A AimCrane
en
EnglishDeutschNederlands

Controller Tester for PC

Xbox, DualSense, DualShock or a cheap clone: see what Windows actually receives.

100% LocalFree
Waiting for a controllerPlug it in or pair it, then tap any button. Windows only hands a pad over once it has sent something.

How to test your controller on PC

  1. 1 Connect the pad by cable or Bluetooth and press a face button. Until that first press the browser hides the controller on purpose, so an empty screen right after plugging in is normal.
  2. 2 Walk through every input: face buttons, bumpers, triggers, D-pad, stick clicks, Share and Menu. A button that stays dark in this grid will also stay dead in a game, unless Steam Input has grabbed it.
  3. 3 Roll each stick around its full circle slowly. The bars should reach the edge in every direction; a stick that falls short on one side is worn or needs recalibration, and it will feel like a slow turn in-game.
  4. 4 Let go of both sticks and wait five seconds. Any axis that does not settle near zero is drifting, and the number you see here is roughly the deadzone you would need to set to hide it.

Controller questions from PC gamers

My controller works in Steam but shows nothing here. Why?
Steam Input can take exclusive control of a pad while Steam is running, and it rewrites the pad as a virtual Xbox controller. Close Steam, or disable Steam Input for that controller in the Steam settings, then press a button again on this page.
How much stick drift is too much?
A brand-new pad should rest within about two or three percent of centre. Anything that idles above five percent or visibly creeps will show up as an unwanted camera turn in shooters. Raising the in-game deadzone masks small drift; larger drift means the stick module is wearing out.
Does a wired connection really reduce input lag?
Slightly, and less than most people think. Official Xbox and PlayStation wireless adapters add around a millisecond or two; Bluetooth adds more and is less consistent. The cable mainly helps when you see stutter or missed inputs, not because wireless is inherently slow.
Why is Cross on my DualSense labelled as button 0?
Because the browser only reports positions in a standard layout, not what is printed on the plastic. Button 0 is the bottom face button on any pad: A on Xbox, Cross on PlayStation, B on a Nintendo pad. The same rule applies to every other index in the grid.
Can I test a PlayStation controller on PC without extra software?
Yes, a DualShock 4 or DualSense works over USB or Bluetooth in Windows and this page will read it directly. Games are a different story: many PC titles only understand XInput, which is why DS4Windows and Steam Input exist. This test shows whether the hardware itself is fine before you blame the translation layer.

More gaming tools

Stick Drift Test

How far your sticks wander by themselves, and the deadzone that covers it.

Reaction Time Test for Gamers

Pros react in roughly 150 to 200 ms. Find out where your flick starts.

144Hz Test for Gaming Monitors

New high-refresh monitor, same old 60 Hz: the most common setup mistake, found in three seconds.