Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Mac with a controller
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.
Xbox Cloud Gaming works on a Mac with a controller, 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.
On this page
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.
- You: Press a button on the controller once the page has loaded.
- The browser: Reveals the gamepad to the page, which it only does after the pad has been touched.
- Check: The site responds to the pad. 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.
If the controller is not detected
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- 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.
- Use 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.
If you have a PS5, Switch or other pad
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.
- Games with keyboard and mouse on their page. 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.
- Everything 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.
If you have no controller at all
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.
Cut the 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.
The short version
- Where. Go to xbox.com/play in Safari, Chrome or Edge.
- Which pad. An Xbox Wireless Controller or a DualShock 4 is the safe choice.
- Not detected. Press a button after the page loads, reload, try another browser.
Touch the pad after the page loads, every time.
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.
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