How to connect PS4 controller to Mac or Windows PC

Not sure how to connect PS4 controller to PC? Today we explain how to connect the PS4 joystick to a Windows PC and a Mac, also through Steam.

Ready to learn how to connect PS4 controllers to PC? Before you start make sure you have a USB cable at hand like the one you use to charge your controller via the USB port of the PlayStation.

How to connect PS4 controller to Windows PC

Let’s start from the Windows PC and see together how to connect a PS4 controller.

The procedure is quite simple because just connect the joystick to the computer via a USB cable or pair the two devices via the Bluetooth network.

However, you must know that to bypass the connection phase – which can sometimes take longer – it makes sense to download the DS4Windows program: it is a free and open source software, able to install the drivers that allow the DualShock 4 to work on Windows and emulate the controller mechanism for Xbox 360, typically the most requested by the games.

How to install DS4Windows?

In reality this program does not require installation, but simply download it to your PC, start it and follow the instructions. Connect to the official website and click on Download Now and on the link DS4Windows.zip.

Once the download is complete, open the zip archive, extract the contents to any folder on the PC and start DS4Windows.zip: in the window that opens, you have to flag the Program folder item to use the program in portable mode and to save the configuration file in the folder where you extracted it.

Now click Yes, proceed with the installation of the necessary drivers for recognizing the joystick and connect the DualShock 4 to the PC via the USB cable or the Bluetooth network.

  • USB cable: in this case, you only need to connect the PS4 controller to a PC using a Micro-USB cable and wait for Windows to recognize the device (this is usually a matter of a few seconds!);
  • Bluetooth: if you do not know how to connect a PS4 controller to a PC through Bluetooh, know that you have to follow some basic steps. Turn off the controller by holding down the PS button and always turn on the controller the Bluetooth pairing mode by holding down the PS and Share buttons together until the Dual Shock 4 light starts to flash. Now, to pair PCs and joysticks, you have to go to the control panel of the Bluetooh devices on your PC and click on the Bluetooth option, which in Windows 10 is in the left sidebar.

Finally the connection between PS4 and PC controller was successful! To check it, check that the joystick appears on the Controller tab of DS4Windows.

How to connect PS4 controller to Mac

Do you have a Mac computer and do not know how to connect a PS4 controller to a PC? The procedure is really simple, you just need to decide whether to connect via USB cable or via Bluetooth.

We discover both options.

  • USB cable: if you want to connect the DualShock 4 to your Mac via cable, you must equip yourself with a microUSB cable (it’s fine what you use to connect a console controller to recharge it) with which to connect the controller and PC. At this point, you should immediately recognize the device and you can start playing your favorite video game;
  • Bluetooth: connecting PS4 controller to Mac via wireless is slightly more complicated. The first thing to do is to turn off the controller by holding down the PS button and turn it back on by pressing PS and Share together until the light becomes intermittent. Now open the System Preferences section on your Mac, click on Bluetooth and wait for the controller to appear in the list of available devices (you can usually find it under the Wireless Controller entry). Now click on Connect, next to the name of the joystick, and in a few seconds the two devices will be paired.

How to use PS4 controller with Steam

Do you want to use the PS4 controller connected to your Mac to play one of the Steam games? Then, connect the controller to the Mac as explained above and play immediately one of the various titles that you will find in the Steam library.

You can also change the controller settings by opening Steam and selecting the Settings> Controller> General Controller Settings: now you can choose the name of the joystick (Controller PlayStation 4) from the menu that appears!

Did you understand how to connect PS4 controllers to PC? Follow our guide step by step and you can not go wrong!

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