Use your PS4 Controller on your PC to its full potential

DS4Windows is a portable program that allows you to get the best experience while using a DualShock 4 on your PC. By emulating a Xbox 360 controller, many more games are accessible.

Simple & Clean UI

Since the idea is to get to get your controller ready for games, The UI was made to make to be quick to pick up. Once first launched, the tool takes your through the setup, gives you a default profile and you’re ready to go, or if you choose you can change things to your heart’s content.

Profile System

With profiles, it makes it easier to quickly swap through various settings for your controller. You can set up controls for certain games, or set the lightbar to your favorite color. You can even swipe two fingers along the touchpad to swap profiles without the need to even open back the program.

Automatic Profiles

Along with switching profiles manually, you can also switch your controllers to different profiles automatically when certain programs are launched.

Tons of options

From control mapping, to touchpad sensitivity, to marcos, to rainbow lightbar, to motion controls, to special actions triggerd by pressing multiple actions, to launching a program with profiles, there are plenty of settings to play around with.

Special thanks to Galatis

1. Download zip
2. Extract the 2 programs (DS4Windows and DS4Updater) in the zip wherever you please (My Docs, Program Files, etc.)
3. Launch DS4Windows
4. If not in Program Files, choose where you want to save profiles
5. A windows will pop up showing how to install the driver, if not, go to settings and click «Controller/Driver Setup»
   1. If you have used SCP’s tool in the past, you may need to uninstall the drivers to use the DS4 with bluetooth
6. Connect the DS4 via a micro usb or through bluetooth (DS4 Device name: «Wireless Controller») may need to enter pair code: 0000)
7. All should be good to go once you connect the controller, if not restart DS4Windows, or even your computer.
   • Note: same games work with the DS4 without DS4Windows (however it does use rumble etc.) Games like these can cause double input in menus (ie pressing down on the dpad moves 2 spaces) or the wrong button to do incorrect functions. To solve this, check Hide DS4 in the settings, if you see a warning in the log/text on the bottom, that means you must close said game or client that causes the conflict and reconnect the controller.

Full list of Features

• Use X360-like input to use the DS4 in more games and have rumble
• Use the touchpad as a mouse or for more actions
• Use sixaxis movement for just as many actions
• Control the Lightbar: turn it off, dynamicly change by battery level, and more
• Map the buttons and sticks to other 360 controls or keyboard actions or macros
• Use profiles to quickly switch between configurations for your controllers
• Automatically switch profiles by when a certain program(s) is launched
• Hold an action to access a new whole set of controls
• Get a reading of how the sticks and sixaxis is working
• Assign a deadzone to both analog sticks, the triggers, and the sixaxis
• Automatically get new updates

Requirements

• Microsoft .NET 4.5 or higher (needed to unzip the driver and for macros to work properly)
• DS4 Driver (Downloaded & Installed with DS4Windows)
• Microsoft 360 Driver (link inside DS4Windows, already installed on Windows 7 SP1 and higher or if you’ve used a 360 controller before)
• Sony DualShock 4 (This should be obvious)
• Micro USB cable
• (Optional)Bluetooth 2.1+, via adapter or built in pc (Recommended) (Toshiba’s bluetooth & Bluetooth adapaters using CSR currently does not work)

Is bluetooth audio support coming?

• So long as I work by myself, never. I don’t have the know-how to understand reverse engineering the DualShock 4 to enable its audio jack.

What about CSR and Toshiba bluetooth adapters?

• I can’t say for certain about either, I’ve picked up a CSR adapater, and will attempt to make it work, but no guarantees.

I’m getting double input/ Weird input in some games, how do I fix it?

• That’s because the game tries too (though usually badly) support the DS4 on it’s own. You can solve this by enabling Hide DS4 Controller in DS4Windows’ settings, then connect the controller BEFORE you launch the game.

Keyboard emulation isn’t working in game, what do?

• When setting a key for a button, check the scan code box. This isn’t a guarantee to work with all games, but it will add support for more games. If scan code doesn’t work with the game, then DS4Windows simply can’t emulate for that game.

Why is Dinput only mode acting weird when using the controller with bluetooth

• Currently BT doesn’t work with Dinput mode.

Screenshots

Version 1.4.52

Added support for New DS4 Controller (thanks andersfischernielsen)
Fixed sensitivity for sticks, causing crashes when trying to edit a profile
Typo fixes (thanks josevill)
Updates to German, Polish, Nederlands and more translations

Version 1.4.5

Added support for the New DS4 USB Adapter (Thanks to boganhobo and Chamilsaan)
Implemented teokp’s amazing fix for hide ds4 not working on the anniversary update of Windows 10: when a controller fails to enter exclusive mode, DS4Windows will ask for admin privilages to fix the issue.
Now (near)unlimited Special Actions can be made from the previous limit of 50
Special Action Xbox Game DVR is now no longer limited to Windows 10, renamed multi action button: Assign a macro to single tap, double tap, and holding down a button
Added option for White DS4Windows Icon in the notification tray (While not merged from, thanks to tehmantra)
Added option to temporarily turn off DS4Windows when using a certain program (togglable in the Auto Profiles Tab) (Same case as above but thanks to dedChar to bring to light)
Fixed Options crashes in certain locales where decimal points are represented with commas, such as German (Thanks to kiliansch)
Added/Updated translations for many languages, now including Japanese, Slovenian, Hungarian, Greek, Finnish, Czech, Indonesian, and Ukrainian

Version 1.4.401

Fixes for inverting the sticks
Updated French, German, Russian, and Vietnamese translations, and added more credits

DS4Updater 1.1.401

Added backup method of updating should anything happen with github

Version 1.4.4

Revised shift modifier: each button/control has their own independent shift trigger instead of one universal one
Select an action window: this window now highlights what said control is currently set to.
Removed unused images, making the exe a meg smaller
Completely revised how the code for custom mapping works
Updated all translations, added partial Dutch/Nederlands Support

Version 1.4.321

Changed the Rainbow button to an actual button
For using the sixaxis as a mouse, changed none to Always on, also better movement for the gyro when the sensitivity is lowered
Updated Hebrew, Chinese (Traditional), Itilian, Chinese (Simplified)

Version 1.4.32

Added Sensitivity settings for both sticks, triggers, and the gyro
Fixed the select an action window popping up after closing the profile settings or in another tab
Fixed the lightbar button on the main tab being so long, along with some other random ui fixes
Fixed many issues with making a new profile
When using a custom color the light now fades out based on the current profile settings (ie. when the battery is low)
Added Hebrew and Vietnamese translations
Updated Chinese (T), Russian, German, Polish

DS4Updater 1.1.32

Fixes for when users want to skip downloading their native langauge

DS4Windows was a project originally started by InhexSTER by the name of DS4 Tool. The tool was later branched off by electrobrains. I later decided to branch off my own and add things such as profiles.

How to use a DualShock 4 on PC

By Austin Wood , Wes Fenlon 06 November 2020

A guide for using the DualShock 4 wired and via Bluetooth on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

The Playstation 4’s DualShock 4 controller wasn’t built for the PC, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming one of our favorite PC gaming controllers. It feels great in your hands and retains the classic shape of the DualShock with joysticks and triggers better suited to modern shooters and action games. Unfortunately, using the PS4 controller on PC isn’t quite as easy as plugging in an Xbox gamepad. That’s because the PS4 uses a generic driver called «DirectInput» instead of the now-popular XInput the Xbox controllers use.

It takes a little bit more work to get the DualShock 4 working on PC in all your games, but Steam, the PC community, and an official (but optional) Bluetooth dongle all make it pretty easy.

If you’re mostly interested in using the controller on Steam, the good news is that native Steam support makes it just as plug-and-play as an Xbox gamepad.

To start we’ll walk you through the basics of getting your PS4 controller working on PC, either with a USB cable or via Bluetooth. If you want to play games that aren’t on Steam with your DualShock 4, jump ahead for our in-depth guide to getting your PS4 controller working with an open source tool called DS4Windows.

Setup

What you need

Hardware

• Dualshock 4 and micro-USB cable
• Optional: Dualshock 4 USB wireless Bluetooth adapter

Software

DualShock 4 in Steam

Using the DualShock 4 in Steam

Thanks to official Steam support, there’s almost no setup involved in getting your controller working in Steam. To set it up, Simply plug in a USB cable (or connect via Bluetooth, which we talk about more below) and open Steam’s Big Picture mode.

Open Settings, then Controller Settings, and you should see your controller listed there. You can click on Preferences to tweak a few options like Rumble and the light bar color, and also click Calibrate to fine-tune the joysticks. One important tip: click the check box next to «PlayStation configuration support» if you want to be able to do extra configuration of the controller on a per-game basis.

To access that customization, boot up a game in Big Picture mode, then press the PlayStation button on the controller. You’ll see this screen where you can tweak the controller to your heart’s content—even play around with the gyro sensor!

Installation

Installation guide

Remember, if you’re just playing Steam games, you don’t need the instructions below. Simply plug in the controller, open Steam, and go to Settings > Controller settings to configure it. If you want to use the DualShock 4 for non-Steam games, continue on.

1. Download the software linked above, starting with the Microsoft .NET Framework. If you’re running Windows 7, install the Xbox 360 controller driver next. This driver is included with Windows 8 and 10.

2. Important step: plug your Dualshock 4 into your PC using a micro-USB cable. (If you run into any issues, try using a USB 2.0 port instead of a USB 3.0 port. DualShock 4s are weird like that.) Now we can get DS4Windows to do its stuff.

Bluetooth installation note: if you want to use your DualShock 4 wirelessly, take a moment to plug in your USB wireless adapter and pair it with your controller. Simply hold the small Share button and the central circular button simultaneously until the controller’s backlight starts flashing, then push on the end of the adapter until it starts flashing. Once both are flashing, they will automatically pair after a few seconds.

3. If you only want to use your DualShock 4 to play games through Steam, congratulations, you’re officially done! Steam added native Dualshock 4 support in 2016, so once you’re paired or plugged in, you’re good to go. Go into Steam’s Settings > Controller menu to configure the controller.

Be sure to pair or plug in your controller before opening Steam or any Steam games, otherwise your controller may not be recognized. If you run into any connection issues, closing and reopening Steam should do the trick.

Read on to learn how to use DS4Windows to use your controller with games outside of Steam.

4. Download the newest DS4Windows .zip file, save it to a fresh folder, and extract its contents using 7-Zip or whatever file archiver you prefer. You’ll see two applications: DS4Updater and DS4Windows. You already have the latest version, so you can ignore the updater for now.

5. Open DS4Windows and you’ll see the Controllers tab. This tab displays the controllers you have connected. Since you’ve already plugged in your controller (or paired it via Bluetooth), it should be listed here. If it’s not, close DS4Windows, reconnect your controller, then reopen DS4Windows. Don’t worry about your controller’s ID number; we won’t be needing it.

6. Open the Settings tab in DS4Windows to configure a few things. Make sure the Hide DS4 Controller box is checked. This will prevent DS4Windows from conflicting with any game’s default controller settings. For the same reason, make sure Use Xinput Ports is set to one.

Now that it’s installed, DS4Windows will show up as an icon in your system tray. From the Settings tab, you can also set it to run at startup or remain active in the background. You can also update DS4Windows directly from this tab by clicking Check for Update Now at the bottom left. Above that, you’ll see Controller/Driver Setup. If you run into any issues, open this setup and follow the prompts to install any missing drivers.

Playing with DS4Windows

Using your Playstation 4 controller

DS4Windows works by reading your DualShock 4 as though it were an Xbox 360 controller. By default, it offers a great one-size-fits-all button setup. So now that it’s installed, your DualShock 4 should behave like an Xbox 360 controller, meaning it will work with any game with Xinput support—which is to say, most every modern PC game that supports gamepads. That also means you won’t get the correct Square/Cross/Triangle/Circle button icons by default in most games. Some games will give you the option, though. Look for that in settings.

You do not need to remap anything, but if you want to change some buttons or adjust sensitivity without relying on in-game options, you can. Open the Profiles tab in DS4Windows. I do not recommend making a profile from scratch, but if you really want to, click New to start one up. Otherwise, select the DualShock 4 profile and click Edit.

This screen looks complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple. Let’s say you want to swap your bumpers and triggers. First, find L1/R1 and L2/R2 in the scroll wheel in the Controls section, or just click them on the virtual controller. You want to swap L1 with L2 and R1 with R2, so start by clicking L2.

This opens another intimidating but simple page. Just click the button you want L2 to act as—in this case, L1. Voila, your left trigger will now act as your left bumper. Repeat this process with the other triggers and bumpers to complete the change and prevent redundancy. You can save this button setup as a separate profile and swap between profiles in the Controllers tab.

Bluetooth

How to connect your PS4 controller via Bluetooth

If you followed the Bluetooth installation steps above, you should be able to use your controller wirelessly. Luckily, you don’t have to pair your controller every time you want to use it. As long as you don’t unplug the adapter, it will save its last connection, so you can just tap your controller’s central PlayStation button to reconnect it.

The official Sony DualShock 4 USB wireless adapter is the simplest Bluetooth option. You may have to hunt for it or spend a little more than you would on a standard Bluetooth dongle, but it’s worth it for its out-of-the-box functionality.