How To Use A PS5 Controller On Steam

Want to use your PS5 DualSense controller on Steam? Here's the ultimate guide so you can start using your PlayStation 5 controller on PC or Steam!

Playing games on Steam with a PS5 controller means having fun in the most advanced and immersive way possible. It’s something every passionate gamer should experience.

However, getting your PS5 controller to work automatically with all games available on Steam is not always that simple. According to some users, not every Steam game auto-detects the PS5 controller, which can be a bit of a problem.

Luckily, this guide is dedicated to helping you learn how to use a PS5 controller on Steam, even with games that require you to configure it manually, so without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Table of ContentsShow

Connecting Your PS5 Controller To Your PC

PS5 dualsense controllers

Before you start configuring your PS5 DualSense controller to work with a specific Steam game, you first need to connect it to your computer and see if it’s responding well.

PS5 controllers can be connected to your computer in two different ways, through a cable or by using a wireless Bluetooth connection.

Connecting Through A USB Cable

For this type of connection, you’ll require a USB-A to USB-C cable, one that comes with the controller itself. If, for some reason, you don’t have that cable, you’ll have to purchase one from a nearby store, but don’t worry, as long as it’s USB-A to USB-C, it will work without any issues.

Note: The USB-A goes into your PC, and the USB-C end should be plugged into the controller.

After plugging in the controller, it should light up, along with the “Player1” slot, which means that you successfully connected the device.  

Connecting Via Bluetooth

To connect your PS5 controller to your computer wirelessly, you must perform the following actions:

  1. Open the Windows search bar and type in “Bluetooth and other devices,” then click on the first option available, as shown in the image below.
    Bluetooth and other devices settings
  2. Then, click on “Add Bluetooth or other device” once again, as shown in the image below.
    Add Bluetooth or other device
  3. Choose “Bluetooth” once more.
    Bluetooth
  4. On your controller, press the PS button and the share button at the same time and hold them both pressed for a few seconds. Your controller will start rapidly flashing blue.
  5. The controller should show in the “Add a device” window you previously opened, so just use your mouse to click on it.
  6. The device should now connect to your computer, and the lights should switch to solid blue with no more flashing.

If you need a visual representation of all these steps, take a look at this helpful video down below which covers the entire procedure from start to finish. It will make things much clearer for you.

By now, your controller should be successfully connected to your computer, either wirelessly or using a USB cable.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how you can configure it to work with Steam.

Configuring PS5 Controller On Steam

Now it’s time to configure your PS5 controller to work with Steam so you can enjoy playing your favorite games with it.

This is actually fairly easy to do, so follow the steps below, and you’ll get it working in just a few minutes.

  1. Start the Steam client on your computer with administrator privileges and sign in to your account.
  2. Once the client loads, click on Steam in the top-left corner and then Settings.
  3. In the Steam settings panel, click on Controller and then General Controller Settings, which should be the first option in the window.
  4. In the Controller Settings panel, enable the third option, which is the “PlayStation Configuration Support,” by “ticking” the box right before it.

Now, under the Detected Controllers section, you should be able to see your PS5 controller, as shown in the image below.

Detected Controllers

Note: If you don’t see your controller, re-connecting it using the steps listed above could potentially solve this problem.

You can proceed with configuring your controller by clicking the Calibrate button, which allows you to rename it, change LED light settings, and a lot more.

After finishing, select Submit to save the settings, then close all windows except Steam as it will be necessary to start the game you desire to play.

The only thing remaining is to initiate a Steam game and begin using your controller. It’s effortless as that!

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve successfully set up your PS5 controller to work on Steam. We hope that the methods listed in the guide above were easy to follow and helpful to you.

You can now play your favorite games that have PS5 Controller Support on Steam and have lots of fun doing so.

Related Reads

When Is Steam Maintenance
When Is Steam Maintenance?
Bojan Veselinovikj
LinkedIn

Bojan is a video-game developer and a tech enthusiast. Combining these two passions allow him to keep you informed on everything that's new in this fast-paced digital world.