Help
Everything the app can do, one topic per page. Most of these also live inside the app under Help, and the two are kept in step. For setups aimed at a particular person or job, see the guides.
Getting started
Your first preset
Install InputConfig, connect a controller, activate a preset, and give macOS the one permission it needs. The first five minutes, step by step, with what each screen means.
Connecting a controller
How to connect a DualSense, Xbox, Switch Pro, or any gamepad to a Mac by cable or Bluetooth, what to do when it does not appear, and how InputConfig shows it.
The binding editor
A tour of InputConfig's binding editor: the anatomy of a row, input and output types, the Options panel with hold, double-tap, chords, turbo, macros, haptics, speech, deadzones and curves.
Scan to bind
How InputConfig's Scan button captures a controller button, stick direction, MIDI key, keyboard key, or mouse button the moment you press it, and the few things it cannot see.
Presets and folders
How presets work in InputConfig: the sidebar, folders with colours, drag to reorder, duplicating, converting between controllers, importing and exporting files, per-app auto-switch, and shortcuts.
The Smart Preset Maker
How InputConfig's Smart Preset Maker builds a complete controller layout for a named game or app in a few clicks, what it sets up, and how to change the result.
Emergency stop
InputConfig's emergency stop halts the engine and releases every held key, button, and note. The three ways to trigger it, why the controller hold always works, and how to bind your own.
Where your data lives
Where InputConfig keeps presets, folders, versions, statistics, and calibration; why App Store updates never erase them; and how to back everything up or move it to another Mac.
Controllers
DualSense Edge extra buttons
Map the DualSense Edge's back paddles, FN buttons, and mute button on a Mac with InputConfig, over Bluetooth or USB-C. Button numbers, binding steps, and the fix when the extras go quiet.
Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Pair a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller with a Mac over Bluetooth, understand the swapped A and B labels, and what macOS does not expose. InputConfig setup notes.
Nintendo Joy-Cons
Connect Switch Joy-Cons to a Mac, use a single Joy-Con sideways as a small gamepad or both as a pair, and what InputConfig can and cannot read from them.
Google Stadia Controller
The Stadia controller works on a Mac over Bluetooth once it is unlocked with Google's tool. Unlock steps, pairing, and its Xbox-style layout in InputConfig.
Using 8BitDo controllers
Get an 8BitDo Pro 2, Ultimate, SN30 Pro+, or Ultimate 2C working on a Mac. The S / X / D / A mode switch explained, the hold-to-boot modes, and which modes InputConfig reads directly.
Using the Valve Steam Controller
Use the original Steam Controller on a Mac with InputConfig: wired or with its dongle, both trackpads and grip paddles, the button index table, and why to quit Steam first.
Other controllers
What InputConfig reads on macOS: every MFi controller natively, plus raw HID gamepads, fight sticks, wheels, DualShock 3, and Logitech F-series. What to try when a pad is not detected.
Access Controller sends no input
If a PlayStation Access Controller pairs with your Mac but no buttons register, the on-device profile is almost always the cause. How to cycle profiles and restore one that sends input.
Light bar customisation
Set the DualSense or DualShock 4 light bar colour from a Mac with InputConfig: preset colours, a full RGB picker, brightness, an RGB cycle, and a colour per preset.
Bindings, outputs, and the app
MIDI devices as input
Use a MIDI keyboard, pad controller, or knob box to control a Mac with InputConfig. Notes and pads as buttons, three knob modes (Switch, Dial, Turn), the sustain pedal, pitch wheel, aftertouch, channel filters.
MIDI output
Send MIDI from any controller on a Mac with InputConfig's virtual MIDI port. Notes with velocity, CC from sticks, pitch bend, program change, and transport into Logic, Ableton, GarageBand, or any DAW.
System functions
InputConfig's System Function outputs run the Mac itself from any control: volume and mute, media keys, brightness, Mission Control, Launchpad, Spotlight, lock screen, screenshots, any Siri Shortcut, and opening apps or URLs.
Dictation, zoom, and speak selection
Put macOS dictation, screen zoom, and read-aloud on any controller, switch, or MIDI input with InputConfig's Accessibility system functions, and the System Settings each one needs turned on.
Variable sensitivity
How InputConfig's Variable Sensitivity uses how far a stick is pushed or a trigger is pulled to scale mouse speed, scroll speed, and MIDI values, with three response curves.
Deadzones and sensitivity
Set inner and outer deadzones on any stick or trigger in InputConfig with a live plot, invert an axis, set a deadzone for every axis at once, and tune for tremor or limited range of motion.
Using the controller's gyroscope
Bind the DualSense or DualShock 4 gyroscope to mouse motion on a Mac with InputConfig for motion aim in any game, plus ratcheting with Pause Motion While Held, drift deadzones, and calibration.
Chords: two buttons for one action
InputConfig chords make a binding fire only while another button is held, like Triangle plus D-pad up, so a controller with 16 buttons behaves like one with 32. Setup, ordering, and the modifier's own binding.
Hold and double-tap actions
Give a controller button a second output when held and a third when double-tapped with InputConfig. Thresholds, windows, how they combine with chords and toggle, and layouts that use them.
Macros, turbo, and toggle
Build keystroke macros with timing, hold-down steps, and interrupt on release; rapid-fire any button with turbo; repeat a press a set number of times; latch a key with toggle mode. InputConfig's press behaviors explained.
Using the DualSense or DualShock touchpad as a mouse
Use the DualSense, DualSense Edge, or DualShock 4 touchpad as a trackpad on a Mac with InputConfig: finger 1 moves the pointer, finger 2 scrolls, the press clicks, and the pad can be calibrated.
Touchpad regions and gestures
Divide the DualSense touchpad into regions that each fire their own binding, and bind a two-finger tap as its own input, with InputConfig's touchpad calibration and region editor.
Haptic feedback
Turn on per-binding vibration in InputConfig so a DualSense or DualSense Edge confirms a press without looking, with an intensity slider. Which controllers support it.
Spoken feedback
Make InputConfig speak a phrase when any binding fires, through the Mac speakers or the controller's own speaker. Learn a layout by ear or confirm switches without looking.
Keyboard and mouse as input
InputConfig can read your Mac's keyboard, a second keyboard, extra mouse buttons, the scroll wheel, and Force Touch as inputs, per device. Remap keys app-wide, turn a spare numpad into a macro deck, give mouse buttons jobs.
Cursor regions and stick regions
InputConfig cursor regions fire a binding when the pointer enters an area of the screen; stick regions fire when a stick points into a zone. Hot corners you define, radial menus, and switch-free inputs.
Tap the Mac
InputConfig reads the MacBook's built-in motion sensor so a double or triple tap on the palm rest or lid fires any output, with typing ignored and no hardware needed. Setup, which Macs have the sensor, and its limits.
One-stick driving
InputConfig's one-stick driving turns a single analog stick into a complete vehicle control scheme, the way a power wheelchair drives, and outputs keyboard and mouse so it works in any driving game on a Mac.
The Live Visualizer
InputConfig's Live Visualizer mirrors every connected controller, keyboard, touchpad, mouse, and MIDI device in real time. Layouts per slot, click any control to jump to its binding, drag to rearrange, zoom and pan.
Per-app auto-switch and automation
Make InputConfig presets activate themselves when an app comes to the front, launch a game or URL on activate, confine the pointer to the screen, recenter it, hide it, and scale sensitivity for one preset.
Settings
Every InputConfig setting explained: the Accessibility permission, text size and reduced motion, the emergency stop and global shortcuts, backups, polling rate and battery saver, Dock and menu bar modes, and the Controllers tab.
The menu bar
InputConfig's menu bar icon starts and stops the engine, switches presets, shows connected controllers and engine status, opens the Smart Preset Maker and Statistics, and has an Emergency Stop button.
Statistics
InputConfig's Statistics sheet counts time with a controller, time with a preset active, button presses, keystrokes and clicks sent, mouse motion, scroll ticks, MIDI events, macros, and top presets, all stored locally.
Accessibility features
Every accessibility feature in InputConfig in one place: one-stick driving, adaptive controller support, dictation and zoom on a button, Tap the Mac, tremor-friendly deadzones, spoken and haptic feedback, VoiceOver, text size, and reduced motion.
Built-in example presets
A tour of the 31 presets that ship inside InputConfig: desktop and productivity, FPS layouts per controller, genre presets, MIDI and creative, and the feature showcases, with a download for each.