The PlayStation 4 DualShock controllers are some of the best controllers available in the market but can PlayStation controllers work on PC? With some configuration, it’s possible to use PS4 controllers with your PC games. There’s a simple way and a slightly more complicated way to make this happen. Let’s get into the details.
First Off: Connecting the Controller to PC
Before you delve into setting up the PS4 controller, you need to connect it to your PC. There are two ways of doing this – the wired method and the wireless method.
Connect Using a Cable
- Use a USB-to-micro-USB cable to connect your controller to a free USB slot on your PC.
- Your PC should automatically recognize your PS4 controller.
That’s it for the wired method.
Connect Using Bluetooth
Make sure your PC has Bluetooth functionality, either on your motherboard or by way of a Bluetooth dongle. There’s even an official DualShock 4 wireless adapter you can use to avoid any potential Bluetooth connectivity issues.
- Turn off your controller and then press and hold the PlayStation and Share buttons for around three seconds till the light bar starts flashing.
- Open the Bluetooth menu on your PC and click Add Bluetooth or other device.
- Click Bluetooth and select the DualShock 4 controller from the list.
- Your controller should now be connected to your PC.
Now that you’ve connected your controller to the PC, the next step is to configure it to work.
Configuring the Controller
Making the PS4 controller work on your PC can be a fairly simple or a slightly more time-consuming process, based on how you choose to do it. Modern games use Microsoft’s XInput interface to process controller commands, the same interface that is used by the Xbox controllers.
But as the PlayStation controllers don’t use XInput commands, an extra step is needed to process its commands into something XInput can understand. This ‘wrapping’ of PS4 commands can be done in the aforementioned two methods.
Configure Using Steam
If all your games are part of your Steam library, you don’t need any third-party software to configure your DualShock controller. All you need is a few changes to your Steam settings:
- Open the Settings menu in Steam (under the Steam tab at the top left).
- Select the Controller
- Click on General Controller Settings.
- Check the box labeled PlayStation Configuration Support.
- You can now connect your controller to the PC using the wired or the wireless method. It should now work with all your Steam games.
Steam is known to be hit or miss with PlayStation controllers. If this method doesn’t work for your controller or if you want your controller to work for non-Steam games as well, try the second method below.
Configure Using DS4Windows
DS4Windows is a free-to-use program that makes your PS4 controller behave like an Xbox controller with your PC, by converting its inputs to XInput commands.
- Download DS4Windows and unzip the contents to a folder of your choice.
- Open the file named DS4Windows.exe from the unzipped folder.
- Click Install the DS4 Driver.
- Follow the steps to install the driver. This driver allows DS4Windows to make your controller work on your system.
- Now connect your controller to your PC.
- The controller will appear under the Controllers tab. Give it some time to allow all the necessary files to load.
- A message will pop up indicating that a new Xbox 360 controller has been connected. This completes the process.
You can now use your PS4 controller with any of your games, Steam or non-Steam. What’s more, you can even map your controller buttons any way you want and create custom profiles for each layout. You can also adjust the rumble settings and your light bar’s color. If your controller doesn’t seem to work with your PC with either of these methods, you can contact us for a repair quote.
Wrapping Up
The PS4 DualShock controller offers players a similar experience on their PC as they have on the PS4. Particularly useful in playing racing games on PC, the PS4 controller ranks right up there with the Xbox One controller. Although it takes a few steps to set up, the resulting experience is well worth it.
