Tool
Gamepad tester
Connect a controller, press any button on it, and this page shows everything the browser can read from it: every button, both sticks, the triggers and the rumble motors. It reads PlayStation, Xbox and Switch controllers and most other gamepads, on a Mac, a PC or a Chromebook. Nothing is installed, and nothing the page reads from your controller is sent anywhere.
Read the picture
- The drawing. Each button lights while it is held, each stick's cap moves with the stick, and each trigger fills as you pull it. The menu beside the controller's name switches between PlayStation, Xbox and Switch names.
- Sticks. The values x and y run from -1 to 1, and tilt is the distance from the center, where 1 is full tilt. A stick at rest should read close to 0.
- Triggers. 0 is released and 1 is fully pulled. Levels seen counts the different values the trigger has reported, which tells an analog trigger from one that is only on or off.
- Every button and axis. The same inputs by number. This is the view for a device the drawing does not fit: a flight stick, a wheel, an arcade stick.
The names on the drawing follow the controller the browser reports. If every button lights and both sticks rest near zero, the controller is healthy.
Test one thing at a time
This page is the whole bench. Each job also has a page of its own, with more room and more detail:
- Stick drift. The stick drift test records both sticks at rest, gives the drift as a number and runs a circle test.
- Rumble. The controller vibration test runs each motor on its own.
- Buttons. The controller button test is a checklist that also flags double presses.
- Triggers. The trigger test shows the range each trigger really covers.
- Speed. The polling rate test counts the updates a second that reach the page.
- Joysticks and wheels. The joystick test lists every axis by number.
- One controller. There is a bench for the PS5 controller, the Xbox controller and the Switch Pro Controller, each with its own button names.
- A stream. The gamepad viewer is the drawing alone, on a clear background, for an overlay.
If the controller does not show up
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Press a button. A browser hides every controller from a page until a button is pressed while that page is in front.
- Click the page, then press again. The tab has to be the active one when you press.
- Reconnect it. Unplug the cable and plug it back in, or turn the controller off and on so it pairs again.
- Check that the computer sees it. On a Mac, a connected PlayStation, Xbox or Switch controller is listed in System Settings under Game Controllers. If it is missing there, the fix is pairing: controller connected but not working on a Mac has every step.
- Try a second browser. Browsers read controllers in different ways, so one that is missing in one browser can show up in another.
What a browser cannot see
This page reads the controller through the browser's Gamepad API, which carries buttons, sticks, triggers and, in most browsers, vibration. It does not carry a touchpad surface, motion sensors, a light bar, a microphone or the battery level, so none of those are tested here. Back paddles show only when the controller sends them as buttons of their own. The browser also has the last word on the count: the same controller can report a different number of buttons in two browsers. If a button never lights here, try a second browser before you blame the controller.
Put this tester on your own page
Repair shops, support desks and reviewers can show this tester inside their own pages. Paste this where it should appear:
HTML: The tester in a frame, with a credit link under it.
<iframe src="https://inputconfig.com/embed/gamepad-tester" title="Gamepad tester" allow="gamepad" width="100%" height="820" style="border:0"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://inputconfig.com/tools/gamepad-tester">Gamepad tester by InputConfig</a></p>What happens: Your visitors test a controller without leaving your page. The allow="gamepad" part keeps the tester able to read a controller on sites that restrict what a framed page may do. It is free to use, and nothing the tester reads leaves the visitor's browser.
It works. Now give it a job
A tester tells you the controller is fine. On a Mac, InputConfig is the app I make for the next step: it turns the buttons and sticks you just tested into keys, the mouse pointer, clicks and scrolling, in any app or game. It is free, and its Live Visualizer draws the same live picture inside the app, with the touchpad and motion sensors a browser does not pass to a page. Test it here, then put it to work there.
Questions
How do I test my controller online?
Connect it by cable or Bluetooth, open this page, and press any button on the controller. The drawing lights each button as you press it, the plots follow the sticks, and the bars fill with the triggers.
Why does the gamepad tester not detect my controller?
A browser hides a controller from a page until a button is pressed with that page in front. Press a button first. If nothing appears, reconnect the controller, then try a second browser.
Does this gamepad tester work on a Mac?
Yes. A browser on a Mac can read a connected controller, so the page works there. For the touchpad and the motion sensors, which a browser does not pass to a page, use the Live Visualizer in InputConfig, which is free.
Is the gamepad tester free and private?
Yes. It runs inside the page, there is no account, and nothing it reads from the controller is sent anywhere.
Related
This page in other languages: Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano, Nederlands, Português, 日本語, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 한국어, Русский, Tiếng Việt, Bahasa Indonesia, Polski, Türkçe, ไทย
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.