Connect your DualSense
USB: use a USB-C cable that carries data. Sony warns that charge-only cables won’t work, and they’re the most common reason a wired DualSense never appears.
Bluetooth: switch the controller off first (hold the PS button until the lights go out), then hold Create and the PS button together until the light bar blinks. Pick the controller in your computer’s or phone’s Bluetooth settings. Sony supports Windows 10 and 11, macOS 11.3 or later, iOS and iPadOS 14.5 or later and Android 12 or later.
Once it’s connected, press ✕: browsers only reveal a controller after a button press. If nothing happens, close DS4Windows, Steam or any other app that takes over PlayStation controllers, then press a button again.
What this page can check on a DualSense
The diagram above follows the DualSense layout: the d-pad high on the left and both sticks low. It lights up for all four face buttons, L1, R1, Create, Options, the PS button, both stick clicks and the touchpad click, and fills in as you squeeze L2 and R2. A healthy trigger reads 0% at rest and 100% when pressed fully; one that stops short or never returns to 0% is worth a closer look.
The drift test measures where each stick settles when you let go, and the circularity test checks how evenly it reaches its edge. Both work the same over USB and Bluetooth.
The standard gamepad connection hides the rest of the DualSense. In Chrome or Edge on a computer, Connect for more tests below the health tests reads it directly: the gyro and accelerometer, both fingers on the touchpad, the battery level and the true report interval, and it can play adaptive trigger effects and set the light bar.
DualSense stick drift
The DualSense uses potentiometer sticks, which wear with use: the most common fault is a stick that slowly creeps when nobody touches it. Run the drift test with the controller on a table. Under 5% is normal wear that game deadzones hide; 10% or more is what players notice as a character walking or a camera turning on its own.
Before paying for a repair, update the controller’s firmware (on a PS5, or with the PlayStation Accessories app on Windows), then reset it by pressing a pin into the small hole next to the Sony logo on the back for 5 seconds. Test again after each step. On a DualSense Edge, a worn stick is a module you can swap yourself: Sony sells replacements that fit either side.
In the US the DualSense has a one-year limited warranty; PlayStation Repairs at playstation.com handles claims.
How the browser numbers the DualSense’s buttons
Browsers describe a recognised controller with the W3C standard gamepad layout, which numbers buttons by position, not by the symbol printed on them. This is the map the tester uses for the DualSense (PS5); the list under the diagram shows the same numbers live.
| Button | Position | On the DualSense |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Bottom face button | ✕ |
| 1 | Right face button | ○ |
| 2 | Left face button | □ |
| 3 | Top face button | △ |
| 4 | Left bumper | L1 |
| 5 | Right bumper | R1 |
| 6 | Left trigger | L2 |
| 7 | Right trigger | R2 |
| 8 | Back / select | Create |
| 9 | Start / menu | Options |
| 10 | Left stick press | L3 |
| 11 | Right stick press | R3 |
| 12 | D-pad up | ↑ |
| 13 | D-pad down | ↓ |
| 14 | D-pad left | ← |
| 15 | D-pad right | → |
| 16 | Home / guide | PS |
| 17 | Touchpad / capture | Pad (the click only: swipes aren’t reported) |