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My Controller Tests Perfectly Here But The Game Still Will Not See It

Asked by Callum R.47,890 views

Right, this is driving me mad. Your tester reads every single button and both sticks perfectly, no issues at all, pad is detected as Xbox Wireless Controller. But Elden Ring and two other games act like nothing is plugged in. Keyboard works fine. I have reinstalled the game, reinstalled drivers, tried a different cable, tried the other USB ports. Windows game controller properties also sees it and all the buttons light up there. So it works everywhere except the actual games, which makes no sense to me at all. Am I going mad?

Brand
Microsoft
Model
Xbox Wireless Controller Model 1914
Connection
USB-C Cable
System
Windows 11
Browser
Firefox 144
Detected Controller
Xbox Wireless Controller (STANDARD GAMEPAD)
Buttons And Axes
17 buttons, 6 axes
PC Games And Button MappingWindows PC
Test used in this questionGamepad TesterLive test of every button, stick, trigger and axis on any controller
Open Free Test
Short Answer

You are not going mad. The browser and Windows both read the controller directly, but most games read it through Steam Input or XInput, and something in that layer is grabbing it. Check Steam Input per game first.

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Lucas Rocha
Lucas RochaVerified Gamepad Tester team memberGamepad Tester Team
Linux And Input Subsystem Engineer · 12+ years experience · Answered May 13, 2026

This is one of the most common things people bring here and the explanation is genuinely satisfying once you see it.

There are several separate paths a controller can take into software. A browser reads the raw device through the Gamepad API. Windows game controller properties reads it as a plain HID device. Most PC games do neither: they read it through XInput, or through Steam Input if Steam is involved. Your controller is healthy on the first two paths, which your test results prove, so the fault is in the third. A working tester result and a dead game is not a contradiction, it is a clue, and it narrows the problem down a long way.

The usual culprit is Steam Input. When it is enabled, Steam takes exclusive control of the physical controller and presents a virtual one to the game. If that handoff fails, or a per-game setting is wrong, or another overlay is already holding the device, the game sees nothing at all while the hardware stays perfectly functional. The second most common culprit is a second input tool running in the background, like DS4Windows, reWASD or a vendor utility, doing the same exclusive grab.

Work through the steps below in order. In almost every case it is settled by step 2 or step 3, and you will not need to touch drivers again.

Step By Step Fix
  1. In Steam, right-click the game, go to Properties and then Controller, and set it explicitly rather than leaving it on the default. Try Disable Steam Input first, launch, then try Enable Steam Input if that fails. One of the two usually fixes it immediately.
  2. In Steam settings under Controller, check whether a Desktop or game layout is active, and whether Xbox Extended Feature Support is on. Toggle it and relaunch.
  3. Close every other input tool completely, including DS4Windows, reWASD, vendor software and any streaming overlay, then relaunch the game. These claim exclusive access to the device.
  4. Launch the game outside Steam, directly from its own executable. If it works there, the problem is confirmed as Steam Input and not the game.
  5. For non-Steam games, check the game's own input setting for XInput versus DirectInput and select XInput for an Xbox-layout pad.
  6. Only if all of that fails: unplug every other HID device such as wheels, flight sticks and VR controllers. Some games bind to the first controller they find and will not look past it.

Tested on: Xbox Wireless Controller Model 1914 and DualSense CFI-ZCT1W, wired and wireless, Windows 11 24H2, Steam client February 2026 build, tested against Elden Ring, Hades II and Forza Horizon 5. Fault reproduced by forcing a Steam Input handoff failure and by leaving DS4Windows running in the background.

Sources
  1. Steam Input gamepad emulation best practices
  2. Using the Gamepad API
  3. Using the Xbox Wireless Controller on different platforms

Checked by Calder Wright on . How we verify answers

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Community Replies 4

  • Accepted Solution
    Sanjana IyengarCommunity Member

    Step one. Literally step one. Per game controller setting was on default and forcing Disable Steam Input fixed it in about ten seconds. I had spent an entire evening on drivers.

  • Brett DonoghueCommunity Member

    For me it was DS4Windows sitting in the tray from months ago. Killed it and every game found the pad instantly. Would never have thought to look there.

  • Lena HoffmannCommunity Member

    Adding one for older games, if the game only supports DirectInput an Xbox pad will not appear at all no matter what you do. I had to use a wrapper for a 2009 game. Worth knowing before you assume hardware.

  • Femi AdebayoCommunity Member

    The explanation about three different paths should be at the top of every guide about this. Nobody ever says why the tester works and the game does not, they just list random fixes.

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Lucas Rocha
Written and tested by

Lucas RochaVerified Gamepad Tester team member

Linux And Input Subsystem Engineer at Gamepad Tester

Lucas works on the Linux input subsystem. He follows how evdev registers a controller, how Steam Input sits on top of it and where the two disagree with the browser's view of the same device, which is the usual reason a pad behaves differently on a Steam Deck or a Linux desktop than on Windows. His testing targets parity: the same controller should produce the same reading on every operating system, and where it does not, the difference should be documented. On Gamepad Tester he handles the Linux and Steam Deck questions.

Linux evdev inputSteam InputSteam Deck controller handlingcross-platform input parity
  • 1 answers on Gamepad Tester
  • 12+ years experience
  • Compares controller readings across Linux, Steam Deck and Windows to confirm cross-platform parity.
  • Reviewed by Calder Wright
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Calder WrightCalder WrightFront-End Web Architect And Gamepad API LeadElena RostovaElena RostovaHardware Diagnostics EngineerGarrett LindsayGarrett LindsayHardware Reviewer And Input Performance SpecialistVenom’s Tech (Abhishek)Venom’s Tech (Abhishek)Peripheral Reviewer And Tech JournalistChloe HendersonChloe HendersonHall Effect And Thumbstick AnalystThiago AlvesThiago AlvesHardware Repair EducatorDevon MillerDevon MillerLow Latency And Input Timing EngineerLiam DaviesLiam DaviesBluetooth And Wireless Test Engineer

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