App

Unreal Engine from a game controller

The Unreal Engine 5 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: The Unreal Editor reads its default shortcuts and mouse buttons from this layout. Your game's own controller input is separate and keeps working.

Yes, you can fly the Unreal Engine 5 viewport on a Mac with a game controller. Unreal flies with the right mouse button held, which suits a held trigger and a stick, the gizmos are Q, W, E and R on the face buttons, and Play in Editor is one button. That matters most when you are testing a controller game with the same controller.

On this page: 7 sections

1. The layout, control by control
2. How the layout thinks
3. If your game reads the pad too
4. Tune it for the viewport
5. Get it in two clicks
6. Every binding, as a table
7. Questions

The layout, control by control

How the layout thinks

• Look. Hold the left trigger and it holds the right mouse button, so the right stick turns the view left and right. Right stick up and down scroll, which zooms.
• Point and select. The left stick moves the pointer and the right trigger selects.
• Pick a gizmo. Select, Translate, Rotate and Scale (Q, W, E, R) on the face buttons.
• Frame and pan. Focus selected (F) on the left bumper, game view (G) on the right, and the left stick click is the middle mouse button for panning.
• Save and play. Save on Share or View, Play in Editor (Option P) on Options.

Unreal's fly keys work here too: while the right mouse button is held, W moves forward, Q down and E up, and those are on the face buttons. Hold the left trigger and the face buttons fly the camera.

If your game reads the pad too

Your game's own controller input is separate and keeps working, so with this preset running, one press can reach the editor and the game at once. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. List the editor for auto-switch. Add it under Activate when these apps are in front and turn on automatic switching in Settings, Advanced. When the game's own window is in front, the preset steps aside.
2. Play in a new window. In-editor play shares the editor window, so the preset stays on. Play in a standalone window if your game reads the controller itself.
3. Stop play from the pad. Escape on the right stick click.

Unreal does not read controllers for editor navigation by default, which is why the layout drives the editor with mouse and key events. A running preset doubles every press in a game that reads the pad, so test in a standalone window.

Tune it for the viewport

• Fly speed. Scrolling while the right mouse button is held changes camera speed, so hold the left trigger and push the right stick up or down.
• A slower pointer. Use the Pointer speed slider on the preset's page, for the Details panel's small fields.

Speed is the one setting you will change while flying. Hold the trigger and roll the right stick to change fly speed mid-flight.

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 Unreal Engine 5 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.

Every binding, as a table

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

• Unity from a game controller
• Godot from a game controller
• Blender from a game controller
• Per-app profiles that switch by themselves
• A game controller as a 3D mouse on a Mac

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