How to Fix DualSenseX Not Working: Troubleshoot Guide

Compared to DS4Windows or DS5Win, DualSenseX is very advanced, but sometimes, it can also run into issues while you play the games, like it fails to detect your controller or even refuses to work in your games. Most of such errors can be easily fixed. Let’s discuss some of the common issues and how you can fix them.

DualSenseX Not Detecting Controller

Most often, this issue occurs when playing games through Steam. Steam Input can sometimes interfere with DualSenseX and cause conflicts.

So, if you are playing Steam games and DualSenseX is looking for the controller, then disable Steam Input. Now play your game. If the app is still looking for your controller, then there must be something wrong with the drivers.

For this, uninstall the current drivers completely and restart your PC. After restarting your PC and opening DualSenseX, it will show a message about missing drivers. Install both the ViGEmBus and HidHide drivers from within the app.

After the installation of the first driver, the system will show you a prompt to restart. Ignore this prompt and proceed with the installation of the second driver. When both drivers are installed, then restart your system. If you cannot download or install the drivers from the app, you can download them yourself from their GitHub repositories.
If it still does not work, then check if there is any other controller software working in the background, causing a conflict with DualSenseX.

DualSenseX Not Working in Game

Sometimes DualSenseX detects the controller, but it does not work in your game, like it doesn’t emulate or remap the buttons. Here is how you can fix such issues.

First off, make sure that you have installed the drivers correctly. The two drivers you need are the ViGEmBus driver and the HidHide driver. The app will prompt you to install them during setup. Make sure both are fully installed before using the controller. If you skip them or install only one of them, the controller will not work properly.

Buttons are Not Remapping

If your back buttons are not working, check your mapping settings. Go to the Home section and make sure that you have properly assigned the back buttons. If they are not mapped, they will not respond in games.

If, despite assigning the buttons, the app is not remapping them and you cannot switch X to R2 or L1 to Circle, that can be a real issue, especially if you are a pro gamer who needs to remap or change buttons for custom layouts. You can resolve this issue by using both DualSenseX and DS4Windows together.

DS4Windows will change the buttons, and at the same time, you can continue to enjoy using the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback in DualSenseX to adjust the resistance level.

For example, in Apex Legends, you can jump with R2 and shoot with R1 through DS4Windows, while still enjoying the adaptive triggers from DualSenseX.

Fix DSX Emulation Not Working

DualSenseX, by default, emulates your controller as an Xbox controller when installed correctly. But sometimes, you may notice that it is not emulating. To fix this, go to the top of the app interface, where you will see three options:

Xbox
DualShock 4
None

If it is set to None, then it cannot emulate your controller. Set it to the emulation type for which your game is optimized, and you’re good to go.

Sometimes, the app may lag while using Xbox 360 emulation. In that case, you can try DualShock 4 emulation if your game is optimized for it. This emulation mode is often more responsive than Xbox emulation.

The Controller is Not Working

If, despite properly installing both drivers, the app does not work, then uninstall it completely and reinstall it. Sometimes, the issue can only be fixed with a fresh reinstall.

DualSenseX Is Responding Slowly

If DualSenseX shows a slow response, you can use a tool called HIDUSBF to overclock your controller. This tool increases the polling rate of your controller, which can reduce input delay.

To do this, open HIDUSBF and select your DualSense controller from the device list.
Enable “Filter on Device” and set the rate to 1000 Hz.

Then install the service and restart your PC. After restarting, the controller should run at a 1-millisecond response rate.

DualSenseX Not Launching /Opening

If DualSenseX is not opening or launching, then check the following:

Compatibility Issue

Check your Windows version first. This software’s compatibility is with Windows 10 and 11, with 11 being the preferred choice. If your system is old, then the app may not open at all or it may close instantly.

You can check your Windows version by:

Opening the Run dialog with Windows + R, then typing winver and pressing Enter.
If your Windows version is outdated, update it through Settings, restart your PC, and then try the installation again.

Missing Dependencies

DualSenseX runs on the .NET framework, so you must have the latest .NET Desktop Runtime installed. You can get it from the official Microsoft site. After installing it, restart the system. Half the time, that’s all you need to fix it.

Missing or Incorrectly Installed ViGEmBus Driver

This driver is the main software used to emulate the controller. If this driver is not installed or is installed incorrectly, the app may not open or work properly.

Go to Apps & Features and check if ViGEmBus is installed.
If you don’t see it installed, then download and install the latest version of the ViGEmBus driver.

If it’s already there but still not responding, that means it may be glitched. There is a possibility that it didn’t install correctly. Remove it, restart your PC, and then reinstall the driver. That should fix the issue.

Corrupted Installation

Sometimes, during the download process, the installation files get corrupted. So, even if your drivers are fine, the framework is installed, and Windows is up to date, there is still a possibility of a corrupted installation.

You should try this fix too:

Completely uninstall DualSenseX from the Control Panel.
Restart the system.
Then download the latest version again from the official website and install it fresh.
Do not install it over the old version.

So, the above are the four reasons why DualSenseX may not open. Go through the fixes above in the same order so that you will know exactly what solved the problem.

DualSenseX Not Updating

This is not an error with the app. DualSenseX is actually the free version. The developer has stopped working on this version but is actively upgrading the paid version (DSX) on Steam. So, instead of expecting changes in the free version, it is better to switch to that version if you want to use all the latest PS5 features.

DualSenseX Switches Between Keyboard and Controller Input

In games like Forza Horizon 5, sometimes DualSenseX frequently flips between controller and keyboard/mouse input, which makes it harder to continue the game. You can fix it through Device Manager.

Open Device Manager and go down to Human Interface Devices. Expand it.
Scroll down to find HID-compliant game controllers.
You will usually see two devices there. One of them may be causing the conflict.
Disable one device, click Yes, and wait a moment.

Do not restart yet. When it shows the prompt, click No.
Then enable the device again and click No when it asks for a restart.

By doing this, your controller will stop constantly switching to keyboard/mouse input.

Wrapping Up

We have discussed all possible reasons why your DualSenseX is not working and provided detailed step-by-step solutions for DualSenseX not launching/opening, responding, updating, working in games, detecting the controller, and more.

Go through the solutions step by step, such as reinstalling the ViGEmBus and HidHide drivers, updating the .NET Desktop Runtime, checking the emulation settings, and reinstalling DualSenseX, and you should be good to go.

Make sure to download the latest version of the software from our website.