How To Setup Ps4 Controller On Windows 10

Sony'southward DualShock 4 controller is actually a standard gamepad, and you tin can connect it to any PC with a USB cable, standard Bluetooth, or Sony's official wireless USB adapter. It will piece of work in a variety of games, too, since Steam at present offers official support for DualShock 4 controllers.

Once y'all've connected a PS4 controller to a PC, you tin also take advantage of PS4 Remote Play to stream games from your own PS4 console, or Sony'southward PlayStation Now service to stream games from Sony'south servers.

RELATED: Why You Should Get an Xbox Controller for PC Gaming

Microsoft'due south Xbox controllers arguably withal work best for PC gaming, as they're officially supported by Microsoft and many games support Xbox 360 and Xbox Ane controllers in particular. If you're buying a controller for PC gaming instead, you lot should probably go an Xbox controller. But if you already have a PlayStation 4 controller lying around, here'southward how to set up it upwards with your PC.

How to Connect a PS4 Controller to a PC

You tin connect the controller to your estimator with the included USB-to-micro-USB cable—the same ane you use with your PS4—and use it every bit a wired controller. Information technology will "just piece of work" without any boosted setup.

If you desire to connect your controller wirelessly, Sony recommends yous purchase the official DualShock 4 USB Wireless Adapter ($15).

To wirelessly connect your PlayStation 4 controller with a PC without whatever additional hardware, you lot'll need to put it in Bluetooth pairing mode. Many people report the controller'southward Bluetooth connection can be a bit flaky on PC, depending on your Bluetooth chipset and drivers, so you may want to use a wired connection or an official wireless adapter if yous feel problems.

RELATED: How to Pair a Bluetooth Device to Your Computer, Tablet, or Phone

Here's how to pair your controller wirelessly over Bluetooth, if you lot adopt: First, turn off the controller if it'southward already on. If it's on and paired with a PlayStation iv, hold downwards the "PlayStation" button and then select the "Log Out of PS4" or "Enter Rest Fashion" option in the carte du jour that appears on your Telly. The controller volition turn off.

Adjacent, put the controller into pairing mode. Press the "PlayStation" button and the "Share" push on the controller at the same time, and agree them down. The light bar on the controller will start flashing. This indicates the controller is in Bluetooth pairing way.

Finally, connect the controller to your computer like you'd pair whatever Bluetooth device. On Windows x, you can open up the Settings app from the Start bill of fare, select "Devices," and then select "Bluetooth." The DualShock 4 will appear here as a "Wireless Controller" if it's in pairing fashion. Yous can then select it and click "Pair" to pair it with your computer.

On Windows seven, 8, and 10, y'all tin open the Devices and Printers pane in the Control Panel. Click "Add a device" and the controller will appear equally a nearby Bluetooth device. It volition as well appear in the list of continued devices here as a "Wireless Controller" once information technology's continued.

How to Emulate a Steam Controller With a PS4 Controller

Valve now offers official support for the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller. Information technology will function similarly to a Steam Controller, with support for the controller's touchpad and other features. Games that support the Steam Controller will work with the PS4 controller, and you can too create profiles to emulate keyboard and mouse events with the PS4 controller in diverse games that don't offer official support for the controller. In other words, it works just like the Steam Controller.

To enable this feature, open up Big Picture Mode in Steam past clicking the controller-shaped "Large Picture Mode" icon at the superlative-correct corner of the Steam window.

Head to Settings > Controller Settings in Big Picture Mode and enable the "PS4 Configuration Support" option.

RELATED: How to Remap Xbox, PlayStation, and Other Controller Buttons in Steam

Reconnect any connected PS4 controllers and they'll announced here. You can select them and configure them in the aforementioned style you'd configure a Steam Controller.

For case, yous can select a game in Big Flick style and select Manage Game > Controller Configuration to configure how your PS4 controller behaves in the game. This screen provides a lot of options for remapping what your controller'southward buttons do in a game.

How to Emulate an Xbox Controller With a PS4 Controller

RELATED: Why You Should Get an Xbox Controller for PC Gaming

Xbox 360 controllers—and Xbox I controllers, now that Microsoft has finally released the necessary drivers—are normally best for PC gaming. Many PC games are designed specifically to work with Xbox controllers. Many games also require "xinput" input, which Xbox controllers provide, but other types of controllers don't.

If you're using a a PS4 controller with an emulator to play older games, you could easily configure the emulator to accept the controller's button presses. If yous're using it with a PC game, yous may demand to open the PC game's command-settings and configure the game to answer to the controller'southward inputs.

But for games that expect an Xbox controller, you may take to emulate xinput. This will convert the PS4 controller's input to the equivalent Xbox button presses, and games will "just piece of work" with the DualShock 4 merely like they would with an Xbox controller. They'll just recollect you're just using an Xbox controller.

Sony hasn't released any official drivers for the PlayStation 4 controller on a PC, so there's no official way to exercise this. At that place are tools for emulating xinput with a PS4, merely they're unofficial, third-party tools developed by the customs.

We recommend the free Input Mapper programme. This tool will also helpfully show the battery level of your controller, which is something you won't normally be able to encounter in Windows.

Download and install Input Mapper to your PC. Open it upwardly, and click the controller-shaped "Profiles" icon at the left side of the Input Mapper window, and and then click "New Profile." The "Emulate virtual controller" pick will be on by default, and your PS4 controller should now be operation every bit an Xbox controller. Yous shouldn't have to change any other settings.

Open a game that expects an Xbox controller, and it should just piece of work. Any in-game prompts will still tell you to use the Xbox'due south Y, B, A, and X buttons instead of the triangle, circumvolve, square, and X buttons, just those buttons will office as the equivalent Xbox ones.

The xinput emulation only works when InputMapper is open, and so you'll demand to exit this program open when playing games. Nonetheless, if you click the "Settings" icon at the left side of the programme, you can tell it to "Start With Windows" and "Kickoff Minimized". It volition and so showtime when y'all boot your PC and run in the background, so you'll always be ready to become.

InputMapper as well does other useful things, such as enabling the "Trackpad equally mouse" feature, which allows you to use the controller'due south trackpad every bit a mouse in Windows. You can even customize the color of the controller's lightbar and configure macros.

You'll need to pair your the controller with your PlayStation four before y'all tin utilize it with your console again. To do so, only plug the controller back into your PS4 using its USB cablevision. It'll automatically pair with your console. To make it work with your PC later on, you'll demand to pair it with your PC again from the Bluetooth window. It'southward a small-scale hassle, but worth it to easily apply your gamepad on multiple devices.

Prototype Credit: Farley Santos on Flickr, Danny Willyrex at Wikipedia