Questions

How do you connect a GameSir controller to a Mac?

Over Bluetooth, in the mode its manual gives for a PC or a Switch, and not in XInput mode on a cable. GameSir does not list the Mac as a working platform in any of the five manuals I read (Nova Lite, Super Nova, G7 Pro, G7 SE and G8 Galileo), so nothing here is promised by GameSir. What decides it is the mode: a GameSir controller presents itself to the computer as a different controller in each mode, and a Mac reads some of those and not others.

I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that maps a controller to keys and mouse, reads plain USB and Bluetooth pads that macOS does not list as game controllers, and says why when a pad cannot be read at all. I have not tested a GameSir controller myself, so this page sticks to what GameSir's manuals and the app's code say.

On this page: 11 sections

1. Steps
2. Pick the mode before you pair
3. Pair it over Bluetooth
4. Use a cable or the USB receiver
5. Know where the Xbox-licensed G7 line stands
6. Use a G8 Galileo phone grip
7. Remap it without GameSir Connect or Nexus
8. If the Mac does not see it
9. What it cannot do
10. The short version
11. Questions

Steps

1. Turn the controller off, then hold the button pair its manual gives for a Bluetooth mode: on a Nova Lite, Y and Home for Switch mode, or B and Home for PC mode.
2. On the Mac, open System Settings, Bluetooth, and click Connect beside the name the manual gives, Pro Controller or Wireless Controller.
3. Check System Settings, Game Controllers, where a listed controller works in games with controller support.
4. Open InputConfig, and tick the controller under InputConfig, Devices if it is not at the top of the sidebar.
5. Activate a preset, or press Scan on a row and press a button to bind it.

Pick the mode before you pair

Each mode has its own button pair, held while the controller is off, and its own name in the Bluetooth list. These come from GameSir's manuals:

The Super Nova's manual also names Pro Controller and GameSir-Nova Pro for its Switch and Android modes.

• Switch mode first. The Switch Pro Controller is one macOS has read since macOS 13, so I would start with the mode that presents itself as one.
• PC mode second. It is the mode GameSir gives for a computer.
• Not a measurement. That order is my reasoning from the names. I have not tested which mode a Mac accepts on each model.

The name in the Bluetooth list tells you which mode the controller is in.

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

Pair it over Bluetooth

• You: With the controller off, hold the pair for the mode. Then open System Settings, Bluetooth on the Mac and click Connect beside the new name.
• macOS: Pairs it, and lists it under System Settings, Game Controllers if it accepts it as a game controller.
• Check: Open the gamepad tester in a browser and press a button. It draws what the Mac receives, with no app to install.

• Changing modes. Each mode shows under its own name, so pair again after you change it.
• Stuck on an old pairing. The Nova Lite's manual gives a way to force pairing mode: hold Screenshot and Home for three seconds.
• Letters in Switch mode. A game may show Nintendo's layout, where A and B trade places with what GameSir prints. Scan in InputConfig reads the button you press, so the printed letter does not matter for binding.

A controller that moves the gamepad tester is connected, and the rest is mapping.

Use a cable or the USB receiver

On a cable or the receiver, GameSir's manuals give one control: hold View and Menu (two seconds on the Nova Lite) to move between XInput, Switch and Android modes. GameSir's support pages give green as the light for XInput mode.

• XInput mode. Most third-party XInput pads speak the wired Xbox 360 protocol. macOS does not read it, and a sandboxed app such as InputConfig cannot either. InputConfig, Devices lists such a pad grayed out, with the reason.
• Switch mode. A real Switch Pro Controller sends nothing a Mac reads over its cable, so Switch mode may not work on a cable even where it works over Bluetooth.
• Android mode. The manuals do not say what it sends. If the Mac sees a plain USB controller, InputConfig reads it once you tick it under InputConfig, Devices.
• XInput over Bluetooth. It does not exist on these controllers. GameSir's support pages say Microsoft's restrictions rule it out, which is why the Bluetooth modes above are the ones that matter on a Mac.

I have not confirmed which protocol each GameSir model uses in each mode. Change the mode, then look at InputConfig, Devices: it shows the pad as readable, or grayed out with the reason.

Know where the Xbox-licensed G7 line stands

The G7 SE and G7 Pro are Xbox-licensed, and GameSir lists Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 and 11, and Android as their platforms.

• G7 SE. Wired only, on a USB-C cable, according to its manual. It has no Bluetooth and no other mode to switch to.
• G7 Pro. Wired for an Xbox, with a receiver and Bluetooth for a PC or a phone. Bluetooth is the route to try on a Mac.
• What macOS does with Xbox pads on a cable. macOS 15 Sequoia and later reads Microsoft's Xbox One and Series controllers over USB. Earlier versions do not, and InputConfig lists such a pad grayed out with a note to update or use Bluetooth.
• What I do not know. Whether macOS 15 accepts a G7 the way it accepts Microsoft's own controllers. I have not tested it.

InputConfig carries the community SDL controller database's Mac entries for the GameSir G7 Pro, the X4A and the T3, so when one of them arrives as a plain controller its buttons get their usual names and places. The controller ID lookup lists their USB IDs. For a G7 SE, the test is a cable on macOS 15 or later; for a G7 Pro, try Bluetooth first.

Use a G8 Galileo phone grip

The G8 Galileo is a phone controller, and GameSir's manual describes one connection: the USB-C plug built into the grip, which goes into the phone.

• Its modes. Hold View and Menu for two seconds to change mode. The manual gives white for Other Devices mode, green for Android mode and blue for G-Touch mode.
• Reaching a Mac. The plug needs a USB-C extension cable with a socket on one end. I have not tested whether the grip then appears on a Mac.
• In InputConfig. When macOS lists the G8 as a game controller, InputConfig recognizes it by name and draws it in the Live Visualizer, with View and Menu named as GameSir prints them. Home and Capture are read only when macOS reports them.
• M, L4 and R4. They are handled inside the controller. Hold M and L4 or R4, then press a button, and the back button copies it. The Mac sees the copied button, never L4 or R4, and M itself never reaches the Mac.

Other Devices mode, the white light, is the one to try on a Mac.

Remap it without GameSir Connect or Nexus

GameSir's download page offers GameSir Connect as a Windows download, GameSir Nexus from the Microsoft Store, and the GameSir App for iPhone and Android. It lists no Mac version of any of them, as of October 2026.

• Back buttons. Set them on the controller itself. The G7 Pro's manual gives M with L4, R4, L5 or R5, then the button to copy.
• Profiles on a G7 SE. Its manual switches them on the controller: M and Y for the default, M and B, M and A, M and X for profiles 1 to 3.
• Buttons to keys. InputConfig binds any button to a key, a click, a shortcut or a macro, and turns the sticks into WASD and mouse look. Its Smart Preset Maker has layouts for more than 450 games and apps.
• Firmware. GameSir says firmware updates go through its apps, so an update needs a Windows PC or a phone.

GameSir's apps set up the controller; InputConfig sets up what the Mac does with each press.

If the Mac does not see it

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. Read the name. The name in System Settings, Bluetooth shows which mode the controller is in. If it is not the one you meant, turn it off and hold the right pair.
2. Pair again. Remove the old entry in System Settings, Bluetooth, then connect the new one.
3. Try the other mode. Switch mode, then PC mode, then Android mode.
4. Open the Devices menu. In InputConfig, Devices, a pad the Mac can read is listed to tick, and one it cannot is grayed out with the reason.
5. On a cable, check the cable. It has to carry data, not only power, and a hub can get in the way. Plug into the Mac directly.
6. Map it to keys. If it is listed and lights the Live Visualizer but does nothing in a game, the game may not read controllers at all. Give it the game's keys in InputConfig.

The longer list is on controller not recognized on a Mac. Start with the name in the Bluetooth list, because it tells you the mode.

What it cannot do

• Read Xbox 360 mode. A pad speaking the wired Xbox 360 protocol cannot be read on a Mac by InputConfig or by macOS.
• Replace GameSir's apps. InputConfig does not update firmware, change the lights, or write settings into the controller.
• Make it an Xbox controller. InputConfig sends keyboard and mouse events, not a virtual controller. A game that only accepts a gamepad needs one macOS recognizes.
• Give back buttons their own inputs. They copy another button inside the controller, so the Mac cannot tell them apart from it.

If macOS or InputConfig can see the controller in some mode, it can be mapped; if neither can, no setting changes that.

The short version

• Bluetooth. Switch mode first, then PC mode, and pair again after each change.
• Cable or receiver. Leave XInput with View and Menu, and let the Devices menu tell you what it sees.
• G7 line. A cable on macOS 15 or later, or Bluetooth on a G7 Pro.
• Map. A preset, or Scan on a row.

I have not tested one myself, so tell me if your model behaves differently. The mode decides whether a Mac can read a GameSir controller, so change the mode before you blame the Mac.

Questions

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• Controller not recognized or not working on a Mac
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• Other controllers

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