How to Connect PS4 Controller to PC (USB or Bluetooth)

To connect a PS4 controller to PC, plug it into a USB port with a micro-USB data cable — Windows picks it up on its own. For wireless, make sure the controller is off and unplugged, hold SHARE and then hold PS until the light bar flashes, and add it from Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Add device > Bluetooth. Then open Steam and turn on PlayStation Controller Support so games read the inputs.

Windows will talk to a DualShock 4 without any extra software, but "connected" and "working in your game" are two different things. The pad shows up as a generic Wireless Controller, and plenty of PC games only listen for an Xbox-style gamepad. That gap is what the Steam step below closes.

Two things to know before you start. A controller still paired to a PS4 will try to wake the console when you press PS, so turn the console off at the wall or unpair the controller there first. And not every micro-USB cable carries data — some are charge-only, which is the single most common reason a wired controller does nothing.

Connect a PS4 controller to PC with a USB cable

This is the route to try first. It needs no pairing, has no battery to run down, and avoids the Bluetooth feature limits further down.

1. Find a micro-USB cable that transfers data. The cable that shipped with the controller does. A cheap charging cable may not, and there is no way to tell by looking — if nothing happens, swap the cable before you change anything else.

2. Plug the small end into the controller and the other end into your PC. Prefer a USB 2.0 port on the back of a desktop if you have one; USB 3.0 ports are a recurring source of controller flakiness.

3. Wait a few seconds. Windows installs its generic HID gamepad driver by itself and the light bar turns a solid colour. Nothing pops up on screen, which is normal.

4. Check it registered. Press the Windows key, type joy.cpl and open it. A device called Wireless Controller should be listed; open its properties and the buttons light up as you press them.

How to connect PS4 controller to PC over Bluetooth

Wireless takes a little more setup, and the order matters — the controller has to be fully off before it will enter pairing mode.

1. Turn the controller off. If its player indicator is lit, hold the PS button until it goes out. Unplug any USB cable from the controller.

2. Put it in pairing mode. Hold the SHARE button, then — still holding it — hold the PS button until the light bar starts flashing in a quick double pulse. Sony describes the sequence this way but does not publish a hold time; a couple of seconds is usually enough.

3. Open Bluetooth on the PC. On Windows 11, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices and check the Bluetooth toggle is on. If you have never used Bluetooth on this machine, our guide to turning on Bluetooth in Windows covers the case where the toggle is missing entirely.

4. Select Add device, then Bluetooth. Pick Wireless Controller from the list. It is not labelled DualShock or PlayStation, which trips people up.

5. Wait for the light bar to stop flashing and settle to a solid colour. That is the pairing finishing. From then on, a press of the PS button reconnects it as long as the PC's Bluetooth is on.

If Windows asks for a PIN, the controller is not actually in pairing mode — cancel, turn it off, and redo step 2. The same Add device flow is what you use for any other wireless accessory, such as pairing AirPods to a Windows laptop.

Turn on PlayStation support in Steam

Connecting the pad is half the job. Most PC games expect an Xbox-style controller, so a DualShock 4 can be paired and still do nothing in-game. Steam fixes this by sitting between the two.

Open Steam, go to Settings, then the Controller section. Set PlayStation Controller Support to Enabled in Games w/o Support. Steam then presents your DualShock 4 to any Steam game in a form it understands, and the same screen holds calibration, rumble and light bar options. Wording and layout shift between Steam client versions, so look for the PlayStation entry rather than an exact menu path.

Connect or pair the controller before launching Steam. If Steam does not see it, close Steam completely and reopen it.

For games outside Steam, the common workaround is DS4Windows, a free third-party tool that makes the controller appear to Windows as an Xbox 360 pad. It is not from Sony and not from Valve, so treat it as a last resort — and if you do run it, set Steam's PlayStation Controller Support back to Not Enabled, because the two layers fight over the same device. A simpler first try is adding the game to Steam with Add a Non-Steam Game so Steam's own handling applies.

What this does not do

Sony's own documentation is blunt about Bluetooth: connected to a non-Xperia device, the DualShock 4's touchpad, rumble, motion sensor, light bar colour control and headphone jack audio are all listed as unsupported. Over USB, audio through the controller's headphone jack does work on Windows once you select it as a sound device.

This is where sources pull apart. Sony is describing the raw Bluetooth connection with no driver layer on top. Steam Input adds that layer, and in games that use it rumble, the touchpad and gyro generally do come back. Both statements are true of different situations, so if a feature is missing in one game and present in another, that is usually why rather than a fault with the controller.

Pairing to a PC also does not unpair the controller from your PS4. The pad remembers one host at a time in practice, so after using it on a PC you will likely need to plug it into the console with a USB cable and press PS to hand it back.

Common questions

Does a PS5 DualSense work the same way? The pairing gesture differs — hold Create and PS on a DualSense — but the Windows and Steam steps are identical.

Can I use it wirelessly without Bluetooth on my PC? Yes, with a USB Bluetooth dongle, or with Sony's own DualShock 4 USB Wireless Adaptor if you can still find one. With the Sony adaptor you press the adaptor's own button until it flashes instead of using the Windows Add device flow.

Why does the light bar stay bright? That is normal for a DualShock 4 and cannot be turned off on the controller itself. Steam's controller settings can dim or recolour it for Steam games.

If the option isn't there

No Wireless Controller in the Bluetooth list usually means the controller never entered pairing mode — the double-pulse flash is the thing to confirm, not a steady glow. If it flashes and still does not appear, remove any old Wireless Controller entry already saved on the PC and pair again, since Windows will not re-add a device it thinks it already has.

No Bluetooth section at all in Settings points at the PC rather than the pad: either the machine has no Bluetooth radio, or the adapter is disabled in Device Manager. A wired connection sidesteps that entirely.

If the controller connects but the light bar immediately goes out, charge it for half an hour on a wall charger and try again. A DualShock 4 flat enough to be unstable will pair and then drop straight back off.