Hollow Knight: Silksong on a Mac with a controller
The Hollow Knight: Silksong 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: Native on macOS through Steam, which lists full controller support and a Mac version for macOS 11 Big Sur or later. Use the game's own support first. This layout is for a controller it does not recognize.
Silksong runs natively on the Mac and Steam lists full controller support, so for most people a PS5 or Xbox pad works the moment the game opens. If yours does, play that way. This page is for the controller the game does not see, a common search for this game on a Mac. Climb the ladder below first, and if none of it helps, this layout sends Silksong's keyboard keys from the controller.
On this page: 8 sections
The layout, control by control
If Silksong does not see your controller
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check that it reaches the Mac. Open System Settings, click Game Controllers in the sidebar, and press a button. With InputConfig open, the Live Visualizer is a second check: it draws your controller and lights each control as it arrives. If nothing lights in either place, pair it again with the pairing steps for each controller.
- Wake it before the game starts. Quit Silksong, press a button on the pad, and launch again.
- Change Steam Input. Right-click Silksong in the Steam library, open Properties, then Controller, and change the override, relaunching after each try. Why it matters.
- Activate this layout. If the game still ignores the pad, press Activate, and Silksong only has to read a keyboard.
If a press later does two things, the game has started reading the pad too. Use one or the other. Most of the time the first three rungs fix it, and Team Cherry's games are built around a pad.
How the layout thinks
- Move. The left stick and the D-pad both send the arrow keys, so either one moves Hornet and aims up and down. The D-pad is steadier on narrow ledges.
- Jump, needle, dash. Jump (Z) on the bottom face button, the needle (X) on the left, dash (C) on the right.
- Heal. A, the heal (Bind), is on the top face button, the right trigger and the left bumper, so it is under whichever finger is free.
- The rest. The right bumper sends D, labeled tool or silk skill. Start pauses.
The heal is on three controls, so a free finger always has it.
Tune it
- Tools and silk skills. Open the game's keyboard controls, find the keys for tools and skills on your copy, and add rows on the right stick click and Back with those keys as outputs. Check what D does there too.
- A steadier D-pad. Turn on D-pad one direction at a time on the preset's page, so a rolled thumb never sends two arrows on a precise jump.
- Feel the heal. Add Vibrate to the right trigger row at a low strength.
D-pad one direction at a time is the setting precise platforming needs.
Hollow Knight: Silksong controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists full controller support for Hollow Knight: Silksong, 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 Hollow Knight: Silksong.
From Steam's listing, checked in October 2026. Every game's listing is in Mac games with controller support.
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 Hollow Knight: Silksong 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.
Hollow Knight: Silksong controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Hollow Knight: Silksong'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 | Left | Move left |
| Left stick right | Right | Move right |
| Left stick up | Up | Look / aim up |
| Left stick down | Down | Look / aim down |
| D-pad left | Left | Move left (d-pad) |
| D-pad right | Right | Move right (d-pad) |
| D-pad up | Up | Up (d-pad) |
| D-pad down | Down | Down (d-pad) |
| A / Cross | Z | Jump (Z) |
| X / Square | X | Attack / nail (X) |
| B / Circle | C | Dash (C) |
| Y / Triangle | A | Cast spell (A) |
| Right trigger | A | Focus / heal (A, hold) |
| LB / L1 | A | Focus / heal (alt) |
| RB / R1 | D | Tool or silk skill (D) |
| Start / Options | Escape | Pause (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
Does Hollow Knight: Silksong run on a Mac?
Yes, natively on Steam, which lists a Mac version for macOS 11 Big Sur or later and full controller support.
Why is my controller not working in Silksong on a Mac?
Check that the pad shows under Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar, relaunch the game with the pad awake, and flip Steam Input for Silksong in its Steam properties. If the game still ignores it, activate this layout: Silksong always reads its keyboard, and the layout sends the keys from your pad.
Does Hollow Knight: Silksong have controller support?
Yes. Steam lists full controller support for Hollow Knight: Silksong, so every part of the game can be played on a controller.
Is Hollow Knight: Silksong better with a controller or a keyboard?
Both work. Steam lists full controller support for Hollow Knight: Silksong, so it was made to be played on a controller, and a keyboard and mouse work as well.
Can I play Hollow Knight: Silksong on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Hollow Knight: Silksong has a native Mac version, and its minimum requirements are listed on its Steam store page, so check your Mac against that list. I have not tested it on each Mac. The controller layout itself works the same on any Mac that runs InputConfig.
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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