InputConfig Help: every feature explained
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
Everything the app can do is here, with one topic per page. Most of these pages also live inside the app under Help, and I keep the two in step. For setups aimed at a particular person or job, see the guides. If a controller is connected and nothing happens, the fixes are under Questions, and the comparison of Mac controller mappers shows where InputConfig sits.
Getting started
Your first preset
Install InputConfig, connect a controller, activate Desktop Navigation and allow the one permission macOS asks for. Five minutes, step by step.
Connecting a controller to InputConfig
How InputConfig finds a controller: USB and Bluetooth, Refresh Controllers, the Devices menu for pads the app did not pick up, and more than one controller.
The binding editor
InputConfig's binding editor, row by row: inputs, outputs, and the Options panel for hold, double tap, chords, turbo, macros, feedback and deadzones.
Scan
Press Scan on a row in InputConfig, press any button, stick, key, mouse button or MIDI control, and the row is bound to it. What it hears and what it skips.
Presets and folders
How InputConfig presets work: one runs at a time, folders with colors, favorites, Convert To, import and export, and the ways to switch between them.
The Smart Preset Maker
InputConfig's Smart Preset Maker builds a full controller layout for one of 450+ games and apps in a few clicks. What it sets up and how to change it.
Emergency stop
InputConfig's emergency stop halts the engine and releases every held key, button, note and motor. Three ways to trigger it, and how to bind your own.
Where your data lives
Where InputConfig keeps presets, folders, versions, statistics and calibration, why updates never erase them, and how to back up or move to a new Mac.
What's new in InputConfig
InputConfig release notes: what changed in 1.7, 1.6 and every earlier version, how to update, and the first three versions, shipped as JoystickConfig.
Controllers
DualSense Edge back paddles and FN buttons on a Mac
The DualSense Edge works on a Mac, on macOS 13.3 or later. Pair it, map the back paddles and FN buttons, set trigger feel, and see its stored profiles.
Switch Pro Controller on a Mac
Map a Switch Pro Controller on a Mac to keys and the mouse: Nintendo's swapped A and B, the built-in FPS layout, and what macOS does not pass through.
Joy-Cons on a Mac
Use Joy-Cons on a Mac: one held sideways as a small gamepad or one-handed mouse, both as a pair, and what macOS does not pass through from them.
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.
8BitDo controllers
Which mode an 8BitDo Pro 2, SN30 Pro or Ultimate 2C needs on a Mac, what 8BitDo supports, and which modes InputConfig reads anyway.
Steam Controller on a Mac
Does the Steam Controller work on a Mac? Yes with Steam; without it, lizard mode. How InputConfig reads the original and the 2026 model, trackpads included.
Other controllers
What InputConfig reads on macOS: every MFi controller, plus raw HID gamepads, fight sticks, wheels and flight sticks, and what to try when a pad is missing.
PlayStation Access Controller
The PlayStation Access Controller on a Mac: pairing, every socket and port read by name, its three profiles over USB-C, the built-in preset, a silent socket.
Change the DualSense light bar color on a Mac
Change the DualSense or PS4 controller light bar color from a Mac: any color, brightness, a rainbow cycle, and a color per preset. Free, no Steam needed.
Bindings, outputs, and the app
MIDI to keystroke: MIDI keys, pads and knobs as shortcuts
Turn MIDI notes, pads and knobs into keyboard shortcuts on a Mac: any MIDI keyboard or pad sends keys, clicks, scrolling, volume and macros. Free.
MIDI output: send MIDI from any controller
Send MIDI from a PS5, Xbox or any controller on a Mac through a free virtual port: notes, CC from sticks and triggers, pitch bend, program change, transport.
System functions
System Function outputs in InputConfig run the Mac from any control: volume, media keys, brightness, Mission Control, lock screen, Shortcuts, apps and URLs.
Dictation, zoom, and speak selection on any button
Start macOS dictation, zoom the screen, or read selected text aloud from a mouse button, a held key, a controller, a MIDI pad, or a knock. Free app.
Variable sensitivity
Variable Sensitivity in InputConfig scales mouse speed, scroll speed and MIDI values by how far a stick is pushed or a trigger pulled, with three curves.
Deadzones and calibration
Set a Deadzone and Full push at on any stick or trigger in InputConfig, calibrate it against a live plot, and set every axis at once. Free for Mac.
Gyro aim on a Mac
Tilt a DualSense, DualSense Edge, or PS4 controller to aim or move the pointer on a Mac, in any game that takes a mouse. Pause, re-zero, and no drift at rest.
Chords
InputConfig chords make a row fire only while another button is held, like Triangle plus D-pad up, so a controller gets a second layer of buttons.
Hold and double-tap
Give a button, key or pad a second output when held, a third when double tapped and a fourth on a triple tap in InputConfig, with thresholds and windows.
Controller macros, turbo, and toggle on a Mac
Macros with timed steps, turbo that repeats while held, an auto clicker that runs until pressed again, and toggle, on any controller button, key or pad.
DualSense touchpad as a mouse on a Mac
Use the PS5 or PS4 controller touchpad as a Mac trackpad: one finger moves the pointer, tap to click, two-finger tap to right-click, a second finger scrolls.
DualSense touchpad regions and gestures
Split the PS5 or PS4 controller touchpad into regions that each send their own key or shortcut, and bind a one-finger, two-finger, or double tap on a Mac.
Controller vibration on a Mac
Vibrate a DualSense, DualShock 4 or Xbox controller when a row fires, 10 to 100 percent, a tap up to two seconds. Trigger feel is its own setting. Free.
Spoken feedback
Make InputConfig speak a phrase when any binding fires, so you can learn a layout by ear or confirm a switch press without looking.
Keyboard, mouse, and trackpad as input
InputConfig reads your Mac's keys, extra mouse buttons, the scroll wheel, and Force Touch as inputs, with no extra permission, and gives each a second job.
Screen regions (custom hot corners), stick regions and gestures
Draw an area on any display and InputConfig fires a shortcut when the pointer enters it: a custom hot corner or a screen edge. Plus stick rings and gestures.
Tap the Mac: knock on your MacBook to run a shortcut
Knock twice on the palm rest and InputConfig runs a shortcut, key, or macro, using the MacBook's built-in motion sensor. Free on the Mac App Store, M4 tested.
One-stick driving
One-stick driving in InputConfig steers, accelerates, brakes and reverses from one stick, the way a power wheelchair drives, in any keyboard driving game.
Live Visualizer
InputConfig's Live Visualizer draws your controller with what each control does, sets DualSense trigger feel, and switches Access Controller profiles.
Per-app profiles that switch by themselves
Give every Mac game and app its own controller layout. InputConfig switches when the app comes to the front and puts the last one back when you leave. Free.
Settings
Every InputConfig setting: the Accessibility permission, text size, the emergency stop, polling rate, crash recovery, backups, Dock and menu bar, and Devices.
Menu bar
InputConfig's menu bar icon starts and stops a preset, switches presets, shows controllers and engine status, and has an Emergency Stop button.
Statistics
InputConfig's Statistics sheet counts controller time, preset time, presses, keystrokes, clicks, MIDI events and top presets, stored only on your Mac.
Accessibility
Every accessibility feature in InputConfig: adaptive controllers, one-stick driving, dictation on a button, Tap the Mac, tremor deadzones and VoiceOver.
Built-in presets
A tour of the 46 presets that ship inside InputConfig: desktop and productivity, FPS per controller, genre, MIDI in and out, and feature showcases.
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