Controller works on a Mac but not in Steam
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When a controller works on the Mac but not in Steam, the fix is nearly always one of three Steam settings or the macOS permission Steam needs. Steam on the Mac puts its own layer, Steam Input, between the controller and the game, and on macOS that layer works in some games and not others. Check the settings below in order, and if one game still ignores the pad, map it to the keyboard for that game and move on.
On this page
Steps
- Check the controller is listed in System Settings, Game Controllers.
- In Steam, Settings, Controller, turn on support for your kind of controller.
- On the game's page, click the controller icon and set Steam Input for that game.
- Give Steam the Input Monitoring permission in System Settings, Privacy & Security, then quit Steam fully and open it again.
- If the game still ignores the pad, turn Steam Input off for it and map the controller with InputConfig.
Check the Mac first
Before any Steam setting, open Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar and make sure the pad is listed. If the Mac does not list the controller, no Steam setting will help. Start with controller not recognized in that case. If it is listed, carry on.
Turn on Steam's controller settings
- You: In Steam, open Settings, Controller, and turn on the support for your pad: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo or Generic. Then on the game's own page, click the controller icon on the right, set Steam Input to Enabled for that title, and pick a layout.
- Steam: Translates the pad for that game. Many games ship with a keyboard layout for controllers here, which is Steam doing on its side what a mapper does.
- Check: Start the game and press a button. If Steam lists the pad and the game still ignores it, see controller works in Steam but not in the game.
Give Steam the macOS permission
On recent macOS, Steam needs Input Monitoring, and sometimes Accessibility, in System Settings, Privacy & Security, before Steam Input can see a controller outside Big Picture. Quit Steam fully after granting it, then open it again.
Set up your kind of pad
- PS5 and PS4. Steam reads the DualSense, DualSense Edge and DualShock 4 over Bluetooth or USB. Turn on Steam Input for PlayStation controllers in Steam, Settings, Controller. The PS button opens the Steam menu in Big Picture.
- Xbox Wireless controllers. Pair the One or Series pad over Bluetooth. The Series X|S pad needs macOS 11.3 or later. A wired Xbox 360 controller is not supported by macOS at all, so do not count on it in Steam either.
- Switch Pro Controller. Pair it in Bluetooth, then turn on Steam Input for Nintendo controllers. Steam can keep Nintendo's A and B positions or swap them to Xbox positions. If confirm and back feel reversed, that is the setting to change.
- 8BitDo. Use the mode 8BitDo lists for Apple devices, D on the switch or B and Start held on an SN30 Pro, and Steam gets what the Mac gets. In S mode it shows up as a Switch Pro Controller, with Nintendo's A and B swap. The 8BitDo page lists the modes.
- Steam Controller. Steam handles both Valve models directly. More in the 2026 Steam Controller below.
If a game ignores Steam Input
A share of Mac Steam games, including some big native ports, read the controller themselves and never see Steam Input's output, or see both and double up. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Turn Steam Input off for that game. On the same per-game controller page, so the game reads the pad directly.
- Check the game's own options. Some games need controller support switched on in their settings.
- Map it below Steam. If the game has no controller support of its own, InputConfig maps the pad to keys and mouse at the system level, below Steam, so the game gets keyboard input it cannot ignore. Keep Steam Input off for that game so the two do not both fire.
One translator per game: Steam Input or a mapper, never both. Running both at once is covered in InputConfig and Steam at the same time.
Use the 2026 Steam Controller
Valve's new Steam Controller works on the Mac desktop and in Big Picture, and as of this writing reaches some games and not others through Steam. InputConfig reads it too, on a cable, over Bluetooth or through its Puck, with every button, the four back buttons, both trackpads, the gyro, rumble and battery. That support is experimental, because it was built from the published protocol without the controller in hand.
InputConfig and Steam both manage the controller's built-in keyboard and mouse mode, called lizard mode, and the two fight. It looks like flicker or bindings that come and go. Quit Steam before you use the controller with InputConfig, or disable the controller in Steam's settings. The original 2015 model works the same way, read by a helper inside the app. The Steam Controller page has both.
The short version
- Mac first. The pad must be listed in Game Controllers.
- Steam second. Turn on support for your pad, set the game's Steam Input, and grant Input Monitoring.
- Mapper last. For a game that ignores Steam Input, turn it off and map the pad with InputConfig.
If it works in Big Picture and dies in the game, look at the permission before anything else.
Questions
Why is my Xbox controller not working in Steam on my Mac?
Check the Mac first: the pad must be listed in Game Controllers in the System Settings sidebar. A wired Xbox 360 controller never will be, because macOS does not support it. If the Mac lists it, check Steam, Settings, Controller shows it, then flip the game's Steam Input override in Properties, Controller.
Why does my controller disconnect when Steam opens on my Mac?
In early 2023 a Steam bug made some USB pads vanish from System Settings when Steam launched, and a Steam update fixed it. If it happens now, update Steam, unplug and replug the pad with Steam open, and check it is still listed in Game Controllers. If it only drops while Steam runs, turn off Steam Input for that type of pad in Steam, Settings, Controller.
Why do I get double inputs in a Steam game?
Two things are answering the same button: the game reads the pad and Steam Input sends keys from it too, or a mapper and Steam are both running. Set Steam Input to Disabled for that game in Properties, Controller, and keep one translator per game.
Does Steam need a macOS permission to see my controller?
Yes, on recent macOS. Give Steam Input Monitoring, and sometimes Accessibility, in System Settings, Privacy & Security, then quit Steam fully and open it again.
Related
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