Questions
How to turn off or disconnect a controller on a Mac
Hold the PS button for about ten seconds, or the Xbox button for about six, until the lights go out. That turns the controller off, and the Mac sees it disconnect. To drop it from the Mac without turning it off, click its name in the Bluetooth list in Control Center. To move it back to a PS5, plug it into the console with a USB cable and press PS.
Turn it off from the controller
| Controller | Hold | It is off when |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 DualSense or DualSense Edge | PS button, about 10 seconds | the light bar and player lights go out |
| PS4 DualShock 4 | PS button, about 10 seconds | the light bar goes out |
| Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Elite Series 2 | Xbox button, about 6 seconds | the Xbox button light goes out |
On a cable, unplugging it is enough. For a Switch Pro Controller, an 8BitDo or anything else, the power-off method is in its manual, and disconnecting it on the Mac, below, ends the connection for every controller.
It will not switch itself off on a Mac
On a PS5 the controller goes to sleep after a set time because the console tells it to; that timer lives in the PS5's Power Saving settings. A Mac sends no such instruction, and I have not found a controller sleep timer anywhere in System Settings. So a DualSense left on the desk stays on until you turn it off or the battery runs down. Turn it off when you finish, or leave it on a cable.
Disconnect it but keep the pairing
Open Control Center in the menu bar, open the Bluetooth list, and click the controller's name. It disconnects but stays paired, so later one press of the PS or Xbox button brings it back to the Mac with no pairing steps. Use this when you want the controller off the Mac for now and back on it tomorrow.
Remove it from the Mac for good
Open System Settings, Bluetooth, click the info button next to the controller, and choose Forget This Device. Do this when you are giving the controller away, when it has stopped connecting properly, or when the Mac keeps taking it. To use it on the Mac again, put it back in pairing mode: PS and Create on a DualSense, PS and Share on a DualShock 4, the pairing button on the top edge of an Xbox controller. The connect page has the steps for every pad.
Move it back to the PS5, PS4, Xbox or Switch
- PS5: plug the DualSense into the PS5 with a USB cable and press the PS button. Unplug it and it stays paired to the console.
- PS4: the same with the DualShock 4: USB cable into the PS4, press PS.
- Xbox: press the pair button on the console, then hold the pair button on the controller until the Xbox button flashes fast. Or plug it into the Xbox with a USB cable.
- Switch: on the Switch, open Controllers, then Change Grip/Order, and press the Sync button on the Pro Controller.
A controller goes back to the last device it paired with, so after this, getting it onto the Mac again means pairing mode again. If you swap every day, a USB cable on the Mac side saves re-pairing each time.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
When the wrong device keeps taking it
Pressing PS wakes the controller and it looks for the last device it paired with. If that is the Mac and you wanted the PS5, re-pair it to the console with the cable as above. If it is the other way round, and a PS5 in rest mode keeps pulling it away from the Mac, the PS5 controller keeps disconnecting page covers it.
Turning the light off, not the controller
macOS has no setting for the light bar on a DualSense or DualShock 4, but InputConfig does: click the controller at the top of its sidebar and set Light Bar brightness to Off, or let a preset carry its own light setting. The light bar page has the details. The small player lights under the touchpad belong to macOS and stay on. Xbox controllers have no light bar; the Xbox button stays lit while the controller is on, and InputConfig cannot change it.
What InputConfig does when a controller goes off
Nothing gets stuck. If you turn a controller off while one of its buttons is holding a key, a mouse button or a MIDI note, InputConfig lets go of all of them as soon as the controller drops. The preset keeps running, so when you turn the controller back on it picks up again. The battery level of each connected controller shows in the app's sidebar and in the menu bar icon's controller list, which is the easy way to know it needs charging before it dies mid-game. With Show the activity log switched on in Settings, every connect and disconnect is listed too, which settles whether a controller really dropped or a game stopped listening.
Questions
How do I turn off a PS5 controller connected to my Mac?
Hold the PS button for about ten seconds, until the light bar goes out. Clicking its name in Control Center's Bluetooth list disconnects it instead, without forgetting the pairing.
How do I turn off an Xbox controller connected to my Mac?
Hold the Xbox button for about six seconds, until its light goes out.
Does a PS5 controller turn off by itself on a Mac?
Do not count on it. The idle timer that switches a DualSense off is a PS5 setting, and a Mac has no equivalent, so turn it off yourself or it will run the battery down.
What is the difference between Disconnect and Forget?
Disconnect ends the connection and keeps the pairing, so one button press reconnects it. Forget This Device removes the pairing, and the controller has to go through pairing mode again.
How do I connect my PS5 controller back to my PS5 after using it on a Mac?
Plug it into the PS5 with a USB cable and press the PS button. After that it works wirelessly on the console again. To go back to the Mac, pair it with PS and Create.
Can I charge my PS5 controller from my MacBook?
Yes. Plug it into a USB-C port on the Mac and it charges, and works as a wired controller while it does. A DualShock 4 does the same on a micro-USB cable.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.