Game

Street Fighter 6 on a Mac with a controller

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreThe Street Fighter 6 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 from a Windows PC you own or a cloud service that carries it, and the stream normally passes a controller to the game's own scheme.

Yes, you can play Street Fighter 6 on a Mac with a controller, as a stream. When the stream cannot see your pad, this layout sends the Classic type's keyboard defaults from it: light, medium and heavy punch across the top, the kicks across the bottom, exactly the arcade panel, with the two-button Drive macros on the triggers. Fighting games on a keyboard are a real discipline (ask anyone with a hitbox), and SF6 does not care where its keys come from.

On this page: 9 sections
  1. The layout, control by control
  2. How the layout thinks
  3. Tune it
  4. With an arcade stick or a leverless controller
  5. Street Fighter 6 controller support: controller or keyboard
  6. If your controller is not working in Street Fighter 6
  7. Get it in two clicks
  8. Street Fighter 6 controls: every button and the key it sends
  9. Questions

The layout, control by control

Click a control. Labels:

How the layout thinks

  • Punches. Light, medium and heavy punch are Square, Triangle and R1 (U, I and O).
  • Kicks. Light, medium and heavy kick are Cross, Circle and L1 (J, K and L). That is the panel layout on a real stick.
  • Drive macros. The right trigger sends heavy punch and heavy kick together, the Drive Impact and throw. The left trigger sends medium punch and medium kick, the Drive Parry.
  • Movement. The D-pad and the left stick both move.
  • Menus. Escape is on Options, and Back sends Tab.

Six buttons in panel order means a stick player's hands already know where everything is.

Tune it

  • Single-button Drive. If you would rather have the parry on one key and no macro, change the trigger rows' output to the game's dedicated Drive keys.
  • Modern type. Its keys are different. Make a second preset with the Modern defaults if you switch.
  • Deadzone. Motions from the stick want a small deadzone so a quarter circle registers its diagonals. The D-pad is cleaner.
  • Latency. The stream adds frames. That is the cost of any fighting game on a Mac.

Do your motions on the D-pad if you can, because it hits the diagonals every time.

With an arcade stick or a leverless controller

The six rows are already in panel order, so a stick needs new inputs, not a new layout. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Let the stream have it. If macOS lists the stick in System Settings, Game Controllers, the stream usually passes it to the game and you need nothing here.
  2. Scan the stick onto the rows. If it is not listed, as with most sticks in PC or DirectInput mode, InputConfig still reads it. Press Scan on each row, press the matching button on the stick, and put the lever's four directions on the movement rows. A diagonal on the lever holds both keys, which is how the game reads a keyboard diagonal.
  3. Leverless works the same. Keep its SOCD setting in the controller.

Which mode to pick is on arcade sticks on a Mac. If the stream passes your pad or stick, keep this preset off, or every press lands twice.

Street Fighter 6 controller support: controller or keyboard

Steam's store page lists partial controller support for Street Fighter 6: it plays on a controller, but some parts, such as a launcher, text entry or a menu, still expect a keyboard or a mouse. This layout sends keys and mouse movement from the pad, which can cover the parts the game's own support leaves out. With partial support, a layout fills the gaps the game leaves.

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 Street Fighter 6

When Street Fighter 6 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. 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 Street Fighter 6, 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.
  3. Play it from keys. If Street Fighter 6 still ignores the pad, activate this layout. It sends the keyboard and mouse controls Street Fighter 6 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 Street Fighter 6 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 Street Fighter 6 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.

Street Fighter 6 controls: every button and the key it sends

The Sends column is Street Fighter 6'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.

The Street Fighter 6 preset in InputConfig, drawn on a DualSense Edge with each control labeled with the key or action it sends.
Figure 1. The Street Fighter 6 preset drawn on a DualSense Edge in InputConfig's Live Visualizer. For example, D-pad up is labeled Jump / up, and D-pad down is labeled Crouch / down. Any other controller shows the same layout on its own drawing.
ControllerSendsWhat it does
D-pad upUpJump / up
D-pad downDownCrouch / down
D-pad leftLeftWalk / block left
D-pad rightRightWalk / block right
Left stick leftLeftLeft stick left = back
Left stick rightRightLeft stick right = forward
Left stick upUpLeft stick up = jump
Left stick downDownLeft stick down = crouch
X / SquareUSquare = Light Punch (default U)
Y / TriangleITriangle = Medium Punch (default I)
RB / R1OR1 = Heavy Punch (default O)
A / CrossJCross = Light Kick (default J)
B / CircleKCircle = Medium Kick (default K)
LB / L1LL1 = Heavy Kick (default L)
Right triggerO, LRT = HP+HK (throw / Drive Impact macro)
Left triggerI, KLT = MP+MK (Drive Parry macro)
Start / OptionsEscapeStart = pause / menu (Esc)
Back / Share / SelectTabBack = view / select (Tab)

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 Street Fighter 6 run on a Mac?

Street Fighter 6 does not run natively on a Mac. Stream it from a PC or a cloud service. The stream usually passes a controller, and this layout is for when it does not.

Are keyboard binds a disadvantage?

Not inherently. Hitbox players use them on purpose. The stream's latency is the real handicap.

Does Street Fighter 6 work through CrossOver on a Mac?

I have not tested it, so check CodeWeavers' compatibility page for the game before you buy anything. If it does run and the controller is not seen, this layout works there too, because CrossOver passes the keyboard through reliably and the layout only sends keys.

Does Street Fighter 6 have controller support?

Partly. Steam lists partial controller support for Street Fighter 6: it plays on a controller, but some screens still expect a keyboard or mouse.

Is Street Fighter 6 better with a controller or a keyboard?

A controller works for most of it. Steam lists partial controller support for Street Fighter 6, so some screens still expect a keyboard or a mouse, and a layout like this one can put those on the pad.

Why is my controller not working in Street Fighter 6 on a Mac?

First check the Mac itself sees the controller, with the gamepad tester. If it does and Street Fighter 6 still ignores it, activate the Street Fighter 6 layout in InputConfig, which sends the game's keyboard and mouse controls from the controller.

Can I play Street Fighter 6 on an M1 Mac or a MacBook Air?

Yes, through a stream. Street Fighter 6 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.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreCompletely 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