Quake Champions on a Mac with a controller
The Quake Champions 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 version. It streams to a Mac from a Windows PC you own. Steam lists no controller support for Quake Champions, so even a stream that passes your pad leaves the game wanting keyboard and mouse. This layout sends them.
Yes, Quake Champions plays on a Mac with a controller, streamed from a Windows PC you own, but only with a layout like this one: Steam lists no controller support for the game. Quake is the fastest shooter there is, and a stream plus a pad is two handicaps stacked, so this layout is for casual matches and bots, not for climbing. Within that, it is right: fire on the trigger, weapons cycled on the bumpers and picked on the D-pad, jump on the big button for strafe-jumping with the stick.
On this page: 9 sections
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Move and look. The left stick walks on W, A, S and D. The right stick moves the mouse at speed 20 across and 15 up and down.
- Shoot. The right trigger fires and the left trigger zooms or fires the secondary (right click).
- Face buttons. Jump on the bottom (Space), crouch on the right (Ctrl), the champion ability on the left (F), use on the top (E).
- Weapons. The bumpers scroll the mouse wheel: up for the previous weapon on the left, down for the next on the right. Weapons 1 to 4 on the D-pad.
- Clicks and menus. Crouch toggle on the left stick click (C), taunt on the right (V). Scoreboard on Back (Tab), menu on Start (Escape).
Hold jump and steer with the left stick to strafe-jump, the one Quake skill this layout keeps.
Tune it
- Camera. Quake wants the fastest turn you can control. Raise Pointer speed on the preset's page until you overshoot, then back off.
- Weapons 5 to 8. Add chord rows on the D-pad, held with a spare button.
Find the camera speed where you just stop overshooting, and stay there.
Check that it works
Quake Champions wants keyboard and mouse even when a stream passes your pad, so this layout is the controller and nothing doubles.
- You: Start the stream, then press Activate on this preset.
- InputConfig: Sends the keys, clicks and scrolls in the table.
- Check: Push the left stick and you move. Press a bumper and the weapon changes.
If the bumpers cycle weapons, the scroll rows reach the game too.
Quake Champions controller support: controller or keyboard
Steam's store page lists no controller support for Quake Champions, so it was made for a keyboard and mouse, and that is how it expects to be played. A controller still works: this layout sends the game's keys and mouse movement from the pad, so to the game you are simply typing and pointing. No controller support listed means the layout does the work, not the game.
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 Quake Champions
When Quake Champions 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 Quake Champions, then press any button. Streaming from your own PC has its own checks, in how to stream PC games to a Mac with a controller.
- Stop looking for a setting. Quake Champions reads the keyboard and mouse here, so no option makes it see a pad. Activate this layout, and the controller sends the keys and mouse movement Quake Champions already reads. The layout works without Quake Champions ever seeing 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 Quake Champions 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.
Quake Champions controls: every button and the key it sends
The Sends column is Quake Champions'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 | Move left (A) |
| Left stick right | D | Move 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 15) | Look down |
| Right stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 15) | Look up |
| Right trigger | Left click | Fire |
| Left trigger | Right click | Zoom / secondary |
| A / Cross | Space | Jump |
| B / Circle | Ctrl (Left) | Crouch (Ctrl) |
| X / Square | F | Champion ability (F) |
| Y / Triangle | E | Use (E) |
| LB / L1 | Scroll up | Weapon previous |
| RB / R1 | Scroll down | Weapon next |
| Back / Share / Select | Tab | Scoreboard (Tab) |
| Start / Options | Escape | Menu (Esc) |
| L3 (left stick click) | C | Crouch toggle (C) |
| R3 (right stick click) | V | Taunt (V) |
| D-pad up | 1 | Weapon 1 |
| D-pad down | 2 | Weapon 2 |
| D-pad left | 3 | Weapon 3 |
| D-pad right | 4 | Weapon 4 |
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 Quake Champions run on a Mac?
Quake Champions does not run natively on a Mac. It streams from a Windows PC you own. Steam lists no controller support for it, so this layout sends the keyboard and mouse the game wants.
Does Quake Champions have controller support?
Not by itself. Steam lists no controller support for Quake Champions. A controller still works through a layout like this one, which sends the game's keys.
Is Quake Champions better with a controller or a keyboard?
It was made for a keyboard and mouse: Steam lists no controller support for Quake Champions. A controller still works through this layout, which sends the game's own keys and mouse movement.
Why is my controller not working in Quake Champions on a Mac?
Quake Champions reads the keyboard and mouse on this route, so no setting makes it see a controller. Check the Mac sees the pad with the gamepad tester, then activate the Quake Champions layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keys and mouse movement from the controller.
Can I play Quake Champions on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?
Yes, through a stream. Quake Champions 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.
Does Quake Champions run in CrossOver on a Mac?
I have not tested Quake Champions in CrossOver. CodeWeavers keeps a compatibility list where players report how each Windows game runs. If it runs and the controller is not seen, this layout plays it from the keys and mouse.
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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