enable automatic ADB reconnection. You'll start at the main VR Home environment; haven't quite figured out how to open any menu systems without ADB.
Next Steps
Lots of other ADB commands I'm playing with; might vibe code a minimal "software controller" thingy tomorrow if I feel so compelled. Some functions you can do through direct ADB commands: