Questions

Controller trigger not working on a Mac

Most trigger problems on a Mac are not broken triggers. Either the trigger is digital and only ever reports on or off, or something between the trigger and the game is waiting for a deeper pull than you are giving it.

Two minutes with a live view tells the cases apart: System Settings shows whether the Mac receives the trigger, and the Live Visualizer in InputConfig, the free mapper I make, shows how far it travels.

On this page: 9 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Check that the Mac sees the trigger
    1. Step 1: System Settings
    2. Step 2: The Live Visualizer
  3. Find out whether it is analog or digital
  4. Move the orange line
  5. If the trigger seems to stop early
  6. If an arcade stick's L2 and R2 read oddly
  7. If it works in the tester but not in the game
  8. The short version
  9. Questions

Steps

  1. Pull each trigger in System Settings, Game Controllers and watch it light.
  2. Pull it slowly in InputConfig's Live Visualizer and watch the percentage climb.
  3. Check whether the trigger is analog or digital.
  4. Move the row's deadzone with Adjust live if the pull stops short of the orange line.
  5. On a DualSense Edge or Xbox Elite, check the trigger stops on the back.

Check that the Mac sees the trigger

Step 1: System Settings

  • You: Open System Settings, click Game Controllers in the sidebar, select the controller and pull each trigger.
  • macOS: Lights the trigger on its picture.
  • Check: If it lights, the Mac is receiving it. If the controller is listed but a trigger never lights, over both a cable and Bluetooth, the trigger itself is at fault.

Step 2: The Live Visualizer

  • You: Open InputConfig, click any preset, and pull the trigger slowly.
  • InputConfig: Fills an analog trigger from the bottom and shows its percentage.
  • Check: 0 at rest, 100 at the end of the pull, climbing smoothly.

A trigger that jumps, sticks at a value, or rests at a few percent is worn or dirty, and a small deadzone hides the last of those.

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

Find out whether it is analog or digital

Some triggers report how far they are pulled; others only report pressed or not, like a button. The drawing shows the difference: an analog trigger fills and shows a percentage, a digital one just lights.

  • Analog. DualSense, DualSense Edge, DualShock 4, the Xbox Wireless, One and Elite controllers, the Stadia Controller, the 8BitDo Pro 2, Ultimate and Ultimate 2C, and both Steam Controllers.
  • Digital. The Switch Pro Controller, Joy-Cons, the 8BitDo SN30 Pro, Micro and Lite, and a Logitech F310 in D mode. ZL and ZR on a Switch pad are clicks, not pulls, on every system.
  • All or nothing for now. The GameCube controller for Switch 2, which InputConfig reads over USB as an experiment, reports L and R fully pressed or not at all.

A game that wants a gentle pull on a digital trigger gets all or nothing. That is the controller, and no setting on the Mac changes it.

Move the orange line

In an InputConfig preset, a row on an analog trigger ignores the first part of the pull. That is its deadzone, 25 percent unless you change it, and the Live Visualizer draws it as an orange line across the trigger.

  • The trigger fills past the line and nothing happens. Look at the row's output or at the app in front.
  • Your pull stops short of the line. The deadzone is too high.
  • You: Open the preset's editor, open Options on the trigger row and press Adjust live. Pull the trigger all the way, let go, and drag the slider until a finger resting on the trigger stays below the line.
  • InputConfig: Shows the live bar, the Inner and Outer sliders, and Current and Peak readings while you drag.
  • Check: Raise it if the row fires when you only touch the trigger; lower it if a light pull does nothing. Save keeps the value and Cancel puts the old one back.

A trigger can be bound two ways. As LT / L2 or RT / R2 in the input menu it acts like a button, which suits a click or a key. As an axis it gives the whole pull, which suits Variable Sensitivity, where pulling harder moves the pointer or scrolls faster. Set the deadzone just above where a resting finger sits.

If the trigger seems to stop early

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Check the Edge's stop slider. The DualSense Edge has a stop slider for each trigger on the back, which shortens how far it travels. Check it before anything else.
  2. Check the Elite's trigger locks. The Xbox Elite Series 2 has trigger locks on the back for the same purpose. The lock switches themselves send nothing to the Mac.
  3. Lower the deadzone. If the pull reaches 100 percent in the drawing but the row fires late, the orange line is too high.

On an Edge or an Elite, check the switches on the back before you call a trigger short.

If an arcade stick's L2 and R2 read oddly

Many PlayStation arcade sticks send L2 and R2 as plain buttons, and some send them as a trigger and a button at once.

  • The drawing. In InputConfig's panel menu, under Arcade, flight and racing, the Arcade stick model has a variant for that, PS4 stick, L2 and R2 also as buttons 22 and 23, so the drawing matches what the stick sends.
  • Fixed in 1.6. L3, R3 and the touchpad click on sticks whose community mapping left them out, including the Victrix Pro FS, PDP Versus Fighting and Qanba Drone.

More in arcade sticks on a Mac. Pick the stick variant that matches what it sends, and the drawing lines up.

If it works in the tester but not in the game

Then the trigger is fine and the game is reading something else. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Check the game's own settings. Look at its control settings, and if it runs through Steam, Steam Input's layout for it.
  2. Remember who reads what. A game with its own controller support reads the controller directly and never sees InputConfig's deadzone. Use the game's trigger deadzone setting if it has one.
  3. Turn the preset off. If you have bound the trigger to a key in InputConfig as well, the game may see both the trigger and the key. Test the game alone.

Controller connected but not working covers the rest. If the trigger fills in the drawing, the trigger is fine.

The short version

  • Lights in System Settings. The Mac receives it.
  • Fills to 100 in the Live Visualizer. The trigger is healthy and analog.
  • Only lights. It is digital, and nothing changes that.
  • Fires too early or too late. Move the orange line with Adjust live.

Watch the pull before you blame the trigger; most of the time it is the deadzone or the design.

Questions

Why does ZR on my Switch Pro Controller only work all the way?

ZL and ZR on the Switch Pro Controller and Joy-Cons are digital: they report pressed or not, never a partial pull. A game that expects an analog trigger gets a full press either way.

My trigger fires when I only rest a finger on it. What do I change?

Raise the deadzone on that row in InputConfig, with Adjust live in the row's Options. In a game with its own controller support, use the game's trigger deadzone setting if it has one.

Can a trigger control speed instead of being on or off?

Yes, on an analog trigger. Bind the trigger as an axis and turn on Variable Sensitivity, and the pointer or scrolling speeds up the harder you pull.

How do I know if my trigger is broken?

If System Settings lists the controller but the trigger never lights there, over a cable and over Bluetooth, the trigger is at fault. If it lights but the live percentage jumps or never reaches 100, it is worn.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.