How to calibrate a controller 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.
macOS has no calibration screen for controllers, so on a Mac, calibrating means one of three things: setting deadzones and range for what the stick controls, rewriting the center a PlayStation controller stores, or using a game's own settings. For most people the first is the right one, and a free app does it in a minute. I built InputConfig because my hands do not work well, and a stick that creeps makes a controller useless as a mouse, so that is what this page covers most.
On this page
Steps
- Open InputConfig, click the preset, press Edit, and open Options on the stick or trigger row.
- Press Adjust live. Move the stick all the way round, then let go.
- Read where it rests. Drag Deadzone just past that point.
- Drag Full push at to where your push comfortably stops, then press Save.
Know what macOS gives you
System Settings has Game Controllers in the sidebar once a controller has connected. Select the controller and its buttons light as you press them, and you can remap one controller button to another, per app. There is no stick center, deadzone or range setting there. It is the right place to check that the Mac sees the controller at all. If it is not listed, see controller not detected on a Mac first.
Calibrate the sticks in InputConfig
InputConfig is free and open source. Every stick and trigger row has an Adjust live button in its Options.
Step 1: See the stick's real range
- You: Press Adjust live on the stick row, then push the stick round its full circle.
- InputConfig: Opens a live plot: a circle with a trail for a stick, a bar for a trigger, and readings for Current, Peak, and whether the stick is Inside deadzone.
- Check: The trail shows how far the stick really reaches. Reset Trail clears the plot for another try.
Step 2: Set the Deadzone
- You: Let go and watch where the stick settles.
- InputConfig: Shows the resting point on the plot.
- Check: Drag Deadzone just past the resting point, so drift does nothing.
Step 3: Set Full push at
- You: Drag Full push at to where your push naturally stops.
- InputConfig: Counts that point as full, and stretches the travel between the two over the whole range, so nothing jumps.
- Check: Press Save to keep it. Cancel puts the old values back.
Every stick row shows its deadzone without opening anything, and a row you never changed uses 25 percent. Its Options also show the stick live, with the deadzone, the part of the stick that fires the row and its regions, and the sliders take effect as you move them. Stick settings, in the input device's ⋯ menu in the editor, sets the Deadzone on every axis of that controller at once. The numbers live in the preset, so a game preset and a desktop preset can each have their own.
This calibration shapes what InputConfig sends: the pointer, scrolling and keys. It does not change the controller, and a game that reads the controller directly will not see it.
Rewrite the stored center on a PS5 or PS4 controller
The DualSense, DualSense Edge and DualShock 4 keep their own stick calibration inside the controller. The free community tool DualShock Calibration GUI can rewrite it from a Mac in a browser with WebHID, which means Chrome or Edge, not Safari. Because the new center is stored in the controller, it then holds on a PS5, a PC and every app on the Mac, games included.
Read its warnings before you start. Its own page says it cannot fix worn sticks, and that calibrating a worn stick may make it worse, with no way to undo it. It is not part of InputConfig. For a stick that only creeps a little, a deadzone is the safer fix.
Calibrate an Xbox controller
A Mac has no Xbox stick calibration. Microsoft's Xbox Accessories app, where Elite controllers get their stick curves, runs on Windows and Xbox, not macOS.
- Games that read the controller. Use the game's deadzone setting.
- Everything InputConfig drives. Use Adjust live.
Connecting an Xbox controller to a Mac covers pairing.
Calibrate joysticks, flight sticks and wheels
A USB joystick, throttle or wheel that System Settings does not list can still be read by InputConfig. Its Live Visualizer draws common controllers as themselves, and a Logitech G29 or G923 with the wheel's angle in degrees and each pedal's travel, so you can see the resting point before you set anything. Testing a wheel or joystick has a five-minute check.
- Each axis you bind. It gets the same Options: deadzone, Adjust live, Full push at, and Invert direction for an axis that runs the wrong way.
- The maker's utility. If the maker offers its own Mac utility, use it for the device's internal center. InputConfig's settings then shape the output.
Using a joystick on a Mac has the setup.
Calibrate the gyro
On a DualSense, DualSense Edge, DualShock 4, Switch Pro Controller or Joy-Con, motion has its own calibration.
- You: Click Calibrate Motion on the preset's page, and lay the controller flat and still.
- InputConfig: Opens Motion Calibration and records the resting zero, once per controller.
- Check: If the pointer starts to wander later, Re-zero now takes the current reading as the new zero, and a Re-zero Motion binding on a spare button does the same at any time.
Gyro aim on a Mac has the rest.
Check before and after
- In the browser. The deadzone visualizer reads a controller's left stick and suggests a Deadzone from three seconds at rest.
- In InputConfig. The Live Visualizer shows both sticks resting on a drawing of your controller.
- Every button. Testing a controller on a Mac covers them, and stick drift on a Mac covers which fix reaches which game.
The short version
- For the pointer, scrolling and keys. Adjust live in InputConfig, Deadzone just past the resting point.
- For games that read the pad. Use the game's own deadzone setting.
- For the controller itself. Use the DualShock Calibration GUI, on PlayStation pads only, and read its warnings first.
I would start with a deadzone, because it can always be undone.
Questions
Does macOS have a controller calibration tool?
No. System Settings, Game Controllers shows the buttons and lets you remap them per app, but has no stick center, deadzone or range setting. Calibration on a Mac happens in a game, in a mapper such as InputConfig, or inside a PlayStation controller with a browser tool.
How do I calibrate a PS5 controller on a MacBook?
For what the controller drives through InputConfig, press Adjust live on the stick row and set the deadzones against the live plot. To change the center stored in the DualSense itself, the free DualShock Calibration GUI does it in Chrome or Edge on a Mac. Read its warnings first, because a change to a worn stick cannot be undone.
How do I calibrate an Xbox controller on a Mac?
There is no Xbox calibration on macOS. Use the game's deadzone setting for games that read the controller, and InputConfig's Adjust live for the pointer, scrolling and keys it sends.
Will calibrating fix stick drift?
It hides drift. It does not repair the stick. A deadzone just past the resting point stops the creep. A stick that jumps or gets worse week by week is worn and needs a repair or a new controller.
Does calibrating in InputConfig change the controller for other devices?
No. The numbers are stored in the preset on your Mac. The controller, and any game that reads it directly, is unchanged.
Related
This page in other languages: Deutsch, Español, Français, Bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, 日本語, Polski, Português, Русский, Slovenčina, Tiếng Việt, 繁體中文, 简体中文
Updated