If the DS4Windows is launching and working properly on your system, but you are facing controller misbehaving issues in-game, then this article is for you.
We will discuss all the possible errors and solutions that are causing your controller to misbehave.
You might be experiencing one of the following issues because of a misbehaving controller:
- Camera or Character Are Constantly Moving
- Occasional Movement of the Camera or Character in a Random Direction
- Buttons or Triggers are being pressed randomly
- The controller Stops Responding Randomly
- Delayed Response in Game
- Motion, Gyro, Touchpad, or Light-bar Doesn’t Work
- Rumble Doesn’t Work
Before we get into details of these issues and their solutions, let’s discuss a few prerequisites that you must confirm.
There are a few pre-configuration issues that might be causing the problem with your controller. So, you must confirm these configurations before going into a detailed fix for a specific issue.
Prevent the Double Input Issue
Double input/controller issue can be easily prevented but is often mistaken for one of the other issues. Users often keep on trying other solutions and forget about preventing this simple error by changing the configuration.
Simply make sure that your real controller is hidden 100% before starting the game.
If you are using the HidHide program, then make sure that the HidHide Configuration Client is fully closed before you start the DS4Windows program.
Test Your Controller with a New Profile
There is a possibility that your current profile is either misconfigured or broken. The issue can occur when you tweak settings without knowing or when do not update DS4Windows properly.
So, before you go trying fixes for other issues, better check if creating a new profile resolves the issue.
Go to the DS4Windows Profiles tab and create a new profile with your current preset. Test the profile to see if the controllers are working properly now.
If not, then you have ruled out the two external possibilities of the misbehaving controller and now you can focus on real issues.
Common Issues in DS4Windows Controller and How to Fix Them
If the above two methods don’t work, then there is an issue with your controller’s settings or controller hardware.
Here are some of the most common issues faced by users with DS4Windows controllers and their possible solutions.
The Camera or Characters are Constantly Moving (On Their Own)
When the controller’s stick position is not correctly centered after moving, it is called a stick drifting issue. It is mainly caused by two common issues.
- The stick is not moving physically back to its center.
- The stick is physically centered but the stick’s position sensors not correctly reading its position.
If you are using an Xbox preset profile, then you must ensure that the resting position of the stick is below 8%. If it is higher than 8%, then DS4Windows will misread it as the intentional movement of the stick by the user.
The problem can also occur if you are using the wrong preset profile that is not related to the controller you are using. In that case, the dead zone is not configured, so the controller misbehaves.
You can also use the Gamepad Tester Website to check whether there is a problem with your controller’s stick or not.
To do that, create a new profile on your DS4Windows and select the recommended preset. Then go to the website https://gamepad-tester.com/ and run a test on your controller.
Adjust the dead zone and the anti-dead zone to zero to test the resting position and drift of the stick.
Even if your controller appears to be centered, try moving it to a different position and check to see if it immediately moves back when you leave the stick.
Run the test as many times as you can to make sure your stick is 100% okay or not.
If the error occurs randomly in-game, then you can wait for it to happen and then alt-tab into this web page to test it out immediately.
If you find a minor drifting issue in your stick that affects only one axis, you can easily fix it by increasing the dead zone of the controller.
However, if the drifting issue is big and occurs on both axis, then you cannot just fix it by increasing the dead zone. The increased dead zone might make the controller unusable during gameplay.
The only solution then is either to get a new controller or to clean the stick sensors (which is really complex).
Occasional Movement of the Camera or Character in a Random Direction
The occasional random movement of the camera or character is also caused by the stick drifting issue.
However, in this case, the issue occurs occasionally, which means it is triggered by the movement of the stick at a specific point.
Hence, to verify where the issue occurs, you need to check all the stick positions.
Create a new profile on the DS4Windows Profiles tab and name it the sticks position test. Adjust the dead zone and anti-dead zone to 0.00 for both LS and RS sticks.
Open Gamepad Tester Website and begin your test. Make sure the new profile is selected in the main controller for the test.
Do cross movements, arrow movements, left-right and up-down. Also, do full-circle movements. Test both sticks individually.
Run the test multiple times, even if you find an issue. Testing multiple times verifies the issue. In case you don’t find an issue, testing multiple times will ensure that the stick is working properly.
If the stick is not working properly, then there are only two solutions. You can either clean the stick’s resistor meters or replace the sticks in the controller with new ones. You can also buy a new controller.
Buttons or Triggers are being pressed randomly
99.99% of the time, if there are random inputs on your controller, they are caused by a faulty controller.
So, there is nothing wrong with the DS4Windows program if you are getting random inputs.
To verify that there are random inputs, you can create a new profile in DS4Windows and enable the special action configuration which will switch the profile to another profile if a specific button is pressed. After that, just leave the controller on and wait.
If there is input, the profile will switch and you will know. If not, then there might be a sensibility issue with the keys.
You can take the controller to assistance to get it fixed professionally or replace it with a new controller.
The Controller Stops Responding Randomly
If your controller stops responding randomly in-game, then there can be a number of issues.
If the DS4Windows program is crashing, which would be obvious if Windows shows the program is not responding, then the error is with the program. But it is rare in such cases.
Most of the time, there is an issue with the controller cable, USB port, or latency issue (if there is Bluetooth connectivity).
To resolve the issue, you can try changing cables, plugging them into a different USB port, and testing if the problem occurs when not connected over Bluetooth.
You can also check DS4Windows Log and Event Manager to see if there is an error.
If nothing else shows up, then possibly there is an issue with your controller and you should take it to assistance.
Delayed Response in Game
There can be a number of issues if your game constantly or occasionally feels slow to respond to commands.
Here are some issues that you should look out for, that can be resolved.
- There may be an issue with the game itself. In that case, look for solutions to reduce the lag for that game. If you are playing an online game, it might be because of higher ping.
- If you have a wired connection with the system and controller and there is a high input delay, then there is a problem with either the cable or USB port of the PC or controller. DS4Windows will alert you if the latency is higher than 20ms.
- If you are wirelessly connected to the controller through Bluetooth, then the lag is because of connectivity issues. You might be experiencing high input delay or random latency spikes.
Check the DS4Windows Log and Event Tab to see if there is high latency. If the latency is higher than 10ms, it will be automatically logged in the tab.
You can also check the controller’s latency in DS4Windows Main Controller Tab. Hover your mouse over the controller name and it will show you the latency.
Motion, Gyro, Touchpad, or Lightbar Doesn’t Work
First of all, make sure that the game supports these features. You can go to the PC Gaming Wiki website and check the information on your game. Make sure your game supports the DS4Windows controller and supports the required features.
Most of the time, the game doesn’t support the features you are trying to use and that’s the sole reason why you get the issue.
Other issues with these features might include:
- Make sure that you are using an emulated DS4Windows controller and that you have enabled the corresponding pass-thru options that you are going to use on the active profile.
- The issue might occur because you have not launched the game through Steam. Some games are required to be launched through Stream for these features to work. You will also have to launch DS4Windows Controller through Steam’s PlayStation Configuration Support. You can find more info on this issue on the Steam official webpage.
So, because of this issue, the Lightbar might be showing the wrong colors. You can use these features with the last version of the program, but there is no guarantee and also you will get no tech support from the DS4Windows team if you are not using the latest version.
Rumble Doesn’t Work
The issue with ViGEmBus also causes the controller to occasionally not stop rumbling. You can try using the older version, which is not a recommended way but might work for the time being, or you can try the following fix.
- Check your profile’s other tab to make sure that rumble is not set at 0%. If so, change it to desired settings.
- In the same tab, test if both of the motors in your controller are working properly. If not, then your controller is faulty.
- Even if the game supports both Xbox and Dual Shock controllers, most of the games only work with Xbox controllers when rumbling. So, there might be an issue with the game’s compatibility with the feature.
- Just like for the features above, some games only support the Rumble feature when launched through Steam. So, you will have to launch the game through steam and run the DS4Windows controller through Steam’s PlayStation Configuration Support. For more information, you can find this issue on the Steam official page and read it there.
Slow Response When Using Virtual DS4Windows Controller
If you are getting high input latency or slow response to commands only when using DS4Windows virtual controller, then there might be an issue with HidHide.
There was a bug in the program that was fixed in version v1.1.50. So, just update to the latest HidHide version and the issue will be resolved.