Game

Resident Evil 4 on a Mac with a controller

The Resident Evil 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: Native on Apple silicon through the Mac App Store, with the game's own controller support; Steam sells the remake for Windows only.

Yes, the Resident Evil 4 remake runs on a Mac and supports controllers on its own. Capcom's App Store listing recommends one, so if yours works in the game, play that way. This layout is for the pad it does not list, and for people who would rather aim with the keyboard version's mouse on a stick. The remake is part of a run of Resident Evil games on the Mac App Store. Village, 2, 3 and 7 on a Mac with a controller covers the others.

On this page: 8 sections

1. The layout, control by control
2. How the layout thinks
3. Tune it
4. If the game sees your pad
5. If your controller is not working in Resident Evil 4
6. Get it in two clicks
7. Resident Evil 4 controls: every button and the key it sends
8. Questions

The layout, control by control

How the layout thinks

• Move and look. The left stick moves and the right stick looks, at Speed 16 in every direction. Run (Shift) is the left stick click.
• Shoot. The left trigger aims (right click) and the right trigger fires or attacks (left click), the order Leon uses on a pad. Reload (R) is the left face button.
• Knife and dodge. The top face button readies the knife and parries (Space). Press it as the axe comes down. The right face button crouches and evades (E).
• Act. The bottom face button is action and interact (F). The left bumper is the quick turn (Q) and the right bumper the attaché case (Tab).
• Weapons and menus. The D-pad equips weapon slots 1 to 4. Back opens the map (M) and Options pauses.

The parry is a face button, so you can knife the axe without letting go of the aim.

Tune it

• Open the App Store copy. The Smart Preset Maker sets this layout to open the game through Steam, where the remake is a Windows game. In the options step, click Choose App and pick Resident Evil 4 from Applications instead.
• Mouse acceleration and smoothing. Turn them off in the game's camera options. The stick already sends smooth motion, and the two together feel floaty.
• Aim that starts slow. Ramp-up on the four look rows makes a short push move the reticle gently and a held push turn quickly, which suits a game where most shots are at a head walking toward you.
• Parry on a paddle. On a DualSense Edge or Xbox Elite, the knife on a back paddle means you can parry without letting go of the camera.

Point the preset at the App Store copy first, or it will try to open a Steam game you cannot run.

If the game sees your pad

When the game reads the controller itself, play on its scheme and keep this preset off, because both at once make every press land twice. The layout is for a pad the game does not detect, or for mouse aim on a stick, not for both schemes at once.

If your controller is not working in Resident Evil 4

When Resident Evil 4 does not react to your controller on a Mac, climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. 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.
2. Check the Steam Input setting for Resident Evil 4. In Steam, open Resident Evil 4, Properties, Controller, and change the Steam Input override. A controller that works in Steam but not in the game goes through each choice.
3. Play it from keys. If Resident Evil 4 still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Resident Evil 4 already reads. Turn the game's own controller option off while it runs, or a press can arrive twice. The layout works whether or not Resident Evil 4 ever sees the controller.

Get it in two clicks

1. Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
2. Search for Resident Evil 4 and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
3. 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.

Resident Evil 4 controls: every button and the key it sends

The Sends column is Resident Evil 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.

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

Related

• Resident Evil Village, 7, 2 and 3 on a Mac with a controller
• The Last of Us Part I on a Mac with a controller
• Silent Hill 2 on a Mac with a controller
• Back buttons and paddles on a Mac
• Deadzones and calibration
• Black Myth: Wukong on a Mac with a controller
• Death Stranding on a Mac with a controller
• Horizon Forbidden West on a Mac with a controller
• Horizon Zero Dawn on a Mac with a controller

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.

Updated October 16, 2026