Can you use the PS5 controller's touchpad as a trackpad on a Mac?
InputConfig is completely 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.
Yes. macOS reads the PS5 controller's touchpad but does nothing with it, and InputConfig, a free Mac app I made, turns it into a trackpad. One finger moves the pointer, a second finger scrolls, a tap clicks, a two-finger tap right-clicks, and pressing the pad clicks too. It works on a DualSense, a DualSense Edge or a DualShock 4, over Bluetooth or USB: pick the built-in Touchpad Mouse preset and press Activate.
On this page
Steps
- Connect the DualSense or DualShock 4 by Bluetooth or cable.
- Open InputConfig and allow Accessibility access.
- Select the Touchpad Mouse preset and press Activate.
- Slide one finger on the pad and check that the pointer follows.
Turn the touchpad into a trackpad
One step needs a check: activating the preset. The pad needs no calibration, because macOS reports the whole pad.
Activate Touchpad Mouse
- You: Connect the controller (PS5 or PS4, or a cable), open InputConfig, allow Accessibility access, select Touchpad Mouse in the sidebar and press Activate.
- InputConfig: Reads each finger on the pad and moves the pointer, scrolls and clicks.
- Check: Slide one finger on the pad. The pointer should follow.
What each finger does in Touchpad Mouse
| On the pad | On the Mac |
|---|---|
| Slide one finger | Moves the pointer |
| Rest one finger, slide a second up or down | Scrolls |
| Tap with one finger | Click; two quick taps double-click |
| Tap with two fingers | Right click |
| Press the pad down | Click |
| Cross / Circle | Click / right click |
A press is never counted as a tap, so pressing and tapping do not click twice. Tap to click on the PS5 touchpad explains exactly what counts as a tap and what to check when one does nothing.
Set the speed
- Everything at once. Pointer speed on the preset's page makes the touchpad pointer faster or slower along with anything else in the preset that moves the pointer.
- Only the touchpad. Set Speed on the four finger 1 rows. Touchpad Mouse ships at 12.
- Up and down. New touchpad rows move the pointer as far up and down as they do side to side. Rows made before 1.6 keep the speed they had.
Controller mouse speed covers every speed setting.
Go past a plain trackpad
- Regions. Carve the pad into up to 16 regions, each its own button, so a touch on the left edge sends one key and the right edge another: the touchpad as extra buttons.
- Gestures. A one-finger tap, a two-finger tap and a double tap are separate inputs, and each can send any key or shortcut, not only a click.
- With a stick. The touchpad can run alongside a stick pointer in the same preset. The two add together, so the stick crosses the screen and the pad does the last few pixels.
- In a game layout. The Smart Preset Maker's Use the touchpad as a trackpad checkbox adds pointing, two-finger scrolling and tap to click to any layout it builds.
The touchpad page and the regions page have the settings.
If the touchpad does nothing
macOS passes the touchpad's finger positions to any app that asks, and the press arrives as a button, but nothing on the Mac uses the fingers. A pad that clicks in one game and does nothing on the desktop is not broken. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check the preset is active. Touchpad Mouse must be the running preset, with its Activate button pressed.
- Watch the fingers arrive. Open the Live Visualizer and pick Touchpad from the panel's menu. Each finger shows as you move it. If nothing shows, reconnect the controller.
- Check Accessibility. If fingers show but the pointer stays still, switch InputConfig on in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
- Use the first PlayStation pad. A preset reads one PlayStation touchpad, from the first input device that has touchpad rows, so a second PlayStation pad's touchpad stays quiet in the same preset.
What it cannot do
- Xbox and Switch controllers. They have no touchpad.
- Two PlayStation touchpads in one preset. Only the first one is read.
- Games. A game only reacts to swipes if its developer wrote for them, which almost no Mac game did. InputConfig's trackpad is the Mac's pointer, not a game feature.
Both Steam Controllers' trackpads work as trackpads too, read on their own, so a DualSense and a Steam Controller can share a preset. The 2026 model's support is experimental.
The short version
- Turn it on. Activate Touchpad Mouse.
- Skip calibration. The pad needs none, because macOS reports the whole pad.
- Make it yours. Change Pointer speed on the preset's page, or add regions for extra buttons.
One preset, and the PS5 touchpad is a second trackpad.
Questions
Does the DualSense touchpad work on Mac?
macOS reads it but does not use it as a pointer. With InputConfig it is a trackpad, with tap to click, two-finger scrolling and a two-finger tap for right click.
Does the PS4 controller's touchpad work the same way?
Yes. The DualShock 4's touchpad works the same way in InputConfig, over Bluetooth or USB.
Why does only the touchpad click work in my Mac game?
The game binds the press and ignores the fingers, as nearly every Mac game does. The finger positions do reach the Mac. An app like InputConfig has to use them.
Can I scroll sideways with the touchpad?
Touchpad Mouse scrolls up and down. Add two rows with the input type Touchpad, Finger 2, X plus and minus, sending Mouse Wheel Right and Left, and the second finger scrolls sideways too.
Can I use the touchpad and a stick in the same preset?
Yes. Both can move the pointer at once and their movement adds together, so the stick can cross the screen and the pad can do the last few pixels.
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