How to Wirelessly Connect PS4 Controller To PC via Bluetooth

Many PS4 users wonder if they can connect their PS4 controller wireless to a PC via Bluetooth or not. Well, despite being a fantastic controller, the DualShock 4 was created only for the Sony PlayStation 4. That indicates that it is not intended for use with PC games, at least on paper. Fear not; with a little work, you can make almost any peripheral operate on a PC because of its strong and adaptable architecture.

So, in order to wirelessly connect a DualShock 4 controller to your PC via Bluetooth, follow these instructions:

Two Types of Connection To PC

A DualShock 4 can be connected to your game system in two different ways. You can connect through wired or wireless methods, although doing so differs slightly from how you would on a PlayStation 4 system.

In this article, we’ll address how to connect your PS4 controller wirelessly to your PC via Bluetooth. If you want to learn how to wiredly connect your PS4 controller to a PC, please read this guide.

Connection Steps

Here are the steps that you have to make in order to wirelessly connect your PS4 controller to your PC via Bluetooth:

1. Press and hold the PlayStation and Share buttons for three seconds with the DualShock 4 off (you can tell it is off by the light bar being off). At that point, the light bar will start double flashing.
2. On your PC, go to the Bluetooth menu which can be found on the system tray.
3. Select “Bluetooth & other devices.”
4. Choose “Bluetooth.”
5. Finally, pick the DualShock 4 controller from the popping-up list.

How to Make the Gamepad Work

Due to the way the DualShock 4 interacts with your PC, connecting the controller to your PC wirelessly via Bluetooth is merely the beginning of the process.

Microsoft’s XInput interface, which handles Xbox 360 and Xbox One controller inputs, is used by the majority of contemporary Windows games. Due to the DualShock 4’s inability to send XInput commands, a wrapper is required to convert its inputs into formats that your PC can process more easily.

The controller compatibility settings in Steam and DS4Windows are the two best choices.

The Best Approach: DS4Windows

A freeware software called DS4Windows deceives your computer into believing that the wirelessly-connected DualShock 4 controller is rather an Xbox 360 controller. That way your PC will accept the connection and allow your PS4 controller to operate.

In order to get this to work, adhere to these steps.

1. Unzip DS4Windows into a directory after downloading.
2. In the directory you just unzipped, run DS4Windows.exe.
3. Click “Install ViGEmBus Driver.”
4. While installing the driver, follow the on-screen instructions. This adds a multifunctional gamepad driver to your system that DS4Windows needs in order to function with the DualShock 4.
5. Click “Finished.”
6. Wirelessly connect your DualShock 4 to your computer via Bluetooth.
7. Under the Controllers tab, the controller ought to appear. Wait a moment to make sure that all required drivers arrive. You can start playing as soon as Windows displays a message indicating that a new Xbox 360 controller has been connected!

More To Do With DS4Windows

The DualShock 4 functions like an Xbox 360 controller by default, and the touchpad serves as a mouse. Nevertheless, DS4Windows provides additional choices.

Double-click the Default profile after selecting the Profiles tab (or create your own new profile). This results in the appearance of numerous settings surrounding the shape of the DualShock 4. You can change the physical controls’ mapping here, as well as the touchpad and motion controls’ behavior, the rumbling settings, and the dead zones and movement curves of the analog sticks. Even the color of the light bar is programmable.

With DS4Windows, you have a lot more choices for optimizing DualShock 4 performance on your PC after connecting it wirelessly via Bluetooth. Most games function properly without an issue after you set the software up the first time, so you shouldn’t need to open these settings.

Alternative Option: Steam

If you have your favorite games on Steam, a small adjustment will make them compatible with the DualShock 4. Simply follow the steps below:

1. In Steam, Go to the Settings menu.
2. Choose the Controller menu.
3. Click “General Controller Settings.”
4. Check the “PlayStation Configuration Support” box.
5. Connect the DualShock 4 wirelessly to your PC via Bluetooth.

The DualShock 4’s compatibility with Steam is very catch-as-catch-can, and this method obviously won’t work with titles that aren’t Steam-exclusive. As a result, using DS4Windows alone can provide you with better results.

Conclusion

Many PS4 users would love to connect their controller wirelessly to a PC via Bluetooth, but they don’t know how. This guide provides you with the available solutions to this problem. It doesn’t guarantee though that it will work with everyone. Some users might absolutely fail to connect their PS4 controller wirelessly to their PC and rather, they’ll have to use a wired connection.