Streamlabs Desktop from a game controller
The Streamlabs Desktop 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: Streamlabs Desktop ships with no hotkeys, like OBS, so this layout sends keys you assign once in Streamlabs, Settings, Hotkeys.
Yes, a game controller can be a stream deck for Streamlabs Desktop on a Mac: six scenes, recording, streaming and mic mute on buttons. Streamlabs starts with no hotkeys, like OBS, so the layout sends placeholder keys that you assign once in Streamlabs. After that ten-minute job, the controller in your lap runs the show.
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Scenes. 1 to 4 on the face buttons, 5 and 6 on D-pad up and down.
- Recording and streaming. 7 on the left bumper starts and stops recording, 8 on the right starts and stops the stream.
- Mic. 9 on Back, Share or View mutes the mic.
Assign the keys in Streamlabs
Nothing happens until Streamlabs knows the keys. Do this once:
Step 1: Set each hotkey
- You: Open Streamlabs, Settings, Hotkeys. Click a scene's field and press its controller button, then do the same for recording, streaming and the mic.
- InputConfig: Sends 1 to 9 as you press, so Streamlabs records the key the row sends.
- Check: Each field shows a number. Press the bottom face button and Streamlabs switches to scene 1.
Step 2: Keep the keys out of your game
- You: If your game uses the number keys, change every row to F13 to F19 instead and assign those in Streamlabs.
- InputConfig: Sends keys that nothing else on a Mac uses.
- Check: Press a scene button in game. The game ignores it and the scene still changes.
The keys go to whatever app is in front. Streamlabs hears them in the background only with the permission macOS asks for, so check System Settings, Privacy & Security, Input Monitoring. Set the hotkeys once, and every later session is plug in and go.
Before you go live
- Feel the mute. In the mute row's Options, under Feedback, tick Vibrate, so you know without looking.
- A quick press, not a hold. The mute sits on Back, Share or View, half of InputConfig's emergency stop. A press mutes, a slow press of Back alone stops nothing, and holding it with Start for three seconds, the default, halts every output.
- When a preset misbehaves. That two-button hold is what to reach for mid-stream. Control Option Command period does the same from the keyboard.
Tap the mute, and hold it only when you want everything to stop.
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 Streamlabs Desktop 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.
Every binding, as a table
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| A / Cross | 1 | Scene 1 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| B / Circle | 2 | Scene 2 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| X / Square | 3 | Scene 3 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| Y / Triangle | 4 | Scene 4 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| D-pad up | 5 | Scene 5 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| D-pad down | 6 | Scene 6 (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| LB / L1 | 7 | Start / stop recording (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| RB / R1 | 8 | Start / stop streaming (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
| Back / Share / Select | 9 | Mute mic (set its hotkey in Streamlabs) |
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 this work in OBS?
OBS has its own page with the same idea. Its hotkeys are set the same way, in its settings.
Why does nothing happen when I press a button?
Streamlabs has no hotkeys until you assign them in Settings, Hotkeys. Press each button in its field once.
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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