How Do I Connect My Ps3 Controller To My Pc

How to use a PS3 controller on PC

PlayStation DualShock 3 Controller — (Image credit: PlayStation)

The Playstation three's controller, the Dualshock 3, isn't the easiest pad to get working on the PC. So why bother when it's so much easier to apply something newer? Well, in some means, the PlayStation iii controller is still special. The Dualshock 3 has something the best PC controllers don't take: Pressure-sensitive analog face buttons. That makes the Dualshock iii the best choice for playing emulated PS2 games in the PCSX2 emulator. Metal Gear Solid iii, for case, just doesn't play correct without those analog buttons.

And if y'all simply prefer the feel of Sony's older controllers over the redesigned Dualshock four, this is the perfect controller for playing those classic Final Fantasy games on Steam. Here's the best way to get your PS3 controller working on PC, using an open source tool called ScpToolkit.

Annotation: Steam actually has native back up for the DualShock three, significant you can only plug the controller in and set up it up through the Big Picture mode Controller settings carte du jour. However, Steam does not support the DualShock 3's gyro controls or (more chiefly!) its analog face buttons, which are what we're actually after. Follow this guide to go the PS3 controller working on PC with those buttons working, also.

Setup

What you demand

Hardware

Dualshock 3 and mini-USB cable
Optional: Bluetooth dongle

Software

Microsoft .Internet Framework four.5
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 runtime
Microsoft DirectX runtime
Xbox 360 controller commuter (only needs to be installed on Windows 7)
ScpToolkit

Software installation

1. Download the software linked above, and start by installing the four Microsoft packages. If you're on a Windows 7 PC, you'll also need to install the Xbox 360 controller driver. On Windows viii and 10, it's already built in!

2. Important step: plug your Dualshock 3 into your PC with a mini-USB cable. Now nosotros can start making information technology work.

Bluetooth installation note: if you besides desire to exist able to use the controller wirelessly, make sure you have a Bluetooth dongle plugged in or your motherboard's Bluetooth enabled. ScpToolkit notes y'all need a Bluetooth 2.0 or college dongle that supports Enhanced Information Rate (EDR).

3. Download ScpToolkit and run the installer. Later accepting the terms and choosing your install location, you'll get a carte of all the options to install, as in the screenshot in a higher place. I recommend leaving this to the default. Click Install to begin the installation.

Bluetooth installation note: Make sure the ScpToolkit Bluetooth Pair Utility option is ticked.

4. After nearly 30 seconds, ScpToolkit will be installed, and yous'll run across this screen, with a big green button that says Run Driver Installer. Since this is a fresh install, that's what we desire to practice. Click the button.

5. This screen may await intimidating, but it's still pretty simple! Check the boxes for the drivers you lot desire to install. In this instance, we want to make sure Install Dualshock iii commuter is checked (information technology should exist by default). Now click the arrow side by side to "Choose Dualshock 3 controllers to install" to see a dropdown list of USB devices attached to your computer. Notice the PlayStation 3 controller in the listing and bank check it.

Bluetooth installation notation: Make certain the "Install Bluetooth driver" box is checked. Like yous did with the Dualshock 3, click the pointer side by side to "Choose Bluetooth dongles to install" and find your Bluetooth device in the list. Check it.

Note: If you're on Windows Vista, check the box for "Forcefulness Commuter Installation." Otherwise, go out it unchecked. Click Install.

6. Lookout man the SCP Toolkit run through its installation process. You'll run into lots of popular-ups on the side of your screen as it detects your hardware. Whorl to the bottom of the log and you lot should hopefully run across "Dualshock three USB Driver installed" (and "Bluetooth Driver installed" if you chose to), signifying a successful installation. If all went well, click Exit.

7. Now that information technology's installed, you lot'll see ScpToolkit as an icon in your system tray. Look in your Offset Card for ScpToolkit Settings Manager. Here y'all can alter some settings similar disabling rumble, adjusting analog stick deadzones, and more than. Almost of these settings you should be able to go out alone.

ScpToolkit starts up with Windows by default, and also plays some sound furnishings that you might find obnoxious. To disable them, click the Audio settings tab and uncheck "Enable notification sounds."

PCSX2 emulator annotation: The PCSX2 settings tab allows you lot to patch the emulator'southward LilyPad controller plugin to support the pressure level sensitive buttons. If you program to employ your PS3 controller with the emulator, click Browse to navigate to your PCSX2 installation binder, then click Enable to install the patch. Voila!

Using it

Using your Playstation three controller on PC

At present that it's installed, the Dualshock iii should bear like an Xbox 360 controller. Whatever game with native XInput support—pretty much whatever modern PC game that supports gamepads—should recognize it without a hitch. Unfortunately, this means that information technology won't register as a PlayStation controller to the few games that have native DualShock 4 support, and then you won't get the correct Square/Cross/Triangle/Circle push icons by default. Some games let you manually cull your button icons, though. Look for that in game settings!

Enter the Gungeon lets you manually ready button icons.

If yous ran into problems installing ScpToolkit or using the controller, y'all tin try posting in the official thread at the PCSX2 forums, but y'all may not become an reply.

Bluetooth

How to connect your PS3 controller via Bluetooth

If y'all're not nearly that wired business, and followed all the Bluetooth installation steps above, you should be able to just unplug the controller, and afterwards a couple seconds it will sync via Bluetooth. Yous'll get a notification in the system tray when it does. Absurd!

This works after a reboot, too. If you allow ScpToolkit to commencement with Windows, y'all should simply be able to plug in your PS3 controller once more and it'll instantly be recognized. Once the LED is on, unplug the controller, and it'll in one case again be synced via Bluetooth.

If you accept issues with Bluetooth, information technology could be that your dongle isn't supported. You may also discover help in ScpToolkit's Github discussions. Bluetooth can be finicky, and whatever problem you run into could exist due to hardware, or your particular version of Windows, or drivers… in other words, adept luck.

Not a controller person? Here'due south a round-upwardly of the all-time gaming keyboards , and best gaming mouse .

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, showtime at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, just he'll always jump at the run a risk to embrace emulation and Japanese games.

When he's non obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (information technology'due south really becoming a problem), he'southward probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. fifty% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).