Differential steering is the means of steering a land vehicle by applying more drive torque to one side of the vehicle than the other. Differential steering is the primary means of steering tracked vehicles, such as tanks and bulldozers, is also used in certain wheeled vehicles commonly known as skid-steer, and even implemented in some automobiles, where it is called torque vectoring, to augment steering by changing wheel direction relative to the vehicle. Differential steering is distinct from torque steer, which is usually considered a negative side effect of drive-train design choices.

A British agricultural company, Hornsby in Grantham, developed a continuous track, which was patented in 1905. The Hornsby tractors featured a track-steer clutch arrangement.

There are several mechanisms that have been developed to vary the torque applied to different sides of a vehicle. These include clutch-brake steering, braked-differential steering, controlled-differential steering, geared steering, Maybach double-differential steering, double-differential steering, triple-differential steering, hydraulic, and electric.

In clutch-brake differential steering, power is disconnected to one side or the other with a clutch, and the unpowered side may also have a brake applied to tighten the turn. Note that there is no differential gearset in this design. The tracks on either side of the vehicle will always turn at the same speed unless one is declutched for steering. This method is simple to implement but inefficient and only suitable for light vehicles. Also, when traveling downslope under engine braking, declutching one side to turn can result in a turn in the other direction.

In brake-differential steering, power is applied to both sides through a differential and a brake is applied to one side or the other. The slowing of one side causes the other side to speed up, because of the differential, and so the vehicle maintains a constant speed. A subsequent disadvantage is that changes in rolling resistance or traction from one side to the other automatically causes the vehicle to steer unless counteracted by the driver. Differential steering of this type was used in many half-track designs to assist with making tight turns.

In controlled-differential steering, pinions within the differential are locked causing one side to rotate faster than the other. An advantage is that no power is lost to braking. A disadvantage is that only one turning radius can be performed efficiently. This method was developed by the Cleveland Tractor Company in 1921 and called the Cletrac Regenerative Steering System.

In geared differential steering, two complete gearboxes are used to provide power to either side, and one distinct turning radius can be derived from each gear ratio combination. The main disadvantage to this system is that it doubles the size and weight of the total transmission and therefore it has only been implemented experimentally.

In the Maybach double-differential, power is transmitted through a single main transmission and then through an epicycle gear final drive on each side. A different drive speed is caused by feeding torque, from a separate "steering" transmission, into one final drive or the other using a pair of clutches. Usually the steering input turns at a fixed ratio relative to the engine, which results in a different turn radius for each main transmission ratio. This system was implemented on German Panther tanks during World War II. The drawback of this design compared to other multiple-differential designs is that applying the steering input to one track also increases the average speed of the two tracks, so the vehicle's speed is not constant.