Fallout 4 on a Mac with a controller
The Fallout 4 layout is built into InputConfig, 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.
On a Mac: No Mac build. It runs on Apple silicon through CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit and may stream on a cloud service that carries it. Inside a wrapper the controller is often not seen. This layout sends keyboard and mouse.
Fallout 4 plays on a Mac with a controller through CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, and when the wrapper hides the pad, this layout plays it from any controller. There is no Mac version. The native scheme is the one to use when it works.
Like Skyrim, the keyboard game has one real advantage over the console scheme: favorites are hotkeys, so a stimpak is one press, not a menu.
On this page: 9 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Move and look. The sticks. Sprint is the left stick click.
- Fight. The right trigger attacks and fires, the left trigger aims.
- Face buttons. Jump, sneak (Ctrl), reload, and E to activate.
- VATS. Q on the left bumper, where a finger can hit it the moment something moves. R on the right bumper reloads, and holsters on a hold.
- Favorites and Pip-Boy. Favorites 1 to 3 on the D-pad, the Pip-Boy (Tab) on down. Escape on Options.
VATS is on a finger, so you can trigger it without moving a thumb.
Tune it to how you play
- More favorites. The keyboard has twelve favorite hotkeys. A chord on the D-pad and the face buttons reaches eight. Stimpak, RadAway and your two guns are the ones that matter.
- Grenades. A held melee key throws. Add a melee row (Alt) and set it to Different action when held.
- Workshop. V held opens building. Set that row to Toggles on and off for a session in Sanctuary.
- Power armor. The same keys work, so nothing changes.
- Look. Fallout's mouse look accelerates oddly. Turn off mouse acceleration in the game's ini if the stick feels floaty.
- Mods and F4SE. Mods change the game, not how input arrives. If a mod adds hotkeys, Scan a row for them.
A stimpak on one chord press is worth the whole layout.
If the wrapper passes the pad
Use the native scheme and turn this preset off, so a press does not arrive twice. If Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar shows the pad and the game still ignores it, activate this layout: the game gets keyboard and mouse, which the wrapper does pass.
Keyboard and mouse always get through a wrapper.
Fallout 4 controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists full controller support for Fallout 4, so the game was made to be played on a controller, menus included. A keyboard and mouse work as well, and the choice is yours. On a Mac, use the game's own controller support first when it sees your pad; this layout is for a pad it does not see, or for buttons it will not let you move. Full support listed means the controller is a first-class way to play Fallout 4.
From Steam's listing, checked in October 2026. Every game's listing is in Mac games with controller support.
If your controller is not working in Fallout 4
When Fallout 4 does not react to your controller on a Mac, climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check that the Mac sees the controller. Open the gamepad tester and press a button. If nothing lights up there, the problem is the connection, and a controller that is connected but not working covers that first.
- Press a button after the stream has started. A stream only picks up a controller that is paired with the Mac, and a browser shows a controller to a page only after a button press. Start Fallout 4, then press any button.
- Expect less inside a wrapper. In CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, Wine passes a controller to Fallout 4 only some of the time, and the keyboard and mouse get through every time. Using a controller with CrossOver games has the checks.
- Play it from keys. If Fallout 4 still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Fallout 4 already reads. The layout works whether or not Fallout 4 ever sees the controller.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for Fallout 4 and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
To check the controller itself first, the gamepad tester shows every button and stick live in your browser.
Fallout 4 controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Fallout 4's default keyboard and mouse controls, as this layout expects them. If you changed a key in the game's settings, change the same row in InputConfig.
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | A | Strafe left (A) |
| Left stick right | D | Strafe right (D) |
| Left stick up | W | Move forward (W) |
| Left stick down | S | Move back (S) |
| Right stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 20) | Look right |
| Right stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 20) | Look left |
| Right stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 14) | Look down |
| Right stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 14) | Look up |
| Right trigger | Left click | Attack / fire |
| Left trigger | Right click | Aim |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump |
| B / Circle | Ctrl (Left) | Sneak (Ctrl) |
| X / Square | R | Reload |
| Y / Triangle | E | Activate (E) |
| LB / L1 | Q | VATS (Q) |
| RB / R1 | R | Reload / holster (R) |
| L3 (left stick click) | Shift (Left) | Sprint (Shift) |
| D-pad up | 1 | Favorite 1 |
| D-pad left | 2 | Favorite 2 |
| D-pad right | 3 | Favorite 3 |
| D-pad down | Tab | Pip-Boy (Tab) |
| Start / Options | Escape | Menu (Esc) |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Why does my controller not work in Fallout 4 on Mac?
Fallout 4 runs on a Mac inside CrossOver or the Game Porting Toolkit, and those layers often do not pass a controller to the game. If Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar shows the pad, activate this layout: the game gets keyboard and mouse, which the wrapper does pass, and favorites become one-press hotkeys.
Does Fallout 4 run on a Mac?
Fallout 4 does not run natively on a Mac. CrossOver and the Game Porting Toolkit run it, and a cloud service that carries it may stream it. This layout is for the wrappers that do not pass the controller.
Does it work with mods and F4SE?
Yes. Mods change the game, not how input arrives. If a mod adds hotkeys, Scan a row for them.
Does Fallout 4 have controller support?
Yes. Steam lists full controller support for Fallout 4, so every part of the game can be played on a controller.
Is Fallout 4 better with a controller or a keyboard?
Both work. Steam lists full controller support for Fallout 4, so it was made to be played on a controller, and a keyboard and mouse work as well.
Why is my controller not working in Fallout 4 on a Mac?
First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and Fallout 4 still ignores it, activate the Fallout 4 layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.
Can I play Fallout 4 on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Yes, through a stream. Fallout 4 runs on the other end, on a cloud service or your own PC, so the Mac only plays the video and sends your input. An M1 MacBook Air streams it like any other Mac.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
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