Questions
Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Mac with a controller
On a Mac, Xbox Cloud Gaming runs in the browser at xbox.com/play, in Safari, Chrome or Edge, the three Microsoft lists, so there is nothing to download. It is built around a controller: most games there expect one. Microsoft names the Xbox Wireless Controller and the DualShock 4 among the pads it supports. Pair the pad with the Mac, open the site, press a button, play.
Set it up
- Pair the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, or plug it in: Xbox, PS5, PS4.
- Open xbox.com/play and sign in with a Microsoft account.
- Press a button on the controller once the page has loaded. Browsers only reveal a gamepad to a page after it has been touched.
- Launch the game and go full screen, so the stream is not sharing the window with your tabs.
What you can play: Microsoft lists monthly cloud playtime on the Game Pass tiers (5, 10 and 15 hours on Essential, Premium and Ultimate as of September 2026), and select free-to-play games, Fortnite among them, need only a free Microsoft account.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Controller not detected on a Mac
- Press a button after the page loads. A pad connected before the page opened still has to be touched.
- Reconnect, then reload. If the pad dropped mid-game, the stream usually needs a reload to see it again.
- Try another browser. Safari, Chrome and Edge each read controllers their own way; a pad one ignores, another sometimes sees.
- One controller at a time. Turn off pads you are not using so the game listens to the right one.
- Check the Mac itself. If a gamepad tester shows nothing, it is a Mac problem: controller not recognized on a Mac. If every button lights in the tester and the stream still ignores it, the browser or the service is the issue, not the pad.
PS5, Switch and other pads
Microsoft names the Xbox Wireless Controller and the DualShock 4 and adds "and more". Anything else, a DualSense, a Switch Pro Controller, an 8BitDo pad, depends on whether the browser presents it as a standard gamepad, which is exactly what the tester above shows. An Xbox controller is the pad I would buy for this service: it is the one every game there is drawn for.
Where InputConfig fits, and where it does not
Xbox Cloud Gaming wants a controller, and InputConfig does not pretend to be one: it sends keyboard and mouse events. So it cannot make a pad the stream ignores appear as a controller, and it cannot turn a keyboard into a controller for games that need one. A game's page on xbox.com lists the ways it can be played; where keyboard and mouse is one of them, InputConfig can map an unsupported pad, an adaptive controller or a one-handed layout to keys. Everywhere else, if the stream will not see your pad, GeForce NOW is the better home for it, because it runs PC versions that take a keyboard and mouse: GeForce NOW with a controller on a Mac.
Xbox Cloud Gaming without a controller
People search for this a lot, so the plain answer: on a Mac it works only in games whose page offers keyboard and mouse. Touch controls need a touchscreen, which a Mac does not have. Browser extensions that turn a keyboard into a virtual controller exist; I have not tested them, and InputConfig is not one. If you have no pad at all, GeForce NOW plays PC versions with the keyboard and mouse you already have.
Lag
A cable for the controller and a wired or strong 5 GHz connection for the Mac do more than any setting. The rest is in controller input lag on a Mac. For Fortnite specifically, see Fortnite on a Mac with a controller.
Questions
Does Xbox Cloud Gaming work on a Mac?
Yes, in the browser. Microsoft lists Edge, Chrome and Safari. Go to xbox.com/play and sign in with a Microsoft account.
Does a PS5 controller work with Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Mac?
Microsoft names the DualShock 4 and does not list the DualSense by name. Pair it, press a button after the page loads, and if the stream ignores it, try another browser and check it in a gamepad tester.
Is Fortnite free on Xbox Cloud Gaming?
Yes. Microsoft lists Fortnite among the free-to-play games you can stream with a free Microsoft account, no Game Pass needed.
Can InputConfig make my keyboard work as a controller for Xbox Cloud Gaming?
No. InputConfig sends keyboard and mouse events and does not emulate a controller. It is for going the other way, a controller or other device driving keys and the mouse.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.