Questions

Controller stopped working after a macOS update

An update rarely breaks the controller itself. It breaks the path from the controller to one app. So start with one test: open System Settings, click Game Controllers in the sidebar, and press a button. If the button lights up there, macOS still reads the pad and the fix is in the app, in Steam, or in a setting below. If the controller is missing from that list, re-pair it or try a cable first.

Below that are the controller problems people reported after each recent macOS version, newest first, with the fix that worked for them and where I read it. Last checked September 2026.

The five-minute routine after any update

1. Test in System Settings. Game Controllers in the sidebar lists the pad and lights up buttons as you press them. On Tahoe, select the controller and click Identify to make it flash its lights or rumble, so you know which entry is yours.
2. Update everything else too. Install any point update Apple offers, then update Steam, the game, the emulator or the virtual machine. Most controller breakages after a big update were fixed in a point release or an app update weeks later.
3. Forget and re-pair. Remove the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, turn it off, put it back in pairing mode and pair again. Then shut the Mac down fully rather than restarting.
4. Switch the connection. If a cable stopped working, try Bluetooth. If Bluetooth started dropping, try a cable. Several of the problems below hit only one of the two.
5. Check permissions and custom controls. Apps that read or send input, such as Steam or a mapper, need their switches on in System Settings, Privacy and Security (Input Monitoring or Accessibility). If one stopped working, turn its switch off and on. And if you ever customised this controller or this game in Game Controllers, turn that customisation off while you test.

macOS 27 Golden Gate (September 2026)

Apple released macOS 27 on 14 September 2026, for Apple silicon Macs only. Apple's game controller guide for macOS 27 has the same pairing steps and the same Game Controllers pane, so nothing about connecting a pad has moved. I have not yet seen a controller problem on 27 reported with enough detail to write up. When one appears, it goes here with its source.

Intel Macs stay on macOS 26 Tahoe, which got its 26.7 update the same day. If your Mac is Intel, the Tahoe section is the one for you.

macOS 26 Tahoe

• Switch Pro Controller ghost inputs over USB-C. Soon after Tahoe shipped, a thread on Apple Community reported rapid random button presses from a Switch Pro Controller on a cable, on a Mac where it had worked on Sequoia, and several people replied with the same problem. No fix was posted. Pair it over Bluetooth instead while you wait, and see the Switch Pro page for pairing.
• One game stops seeing the controller. On Tahoe 26.5.2, the first Hades stopped seeing Xbox and DualSense Edge controllers while Steam, Hades II and other games saw them fine, and switching Steam Input on or off made no difference. The developer asked for reports. When only one game is affected, it is that game, not macOS: see When only one game broke, below.
• Xbox Elite Series 2 in a streaming app. An Elite 2 was reported unrecognised in one Xbox streaming client on 26.0.1, over Bluetooth and cable. Other apps are the test: if Game Controllers sees it, report it to the app.
• The Home button opens the Games app. Tahoe added Apple's Games app, and a controller's Home button can open it. What the Home button does is a choice in that controller's settings in Game Controllers.
• Wired Xbox 360 controllers. Still not supported, on Tahoe or before. See do you need a controller driver.

macOS 15 Sequoia, and 15.4 in particular

Sequoia 15.4, in spring 2025, was the update that broke the most. Wired (USB) controllers stopped responding in many apps while the same pads worked over Bluetooth. The Heroic Games Launcher tracker listed Steam, Chrome and Firefox among the affected apps.

• The reported workaround: in System Settings, Game Controllers, select the controller, add the app, and turn on Increase controller compatibility. Apple describes that switch as letting the controller work with games designed for the Xbox 360 Controller. It did not help Windows games running through Wine.
• Steam with a wired Xbox pad: one fix in the Steam thread was turning off Steam's Xbox controller support, after which games with full controller support read the pad directly. The same person later reported that macOS 15.5 and the May 2025 Steam update made the wired pad work again with nothing turned off. See controller works on the Mac but not in Steam.
• Parallels: controllers stopped reaching Windows virtual machines from 15.4 on, over USB and Bluetooth. Parallels Desktop 20.3 fixed it, so update Parallels.
• RetroArch on 15.2: controllers showed up as assigned but produced no input, while working in Steam. The issue is closed; update RetroArch first.

macOS 14 Sonoma

Sonoma brought Game Mode, which on Apple silicon doubles the Bluetooth sampling rate for controllers when a game runs full screen. The most specific Sonoma report I found is a DualShock 4 on an M1 Mac disconnecting over Bluetooth after about 15 minutes of play in an emulator on 14.4.1, with no drops on a cable. A cable is the workaround. Longer notes on drops are on the PS5 keeps disconnecting page.

When only one game broke

If Game Controllers lights up and other games work, macOS is fine and the one game, or the layer it runs in, stopped listening. In order:

1. If it is a Steam game, try the game's Steam Input override both ways: works in Steam but not in the game.
2. If it is a Windows game through CrossOver, Whisky or a virtual machine, update that layer: controllers with CrossOver games.
3. Check the game's own update notes and its forum. Game-side fixes after an Apple update usually come from the developer.
4. While you wait, if the game also plays on keyboard and mouse, InputConfig can turn the controller into those keys and the mouse. It reads the controller itself and sends ordinary keyboard and mouse input, which games do not stop reading after an update. It is free, and its Smart Preset Maker has ready layouts for 450+ games. This is a way to keep playing, not a fix for macOS: if the game only accepts a controller, it will not help.

InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

When it vanished from Game Controllers

Then the Mac is not treating it as a game controller any more. The Game Controllers item itself only shows once a controller is connected, so connect one before deciding it is gone (Game Controllers missing). 8BitDo pads need the right mode switch position (8BitDo on a Mac). Generic USB pads, sticks and wheels that report as plain HID devices never appear there at all; InputConfig can open many of them directly from its Devices menu (connecting a controller in InputConfig). The full checklist is on controller not recognized.

Reset Bluetooth without restarting

If every Bluetooth device misbehaves after an update, not just the controller, restart the Bluetooth service. Open Terminal, type sudo pkill bluetoothd, press Return and enter your Mac password. macOS starts Bluetooth again by itself within a few seconds. Every Bluetooth device drops for that moment, including a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so have a wired one or the trackpad handy.

Questions

Related

• Controller not recognized or not working on a Mac
• Controller connected but not working on a Mac
• Controller works in Steam but not in the game on a Mac
• What macOS can do with a controller on its own
• Do you need a controller driver on a Mac?
• How to test a controller on a Mac

Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.