Using a PS4 controller on PC – all options

Gaming on your PC with a controller might provide a better gaming experience and you often don’t have to buy a new controller at all. If you already own a PlayStation 4, you can connect its controller to a PC or laptop in different ways. We’ll show how you can get started.

Most games can be played well on the PC with keyboard and mouse — especially first-person shooters and build-up strategies work well on traditional PC setups for gamers. The situation is different for action games, for example jump ’n’ runs or fighting games. These games are usually easier to play with a suitable controller.

Probably the simplest possibility for a connection is obvious:

• The PS4 connection cable, used to charge the DualShock 4 controller, can be connected to the computer via USB port.
• Starting with Windows 10, the controller is usually recognized and the necessary configuration is carried out automatically and quickly.
• Afterwards, the controller is ready for use and you can jump right in.

Depending on how old the game is, however, it might be that the button configuration should be sorted out beforehand. This can be done, for example, with a free tool like the DS4 controller, which we’ll present at the end of the article.

Even with this connection method, some games require a separate configuration of the controller. Next, we’ll show how to customize the PS4 controller and change the button assignment for a game.

Unlike controllers from the Xbox series, which are tailored for use with Windows, some games do not recognize the PS4 controller on PC. In other cases, the pre-set assignment of the buttons is not ideal, so they might need to be adjusted. In both cases, programs like DS4 Controller help to recognize a PlayStation controller and assign buttons individually.

This software converts controllers so that they are considered Xbox controllers for Windows. This is necessary because Windows uses the Xinput interface to link controllers to a computer. The Xinput interface is limited to linking Xbox components to Windows, both of which are made by Microsoft.

With the use of programs like DS4 for Windows, it is suggested to the PC that the connected controller is an Xbox controller. It does not matter whether you connected the PS4 controller to the PC via USB or Bluetooth.

Since the controllers have the same buttons (only with different names), orientation is easy. For example, the [X] on the Xbox controller is the [square] on the PS4 controller, the [circle] corresponds to the [B] button, and the two joysticks and the directional pad are also used by both manufacturers.

In this way, you can also directly find out via customization whether the logic of the PlayStation assignment in the game corresponds to your preferred control options: Many PlayStation games like the “Witcher” series, “Uncharted” or “The Last of Us” follow a very similar button assignment, so that, for example, racing is triggered via [L3] or ducking with the [Square] button. You can adjust this to your preferences — if not automatically recognized correctly — with the DS4Windows controller.

In the menus of the games on the PC, the Xbox designation is mostly used, so you will have to rethink a bit at this point. With a bit of practice within the games, however, the system becomes clear quite quickly, and nothing should stand in the way of hours of fun with the controller on the PC.

DS4 for Windows must continue to run in the background so that you can use the PS4 controller on the PC. Therefore, the program has to be started again after a restart — or you can allow an autostart when the computer is booted.