Gaming is a hobby for some, a passion for some and it may also be a profession to a few. Its quite something else, letting yourself get lost in varied and diverse worlds where normal rules cease to apply.
Now as to the platform, the Sony PlayStation has always been a front runner but experienced gamers will tell you that PC gaming is way ahead of the PS. The only drawback is the lack of controller for PCs. Well with the Dual Shock 4, Sony has made it possible to have the best of both worlds, to enjoy gaming on PC with the ease of a PS controller.
We are here explaining how to connect the Dual Shock 4 controller to your PC, sit back and bring out the gamer in you.
How to Connect PS4 Controller To PC?
1. Using a Sony Wireless Adapter
The simplest way to do this is to get a wireless adapter which is an official Sony product. The adapter costs around INR 1500 and easily connects through a USB port. Just plug in the adapter to your laptop or desktop and it automatically connects to the Dual Shock 4 controller.
2. Connecting through Steam
Most gamers will be familiar with Steam. It is a very popular PC gaming portal. It offers support for connecting the DS4 controller to PC. You simply need to have an updated version of Steam. Then its just a simple matter of plugging in your controller and connecting it through the Steam portal.
But this does pose a few problems as it only works with games which are available on Steam. There have also been problems with a few games not recognizing the controller even though it shows connected on Steam.
3. Connecting through DS4Windows
This is the best way to connect your DS4 controller to PC but it also involves a little more work than the other methods. DS4Windows is a third-party application and what it basically does is make your system believe that it is totally compatible with the DS4 controller. You can connect your controller through DS4Windows either using a USB cable or wirelessly by connecting it through Bluetooth.
Here is a step-by-step process of how you can do this –
Step 1 – The DS4Windows application is available on its official website. You need to download the application from there.
Step 2 – The downloaded file is actually a Zip file, which you can extract using an unzipping software such as 7Zip or WinRAR. Once extracted, you will have two files – DS4Windows and DS4Update.
Step 3 – Double click on the DS4Windows file to open the file, which will open a window that will guide you through the setup process.
Step 4 – The first step in the setup process is the installation of the DS4 driver. The installation hardly takes any time.
Step 5 – The next step is installation of the 360 driver. If you are using Windows 7 or lower, click on Install 360 Driver. If you are using Windows 8 or 10, you can skip this step as the driver comes pre-loaded.
Note – It may happen that the drivers are not detected by your system. In such cases you might need to wait 10-15 minutes for the drivers to be detected. If it still does not detect, you need to reboot your system.
Step 6 – Once the drivers have been successfully installed, all you need to do is plug in your controller using a Micro USB cable, which is also used by most smart phones. Connecting it through the Micro USB cable also charges the battery of the controller.
Note – The next few steps how you can connect your controller wirelessly through the DS4 application but if you would rather just get to playing, please feel free to skip the rest of the steps.
Step 7 – To connect your controller wirelessly, you first need to press the PS button and Share for three seconds, following which the light bar should begin to double flash.
Step 8 – Once the light starts flashing, you need to go to Bluetooth Settings on your PC.
Step 9 – Connect to the wireless controller through the options in the Bluetooth Settings panel.
Step 10 – Sometimes, it requires a pair code to connect. If asked for a pair code, enter “0000”.
Step 11 – You must be itching to get to your game by now, so click Finish on the DS4Windows installer window and get gaming but we have provided some additional information below if you would like to take the time to read on.
Note – You can tweak and change almost all aspects of the controller through the DS4Windows interface. You can play around with them according to your own convenience but if you don’t want to, the default controller profile should work for most of the recent PC games.
Note – If you are facing any difficulties with your controller, kindly read on. A few common issues have been mentioned below and its also mentioned how you can solve such issues.
Issues and Problems
If you have both Steam and the DS4Windows on your system, there might be a conflict which might lead to the controller not operating properly as both might be configured differently. In this case, when you are playing using Steam, you simply need to go to the Settings tab of the DS4Windows application and click on Hide DS4 Controller.
The above-mentioned setting might also be used in case you are using other connected controllers, such as an Xbox 360 controller and the DS4 is taking precedence over them.
There might also be a problem with the DS4 not working properly because of other input devices such as a mouse or key-board. If you are facing such problems, you need to click a button which is located at the bottom of the DS4Windows application. This will exclusively connect the DS4 controller as the primary input device for games.
You might find that the DS4Windows application is not connecting sometimes. This is because the DS4Windows needs to be of the latest version. The DS4Update file that comes along with the installation file detects and downloads any updates for the application once its run. So, make sure to keep checking back from time ti time if any updates are available.
