Xbox 360 Controller Tester for Wired and Wireless Pads

Check an Xbox 360 controller for stick drift, worn triggers and dead rumble on a PC, with the Back, Start and Guide layout on screen.

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Connect your Xbox 360 controller, then press A

Plug a wired Xbox 360 controller into a USB port. A wireless one needs Microsoft's Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver: the Play & Charge cable only charges it and carries no data. Browsers only reveal a controller after a button press. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Xbox 360 Controller

Not connected yet: the diagram shows the Xbox 360 controller layout and lights up as soon as it sends input.

Left stick–

Right stick–

Left trigger

Right trigger

All buttons and axes · 0 buttons pressed

Press every button once: each one gets a tick when it registers. Values show analog pressure from 0.00 to 1.00.

Health tests

1. Stick drift

Measures where each stick settles when nobody touches it, and checks for buttons or triggers that read as pressed. Pass: under 5% of full travel. Warning: 5–10%. Fail: 10% or more.

Not run yet.

2. Circularity

Rotate each stick slowly around its outer edge. Measures how far the edge strays from a perfect circle. Pass: up to 10% average error. Warning: up to 20%. Fail: above 20% or a direction that can't reach 75% of full travel.

Left

Right

Not run yet.

3. Vibration

Plays a rumble. The strong motor is the heavy, low rumble in the left grip; the weak motor is the finer buzz on the right.

Connect a controller to test vibration.

4. Input update rate

Estimates how often the browser receives new data from the controller while you move a stick.

DurationConnection

Not measured yet.

More tests for PlayStation controllers

Connect a DualSense, DualSense Edge or DualShock 4 directly for what the standard gamepad connection hides: motion sensors, touchpad, battery and the true report interval, plus adaptive triggers and lights on a DualSense. Your browser asks which device to allow, and the permission lasts until you close the tab. This page only reads the controller and sends effect commands (trigger effects, light bar, player lights), never calibration or firmware, and it resets them when you leave.

Decoded from published formats (the Linux hid-playstation driver and SDL); not yet tested on a real controller. Over Bluetooth, deep mode switches the controller to its full report format until it reconnects, and asks first: if another app or game stops seeing it, turn the controller off and on.

Not connected.

Motion sensors

Tilt and turn the controller: the model follows it, and the graphs show the gyroscope (turn rate, degrees per second) and the accelerometer (g) on each axis. Put it down flat and run the rest check to measure gyro drift.

Gyro – · Accel –

Touchpad

Draw on the touchpad with one or two fingers. Each finger gets its own colour and the ID the controller gives it; a dead strip shows up as a gap in the lines. Press the pad to test its click.

No touch yet.

Adaptive triggers (DualSense only)

Pick an effect, then press L2 or R2. Resistance pushes back from the start point; click is a section of resistance that gives way, like a trigger pull; vibration buzzes the trigger from the start point. The bars show where each trigger is.

EffectTriggersStart point 30%Strength 8

–

Light bar and player lights

Light bar colourPlayer lights

Battery

The level the controller reports, in 10% steps, and whether it is charging. It updates live, so plug in a cable to check the charging port.

–

Report interval

How often the controller sends a report, from the controller's own clock and from the time each report reached this page. This is the report interval, not end-to-end input lag: it leaves out the time a press takes inside the controller, in the game and on the screen.

Controller health report

Selling or buying a used controller? Run the four tests, press every button, then share the report link in your listing or message.

Connect a controller to start the report.

Connect your Xbox 360 controller

Wired controller: plug it into a USB port and press A. Windows has the driver built in.

Wireless controller: it needs Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, which uses the same 2.4 GHz wireless as the console rather than Bluetooth. Plug the receiver in, press its button, then press the small connect button on top of the controller. The Play & Charge cable only charges the battery pack and carries no data, so a wireless 360 controller never shows up through it (Microsoft Q&A). Third-party receivers work the same way.

On Windows, browsers read the 360 controller through XInput, so it appears as “Xbox 360 Controller (XInput STANDARD GAMEPAD)” with the standard layout: Back is button 8, Start button 9 and the Guide button 16 (Chromium reads the Guide button through an undocumented XInput call). The 360 controller has no Share button, so the diagram leaves it out.

What wears out on a 360 controller

These controllers are old, and most have seen years of use. Check:

Sticks. The left stick drifts first. Run the drift test on a table: under 5% is fine. The rubber on the stick tops wears through too, which doesn’t affect the readings but does affect grip.
Triggers. LT and RT should rise smoothly to 100% and fall back to 0%. A trigger that stops at 90% or rests at a few percent reads as a half-pressed brake or throttle in racing games.
Bumpers. Press LB and RB near each end. A bumper that only registers in the middle is worn.
D-pad. The 360’s disc d-pad is known for registering diagonals when you meant a straight press. Press each direction and watch that only one arrow lights up.
Rumble. Play both motors. The 360 has no trigger motors, so the Trigger rumble button stays hidden.

Microsoft’s recalibration tool in the Xbox Accessories app only covers Xbox One and later controllers, so for drift on a 360 pad, clean the stick base and set the recommended deadzone in your games. For newer Xbox controllers, use the Xbox controller tester.

How the browser numbers the Xbox 360 controller’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 Xbox 360 Controller; the list under the diagram shows the same numbers live.

Button	Position	On the Xbox 360 controller
0	Bottom face button	A
1	Right face button	B
2	Left face button	X
3	Top face button	Y
4	Left bumper	LB
5	Right bumper	RB
6	Left trigger	LT
7	Right trigger	RT
8	Back / select	Back
9	Start / menu	Start
10	Left stick press	LS
11	Right stick press	RS
12	D-pad up	↑
13	D-pad down	↓
14	D-pad left	←
15	D-pad right	→
16	Home / guide	Guide
17	Touchpad / capture	– (not on this controller)

Frequently asked questions

Why doesn't my wireless Xbox 360 controller work over the USB cable?

The Play & Charge cable only charges the battery pack: the controller still talks to its receiver over its own wireless link. To use a wireless 360 controller on a PC, you need the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, or a wired controller.

Can I connect an Xbox 360 controller over Bluetooth?

No. The Xbox 360 controller uses Microsoft's own 2.4 GHz wireless, not Bluetooth, so a computer or phone can't pair with it directly.

Does the Guide button work in the browser?

In Chrome and Edge on Windows, yes: Chrome reads it through an undocumented XInput call, because standard XInput hides it. Windows Game Bar may open instead; turn off its controller shortcut if it does.

Why does every Xbox-style controller show as an Xbox 360 Controller?

Windows reports all XInput controllers to browsers under that name, whatever the real model, so the tester can't tell them apart there. Every test still works.