is DS4Windows Not Working? Don’t Worry, You Can Fix it Now!
Whenever you notice that DS4Windows is not working on your pc, you don’t need to dishearten yourself. Instead, try to think what is the reason behind the issue and try to fix it. Actually, there could be a couple of reasons for it and you may not be able to fix it on your own. Worry not, we are here to help you fix the issue on your own. All you have to do is to follow the guidelines shared on this page and apply them carefully.
Make sure to read this guide till the end and scroll to respective section where your issue is explained in detail. Just follow the tips and we are pretty sure that you will be able to troubleshoot it and fix it very easily. Okay, without wasting your time any more, let’s start going forward with the contents of this troubleshooting guide.
Most Common Issues & Solutions
There is no single issue to talk about on this guide and the issue may vary from a person to person and a computer to computer. Scroll down to where your issue is addressed and follow the exact steps that we have asked you to follow, in order to fix it.
DS4Windows Doesn’t Open / Crashes / Fails To Start
Sometimes you may notice that the tool doesn’t open when you try to launch it. In some other cases, it may get crashed soon after you launch it. On the other hand, it fails to start completely. If you are facing these kind of issues, follow the steps shared below.
Fix 1 — Check With The Prerequisites:
- Make sure that all the below mentioned prerequisites are installed and correctly configured.
- Check if you have installed Microsoft .Net 6.0 Runtime or not. The console version and server version will not work. So, download and install the desktop version (x64 or x86 bit) based on your system architecture.
- Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable is required. Download x64 Bit version or x86 (32 Bit) version.
- ViGEmBus Driver is another must have requirement. If you haven’t installed it the tool finds it difficult to detect the installed driver, you may see an error message “ViGEmBus Is Not Installed”. In case if you’ve installed it but still getting the log message, uninstall it first and restart your pc before you re-install it. If the ViGEmBus driver ask you to install Visual C++ 2017 runtime libraries, you will have to install it.
- Microsoft 360 Driver is yet another must have driver for DualShock 3/4 and DualSense as well. If you have already installed it for using the 360 controller, you don’t have to install it again.
- The operating system on your pc must be either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 or Windows 11. DS4Win may not work on older operating systems.
Fix 2 — Make Sure That The DS4Windows Folder Is Not Write Protected:
- Extract the zip file of the software either on the Documents Folder or Downloads Folder or any other built in storage driver (C Drive is not recommended).
- If the main folder is in the program files or on the dekstop where everything is write protected, you require higher credentials and authentication to launch the program and perform actions.
- If you are an administration, that’s fine. Otherwise, consider moving the folder to either Documents or Downloads or Pictures, etc.
Fix 3 — Make Sure That The User Data Is Not Corrupted:
- The tool won’t work properly when a portion or a whole of the user data is corrupted.
- To confirm and fix the issue, close the software if it is running and take a backup of the user data first.
- Delete the user data files from your pc and re-launch the software.
- Now, try to restore the user data files one by one and see which file is not getting restored to the tool.
- When you find a specific file is causing the issue, delete it and you are done.
Fix 4 — Inspect DS4Windows’s Log and Windows’s Event Viewer:
- DS4Win’s log will show you the warnings whenever there is an issue that prevents the tool to work normally.
- Inspecting the log files will give you clear idea about what causing it and how you can handle it.
- You can find the logs in two different places such as 1. Main Folder and 2. App Data.
- Main folder can be found where you have saved it.
- App data folder can be opened with a run command. Hit Windows Key + R, type %appdata% and hit enter.
- Launch the log file and see if you can find something about the issue.
- In case if you find “Attempting to start the service winmgmt failed” or “Windows Management Interface not found” in the app’s log file or windows’s event view. Then, try to repair windows installation fix by using the microsoft windows installation media.
- That will definitely solve the issue if carried properly.
- Otherwise, you can run windows os’s WMI Repository Repair Commands. To do that, press Windows Key + R, type cmd and hit enter to launch the command prompt on your pc.
- Type net stop winmgmt in the command prompt and hit enter.
- If you wish to continue, type Y and hit enter.
- Type winmgmt /resetrepository into the command prompt and hit enter.
- Restart your personal computer to apply the changes and you are done.
Fix 5 — Check With The Incompatible Applications:
- The usage of some incompatible applications along with DS4Win might prevent you from using the tool normally.
- Some of them are MSI Afterburner and MSI RTSS RivaTuner which are not compatible with the WPF Versions of the DS4W (Since v2.0).
- RTSS RivaTuner prevents DS4Windows to Startup and may also close it suddently after the launch.
- To solve the issue, you need to either uninstall RTSS application or make changes to the application detection level.
- Launch RTSS Tool, go to RivaTuner Statistics Server settings.
- Select “None” under the “Application detection level” and hit save. If that doesn’t solve your issue, check out our next fix in this list.
Fix 6 — Uninstall Legacy ScpVBus Driver (If Installed):
- Scp Virtual Bus Driver is a legacy driver which is used to spawn the virtual xbox controllers back in the days. Later ViGEmBus took over it’s place and ScpVBus is no more required now.
- Actually, DS4W will ignore (if installed) because it doesn’t need it anymore.
- But, using it along with the ViGEmBus driver may lead to various infamouse issues.
- So, it’s better to uninstall ScpVBus Driver (ScpToolkit) completely from your personal computer.
Fix 7 — Update Windows Operating System:
- Outdated / old version of the windows operating system may be a reason for ds4windows not working issue.
- Find out if there is an update available. Make sure to update it to the available version.
- You can try this after you are done with all the above methods.
- If it is still not working, you can comment below this page for the solution.
DS4Windows Not Detecting Controllers
Is DS4Windows not detecting your real controllers? check out the best methods to fix it. Not only that, you can try out the below ways to fix if games are not detecting your virtual gamepads for whatever reasons. Check if your controller is in the List Of Supported Controllers or not.
Fix 1 — Check With The DS4Windows’s Version:
- The very first thing is to check the version of the tool that you are currently using.
- It is a clear cut fact that the old version / outdated version will not be able to detect the real controllers no matter if everything else is well and good.
- Go to this link and download the latest version and follow the instructions to install it on your windows pcs.
Latest Version By Ryochan7’s
Old Version By Jays2Kings
Latest Version By Ryochan7’s
Old Version By Jays2Kings
Fix 2 — Check If DS4Windows Is Stopped:
Whenever the tool is not turned on, it will open up but can’t detect the real controllers. To solve this, you will have to launch the tool and hit the “Start” button which is there at the bottom right corner of the window.
Hit the button and you are good to go. If it still can’t detect the real controllers, you can try out the other methods to fix it.
Fix 3 — Check If The Controller Is Not Connected Properly:
If your controller is connected to your pc properly, you will be able to see it in the Windows’s Devices and Printers section. In case if there is any problem with the connection (USB Cable or Bluetooth connection), you will not be able to see it there.
Don’t worry, you can fix it by following the below tips if you can’t see your controller like in the above image.
- Remove the USB cable from the PC and from the controller (if you’ve connected via usb connection).
- Disconnect your controller from your personal computer (if you’ve connected via bluetooth connection).
- Check the USB Cable once before you connect the controller to your pc again now.
- Make sure to also check the USB Port of your pc. In case if there is a problem with the USB Port, change the port and connect it again.
- You should also check the port of your controller before you connect it again.
- If evveyrthing is fine, connect it now and go to Devices and Printers section by following the path Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Devices and Printers.
- If you can see the controller under devices section, you are good to go. Otherwise, you may try to connect your controller via bluetooth.
- Press the controller buttons to put it into the Pairing Mode.
- Turn on Bluetooth on your Windows pc and hit “Add Device” or “Search For A Device” option.
- Select the controller and enter the pin “0000” if asked for a pin.
- If the connected controller is active for more than 5 to 10 seconds, we can treat that the connection is stable and you don’t need to worry about it.
- In case if the controller is disconnected and your pc is still showing the Add Device option, you will have to restart your pc and try to establish a wireless connection again.
Fix 4 — The Controller Has Been Disconnected Accidentally:
Sometimes, the controller will get disconnected automatically after a while. The reason coudn’t be due to faulty bluetooth/usb cable but because of the Hide DS4 Controllers option. If you have enabled this option for whatever reasons, you may face the controller connectivity issues. Don’t worry, you can solve the issue by following the step by step instructions shared below.
- Go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Devices and Printers section your windows pc. Otherwise, you may go to devices and printers by using the run command method. Hit Windows Key + R and type control printers and hit enter.
- Now, you will need to locate your controller on the list of devices that you see on the screen.
- Right click on it and tap “Properties” and then go to “Hardware” section.
- Click on “HID-compliant game controller” under the Device Functions section.
- Click on “Properties” button now and tap “Enable Device” option to turn it on.
Fix 5 — Check If The Controller Is Enabled But Hidden:
In case if your device is connected properly (as shown in the below image) but hidden, HidGuaridan and HidHide could be the reason for it. In such a situation, your pc and DS4W won’t be able to detect the connected controller until and unless you resolve the issue. Need a hand? follow the below instructions and tips.
- HidGuaridan is one of the legacy drivers which is not required now. So, you will have to remove it from your pc in order to unhide your controller.
- Follow the path Windows Start Menu > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall A Program.
- Select the “HidGuardian” app from the list of installed apps and hit “Uninstall” when prompted.
- Since you have uninstalled it, restart your pc and install the hidhide driver (only if not installed already). Because the hidhide driver is very helpful in avoiding the double input issues.
- In case if you haven’t actally installed HidGuardian but still the controller is hidden, HidHide could be a potential culprit behind this issue.
- To test things with the HidHide driver, Open HidHide Configuration Client.
- Untick the Enable Device Hiding check box under Devices section.
- See if your controller is visible now and not hidden.
- If the issue is not yet solved, Uninstall HidHide from your pc to test things.
- If the issue is still not yet solved, you need to uninstall ds4w from your pc and do things from the beginning and make sure to check your controller as well.
Fix 6 — Enable Support For Your Type Of Controller In DS4W Settings:
Are you using Switch Pro or Joycon controller? check if your type of controller is enabled or not. You can check that in the settings of the DS4Win.
- Launch the DS4Win tool on your personal computer.
- Go to Settings tab and then go to Device section.
- Make sure to Turn On All Controller Types. You can also see the list of connected controllers there.
- Hit “Stop” button and “Start” button again once and restart your pc to apply the changes.
Fix 7 — Make Sure That Your Controller Is Not A Replica:
If the controller is a copycat or a replica of the original dualshock 3 or dualshock 4 or dualsense, you may have to try out the below instructions.
- Some replicas and copycat controllers are supported by the ds4w but not all of them.
- So, you have to try reconnecting your controller to the pc via bluetooth or an USB connection.
- If your pc detects the controller, you are lucky and if not, we can’t do anything about it.
High Latency / Input Delay Issues Over Bluetooth
Latency is nothing but the delay in communication between two devices. On other words, it is the time taken for a device to respond to the command from the other device and vice versa. In our case, it’s the time taken for DS4Windows to respond to the commands from the controller.
If the latecy is high, your in-game experience will be horrible for sure. In case if you are facing input delays issues as such, continue reading the below recommended methods but before that, check out the important information shared below.
INFO — Usual Input Delay / Latency (Complete Details):
| Controller Name | Normal Input Delay | Minimum Input Delay | Important Information |
| DualSense (DS5) | 3ms | 1ms | |
| DualShock 4 (DS4) | 4ms | 1.5ms | DS4 V1 and V2 doesn’t have a big difference in latencies |
| DualShock 3 (DS3) | 5ms | 5ms | Connected through BthPS3+DSHidMini (DS4Windows Mod) |
| Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers | 16ms | 16ms | 16ms is the lowest latency that the official swith pro controllers can get |
| Joy-Cons Controllers | 16ms | 16ms |
Input delay above 20ms is considered to be the bad latency. Anything below 10ms is suggested. Everything in between 20ms and 10 ms is treated as mediocre latency frequencies.
Latencies may vary with the kind of a bluetooth connection that you are using. It’s better to use a bluetooth adapter because the built-in bluetooth adaptors might not work properly some times.
TIPS — Monitor Input Delay (Latency):
- In order to check the input delay of the connected controller, launch the tool and go to “Controllers” section.
- Hover the cursor onto the controller name to know the currently latency.
- If the latency goes over 10ms (milliseconds), then that will be displayed in the “Log” section.
- Whenever the latency goes beyond 10ms, it will show you the actual/current latency (input delay) clearly.
- You may export this data if you want or Clear it to see the fresh data from then.
CAUSES — Reasons for The High Input Delay Issues:
Make a note that DS4Windows is not responsible for the input delay becuase it has nothing to do with the transfer of data from your controller through USB connection or Bluetooth. We have listed down some most common causes right below.
- Too many devices connected to the bluetooth adapter.
- Low quality bluetooth adapter.
- Outdated in-built bluetooth adapter.
- High radio interference near the bluetooth adapter.
- Faulty bluetooth adapter’s drivers.
- Bluetooth and Wifi Interference.
- DS4Win causing controller to increase the rate of data transfer (applies to DualShock 4 and DualSense only).
Below are the solutions that you can follow in order to fix the high latency issues with your bluetooth/wireless controllers.
Fix 1 — Turn OFF Wifi & Try With Bluetooth Alone:
- This is the best method to reduce the radio signals interference from the connected wifi devices.
- Turn Off Wifi and turn on Bluetooth.
- Pair your controller through Bluetooth and try to measure the input delay by hovering the cursor onto the name of the connected controller. For more information, go to “Log” section as explained in the above section to view if there is still high input delay.
- Also make sure to keep the other electronic devices away from your pc and controller.
Fix 2 — Set High Performance Power Plan on Your PC:
- The default power plan of windows 10 computers and laptops is balanced and some other users might be using “Battery Saver” or “Power Saver” mode.
- Switch the Battery Saver / Balanced Mode to High Performance.
- The second thing that you can try out is to alter the same to the bluetooth dongle as well.
- Open Windows’s Device Manager > Select the Bluetooth Dongle > Go to Properties > Go to Power Management > Untick “Turn off this device to save power” option.
Fix 3 — Use A Dedicated Bluetooth Adapter:
Built-in bluetooth adapter in your pc might not be working properly. To overcome the issue, you may use a dedicated bluetooth adapter to establish a wireless connection between your playstation controller and pc.
- If you have already used a separate bluetooth adapter but ended up unsolving the issue, it might be a faulty one.
- Get a brand new bluetooth adapter and connect it to your personal computer.
- Open Device Manager on your windows pc and disable the built-in bluetooth adapter. This will help you with a single bluetooth connection by avoiding infamouse issues with double bluetooth dongles.
- Pair it up with your controller and establish a strong bluetooth connection with your controller.
- If you can’t pair your controller to a new bt adapter, remove it from the pc and plug it in the other USB port.
- If that doesn’t help you, you may use an USB extension cable to connect the bluetooth adapter to your pc.
Fix 4 — Decrease Bluetooth Polling Rate on Profile Settings:
The other best method to solve bluetooth related issues is to decrease the bluetooth polling rate in the profile settings. Following are the steps to do it smoothly.
- Launch the DS4Windows tool on your windows pc.
- Go to “Profiles” section.
- Select the profile and hit the “Profile Editor” option and tap “Other” option from the available options on the right hand side of the tool.
- Go down to BT Poll Rate section and set the value to 10 ms.
- This is a very useful feature especially when you have connected multiple controllers to your pc.
Keep an important thing in mind that this works only with the DualShock 4 (DS4) controller and DualSense (DS5) only. This method doesn’t work for DualShock 3 (DS3) controllers, Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers.
Fix 5 — Disable The «Enable Output Data To DS4» Option:
- In case if you find that your bluetooth adapter is unable to send and receive data well, you can try this method.
- Launch the DS4W tool > Go to Profiles > Select Profile > Click Profile Editor > Go to Other and Disable (Uncheck) Enable Output Data to DS4 option.
Disabling this option will disable Rumble Effect and Lightbar Control Effect as well. If you would like to enjoy both rumble and lighbar effects, you must not disable this option.
DS4Windows Is Not Creating Virtual Controllers
Is DS4Windows not creating virtual controllers such as X Box 360 DS4 Gamepads? follow the instructions shared below and fix the issue in under 5 minutes.
- Open DS4Win tool on your personal computer and go to “Controllers” tab.
- Choose the profile and hit “Edit” option.
- Go to Profile Editor and then to Other option.
- If “Disable Virtual Controller” option is turned on, kindly disable it.
- Save the changes, hit “Stop” and click “Start” button again and test things.
You can follow these tips in case if you have seen anything similar to a message “Associate (X360/DS4) Controller (…) Does Not appears in the Log section.
Games Not Recognizing The Virtual Controllers
Before you search for the causes of the problem, it’s required to look for the double controller / double input issue. That could be a reason for games not recognizing the virtual gamepads and controllers. To check for that, launch the ds4windows tool on your computer and make sure to close HidHide driver (if opened).
In case if you see the “X” mark as shown in the above image, you should be very careful and fix it as soon as possible. Until and unless it is fixed, games will not be able to detect the virtual controllers. Scroll down to find out the solution to fix double input (double controller) issue.
For now, let’s assume that there is no such issue and everything is normal but still the games on your pc are unable to detect the virtual controllers. The solutions that we have mentioned below might help you most of the times.
Fix 1 — Check If The Virtual Controller Is Responding As Expected:
- Go to Gamepad Tester Online Website on your pc (using chrome browser or opera or edge).
- You can check a lot of parameters of a controller according to the profile that you have created.
- If you notice that your controller is responding well to your commands and button presses, that’s well and good. We can assume that there is a problem with the profile that you have created.
- To test with different settings, create a new profile in the ds4w tool and opt it for your controller in the Controllers tab.
- Perform the testing now and if everything seems good, focus on building a better profile and you are done.
- In case if the gaempad tester website is not working properly, try again after sometime. In the mean time, you may try out the other methods to fix the issue.
Fix 2 — Check For The Incorrect XInput Slot:
There may be an issue with the incorrect XInput Slot configuration. Generally, the xbox controllers are associated by windows to Xinput slots ranging from 1 to 4. Assume that windows has assigned the controller to Xinput Slot 1 intially, it has be cleared when it is disconnected.
Again when you reconnect it, if it gets associated with Xinput slot 1 but which is in reserved state, you will encounter a problem. In some other cases, some games will be keeping an open handle to the Xinput slots. When it happens, there will be a chance for the controller detection issues.
This is a Windows process and you have nothing to do with the DS4W. Don’t worry, you can fix it by following some simple steps.
- Make sure that you have connected at least one real controller to your pc.
- Open DS4Win on your pc and go to Settings. Launch the XInputChecker tool now.
- Check all the slots to know which slots are connected. You also need to check which slot is associated with your connected controller. In order to check this, you can press the buttons of your controller and see if the tool is responding to yoour presses or not.
- On the other thand, download the process explorer archive and extract it.
- Run the procexp64.exe file to open process explorer.
- Go to Find option from all the menu options that are available on top of the tool bar.
- Tap Find Handle or DLL…
- Or, you can alternatively use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+F) to open the Find Handle or DLL… options.
- Type Xinput in the search bar and hit Search.
- It will show you all the dll files that comes under XInput slots.
- By doing this, you will be able to understand which XInput Slots are associated with which programs and processes.
- Later, you can kill those processes or programs. Check out the below section for more information about it.
Fix 3 — Terminate Offending Processes / Programs / Apps / Games:
This is a simple thing to do but all you need is the awareness about the offending programs / apps or games. To find them out, you can follow the above method and understand what’s happening with your applications and XInput slots.
- Close the application / program or game if that is open and utilizing the system resources.
- In case if you don’t require the application or game, uninstall it.
- Restart your pc and launch the DS4W and make sure that XInput slots are not associated with the other apps now.
- A better fix is mentioned below, check it out now.
Fix 4 — Set A Permanent Output Slot:
When you have issues with the output slots, it’s better to set a permanent output slot. So that you make the games to pick other available slots leaving the one that you have pre-occupied for your controller. Here is how you can do that very easily.
- Open the DS4Win tool on your pc and go to Output Slots section.
- Now you will see a list of all the available output slots. Choose the very first one in the list.
- If you can closely observe the X360 controller, it will be Dynamic.
- Change it from the Dynamic to Permanent and hit “Accept” and you are done.
- Now, you may go to the gaempad tester website and test your controller.
You can test the controller by disconnecting and reconnecting it for several times. In case if everything works well, you are good to go.
Note: You should be very careful when emulating DualShock 4 Controller because you’ve set a permanent output slot to x box 360 controller. So, it’s recommended to unplug the permanent xbox when you are doing the DualShock 4 emulation.
Fix 5 — Check If The Game Supports Only XBox Controllers:
Most of the games supports the use of XBox Controllers for obvious reasons. It is very important to add support the xbox controllers and that’s the reason behind this. On the other hand, some playstation games supports only the use of XBox Controllers. In such as case, you need to switch to the XBox Controller Emulation because that’s the only solution that we have currently. Check out the following points before you come to a conclusion.
- Visit the PC Gaming Wiki Website to check if the chosen game supports native DS4 or not.
- Also, look for the Input Settings, Lightbar Support and Impulse Trigger Vibration Support, etc.
- One important fact is that the games that have native DS4 support will not have Rumble Support.
- Look for the additional information such as Controller hotplugging, haptic feedback, simultaneous controller+KB/M as well.
Fix 6 — Check If Games Steam Input To Support DS4 Controllers:
It is seen in many games that they require steam input along with your DS4 controller. If you start playing such games without the steam input, you can’t go further in the process. Don’t worry, you can enable it by following a set of simple instructions shared below.
- Launch Steam Client on your personal computer and go to it’s Settings.
- Head over to Controller Settings and enable Playstation Configuration Support.
- This thing will help you get Rumble effect and lightbar features as well.
- In order to be able to play games with the playstation configuration support, you will have to run ds4windows under a custom name (we have shared this method on our Getting Started Guide)
Fix 7 — Check If The Games Are Intentionally Ignoring The Virtual Controllers:
It is seen in couple of games that they ignore the ds4 controllers intentionally. Whenever a game detects that you are using a ds4 controller, it will ignore it automatically. You have no choice other than using the x box controllers. So, using the xbox controllers when games don’t allow ds4 controllers is the only solution.
Controller Not Behaving Correctly While Playing Games
You might have gone through misbehaviour issues with your controller. Sometimes, it may not respond to your commands and other times, it may execute wrong tasks for your commands while playing the games. That leads to unsatisfying gaming experience which needs to be fixed without a miss.
Fix 1 — Character / Camera Moves Automatically:
Stick Drifting issue is the reason for your character or camera to move by themselves. The issue is caused by a couple of hardware related problems and a glitch with the controller stick position which is not perfectly centered when it is not moving. The other reasons are as follows,
- When the stick (LS and RS) is not getting back to it’s center correctly and precisely.
- If there is any issue with the stick’s position sensors.
- To avoid drift issue when using preset xbox profile, make sure that the movement range is less than 8% (+/- 0.08) for the stick’s resting position.
- If it is above 8% (+/- 0.08), then the stick position will be out of the default dead zone. In such a case, the DS4W will assume that the user is actually and intentionally moving the stick.
- So, while using the default preset profile, make sure that there are no (Anti) deadzones in use. Then, DS4W will repass the real position of the stick to the virtual dualshock 4 controller.
Pro Tip: Create a new profile for testing and name it anything you want. For example, “test profile for stick position” is your new profile. Set the Dead Zone and Anti Dead Zone to 0.00 for both the LS and RS sticks and hit save. Choose this profile and head to the https://gamepad-tester.com/ website and test it now.
If the drift is minor, you can try out the above method. In case if the drift is major, consider cleaning the stick’s resistor meters. Do it on your own or take it to concerned person and explain him/her the problem. If they insist you to change the sticks in case of any physical damage, you should do it and try out with the new sticks in your controller.
Fix 2 — Adjust The Dead Zone Values:
It’s time to handle some technical stuff like adjusting the values of a deadzone based the fluctuations of both the x and y axis of the individual sticks. Below table will help you give you a clear idea about it.
Minor Drift With Left Stick
Major Drift With Left Stick
Solving Minor Drift
Final Output
Minor Drift With Left Stick
Major Drift With Left Stick
Solving Minor Drift
Final Output
Fix 3 — Controller Stops Responding All Of A Sudden:
If you notice that the controller stops working / responding to your commands suddenly, the following steps should be followed.
- Check the USB Cable that you have used to connect the controller to your pc (In case of an USB connection).
- If the cable is working properly, make sure to check the USB port adjustments to the connected cable.
- Clean the USB port of your personal computer with cotton (don’t use any liquids to clean it).
- In case if you have used a bluetooth connection, it could be due to high latency.
- Avoid radio intereference near the controller and pc and test things again.
- For more information, check the Log section of the DS4Win application on your personal computer.
Fix 4 — Game Responds Very Slow To Commands:
If the game is responding very slow to yoour commands, the issues is may be with the game itself. If the issue is with your real or virtual controller then, every game responds very slow to your commands. Observe the issue and its nature first and then you can follow the below instructions to fix it in under 2 minutes.
- If you’ve connected your real controller through a Bluetooth connection then, the issue is may be due to High Latency or Random Latency Spikes.
- To solve the latency related issues, scroll to top follow the instructions or simply switch to the USB connection.
- In case if the issue is raised when you’ve connected your controller through an USB connection then, you must check the cable first.
- Change the cable and try again and also make sure to keep the electronic devices little far away from your system.
If the game responds very slow to your commands especially when you have used a virtual ds4 controller, you should note that the issue is due to the outdated hidhide drivers. Make sure to update the HidHide driver to the new version to fix the game’s slow response issue. If that doesn’t solve your issue, you need to look for the changes to the game settings. Refer to the Help / Support section of the forums and make changes accordingly.
Fix 5 — DS4’s Rumble, Motion, Gyro, Touchpad and Lightbar Are Not Working:
Becuase of the issue with the ViGEmBus driver, the support to Rumble and lightbar were disabled by the DS4Windows tool old versions. So, you won’t be able to get it by default until and unless you start using the latest version of the DS4Win tool. Let’s check what you should do in order to fix motion, gyro, touchpad, lightbar and rumble issues in the latest version.
- You might think that the game does actually support the rumble, gyro and other features. Are you sure about it? why don’t you check for the clear information once?. Go to www.pcgamingwiki.com website and select the game in the website from the home page or use the search bar to find it out.
- Go to Controllers section to see the details if it has specifically mentioned that there is a support for the DS4 Controllers and the features that we are talking about.
- The next thought is about the profile building for your controller. Did you actually enabled or allowed all the mentioned features in your profile? check it once.
- Sometimes, you need to make sure that if the game that you want to play requires steam input or not. In case if it requires steam input, you have to make some necessary changes to Playstation Configuration Support in order to be able to use the gyro, lightbar, motion and rumble features through DS4 Controller Emulation.
Fix 6 — Rumble Doesn’t Work With DS4 Controller Emulation:
Rumble support is not active for DS4 controller emulation by default. Don’t worry, you can still get it by going through a simple workaround.
- Launch DS4Win tool on your personal computer and select the profile (it could be default profile or a specific profile).
- Go to Settings of the profile and navigate to the “Other” section from there.
- Check if the Rumble has 0% (if yes, rumble is not turned on).
- Increase rumble from 0 to 100% (that gives you full potential of the rumble effect).
- Hit “Save” button to save the changes that you have made now.
- Once it is done, go back to the controllers section and hit “Stop” button and “Start” button again.
- In case if the rumble effect is still not working, make sure to check with your controller’s hardware.
- On the other hand, also make sure to check for the steam input requirement.
Finally to solve the issue very easily, switch to Virtual X Box 360 Controller Emulation to get Rumble effect if you are not able to get with the DS4 Controller emulation.
DS4Windows Double Input / Double Controller Issue
The double input (or) double controller issue generally occurs when you are not using the HidHide’s functionalities well. In order to make use of the features of it, you must have installed it on your pc. Moreover, you should be hiding your real controller from the system and games that you play on your pc.
Fix 1 — HidHide Is Installed But Double Input Issue Is Not Solved:
Installing the hidhide software alone won’t help you in this case. You need to properly configure the settings in order to be able to hide your real controller from the game’s and pc’s detection.
- Launch the DS4Win and stop it from running in the background.
- Hit “Stop” button and close the window completely and make sure that it is not running from the task bar.
- Launch the HidHide’s configuration client and select your real controller and hide it.
- You must also need to turn on “Enable Device Hiding” option.
- This process is not limited to DS4 Controllers alone or the X Box Controllers. It applies to all the controllers that you may have used / willing to use further.
- Save the changes and close the hidhide’s client now.
- Re-launch DS4Win on your pc and see if it is properly hidden or not. The “Key” logo indicates that the real controller is hidden.
Note: One more important thing is, add DS4Windows to HideHide’s applications list.
Fix 2 — Hidden The Controller But The Double Input Issue Is Not Solved:
In case the issue is not yet solved, you have a couple of things to do. Following are the steps that you should consider following.
- Close the DS4Win and launch the HiHide’s configuration client.
- Check if the “Enable Device Hiding” option is turned on or not.
- If it is not yet turned on, you should enable this option.
- Disconnect your controller from your pc and re-connect it with an alternative connection method (USB > Bluetooth or Bluetooth > USB).
- To confirm that your real controller is hidden, head over to www.gamepad-tester.com website and check if your real controller is hidden or not yet.
- In case if the controller is not hidden, try things from the beginning.
That is all about the troubleshooting guide. We have tried our best to discuss about all the issues that majority of the users of DS4Windows. In case if you feel that we have missed something in this guide, let us know through the comments below this page.
If your DS4Windows opens and starts normally, but not detecting controllers or fails for another reason then this page is not for you. Go to our troubleshooting section and locate the current issue you are experiencing.
Verify your DS4 Windows
Make sure all prerequisites are installed
Without the required drivers, DS4windows will not work. Make sure you have the following installed:
- Windows 10 / 11
- Microsoft .NET 6.0.6 Runtime Desktop (Some users has reported that just installing the .NET runtime doesn’t work. If that is the case, you should install .net SDK version)
- Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable. x64 for most people or x86 for those on 32 bits systems
- ViGEmBus driver (DS4Windows should offer to install it when it’s not detected)
- The ViGEm driver requires Visual-C++ 2017 runtime libraries (most users need the x64 version)
- Microsoft 360 Driver (link inside DS4Windows, already installed by Windows if you’ve used a 360 controller before)
- Already installed by default on Windows 10 and 11
DS4Windows’ Log and Windows’ Event Viewer
DS4Windows’ Log can give important warnings when issues occur. It may be found in 2 different places and, if it exists on both, the most recent one should be inspected:
- In DS4Windows main folder
- In DS4Windows folder inside
%appdata%(Press Win+R, type%appdata%, hit OK then check if the DS4Windows folder exists and the presence of the Log file)
Confirm DS4Windows folder is not write-protected
DS4Windows may be inside a folder that is write-protected, therefore requiring it to be executed with higher privileges to be able to save and edit data. Such folders can be the “Windows” folder, “Program Files” and sometimes even the user Desktop (unlikely, but possible).
It’s recommended to have DS4Windows inside a folder that is known to not require higher-privileges to prevent this issue, like the user’s “Documents” or “Downloads” folder.
Check if User Data is not corruted
The easy way to check this is making sure DS4Windows is not running and then backing up and erasing all of its User Data. If erasing the User Data fix the issue but the user wishes to keep some of its old data, it’s possible to restore each User Data related file and folder individually until the corrupted file is found, then removing it only.
Issues that may prevent DS4Windows from running or starting
«ViGEmBus is not installed» log message when attempting to start DS4Windows
Either ViGEmBus is not installed or DS4Windows is failing to detect it. The ViGEmBus’s guides on how to install, verify if its working correctly, uninstall or perform a full clean of everything vigem related can be found on ViGEmBus’ How to Install/Remove page.
“Attempting to start the service winmgmt failed” or “Windows Management Interface not found” messages
If these messages appear on DS4Windows’ Log or in Windows’ Event View then try to do the “repair Windows installation” fix using a Microsoft Windows installation media. There has been reports that this fixed a problem of DS4Windows app silently doing nothing when launched -issue. Or run WinOS “WMI repository repair” commands. Repair WinOS WMI repository
User is running MSI Afterburner and / or MSI RTSS RivaTuner
Some users have reported that certain versions of MSI Afterburner and MSI RTSS RivaTuner apps are not compatible with WPF version of DS4Windows (every version since v2.0).
RTSS prevents DS4Windows app to startup. Try adding DS4Windows.exe file to RTSS application list and set app option as “Application Detection Level=NONE” in RTSS (search issue tickets with these keywords for more information on DS4Windows’ Issue Tracker).
User has the legacy ScpVBus driver installed
The Scp Virtual Bus Driver (ScpVBus) is a legacy driver that was used to spawn virtual Xbox controllers. It has been succeeded by the ViGEmBus.
Though DS4Windows should just ignore the ScpVBus, there is a small chance that having it installed along-side the ViGEmBus can lead to issues.
To properly uninstall and remove remaining traces of it from the system, follow the instructions in the Manual removal of ScpToolkit residue page starting from the “Remove Scp Virtual Bus Driver” section.
Windows is not updated
When everything else fails, update Windows.
Table of Contents
DS4Windows Not Opening / Crashing / Fails to Start
Sometimes, it might happen that DS4Windows does not start when you try to open it, or it crashes immediately upon launch.
Let us have a look below at the fixes that you can attempt.
1. Make sure you are all set on the prerequisites
DS4Windows tool comes with a good deal of prerequisites. Make sure you are thorough on the same.
- Make sure you have the desktop version of Microsoft .NET 6.0 Runtime installed.
- Visual C++ 2015-2019 redistributable is necessary.
- ViGEmBus Driver is a requirement as well. If you do not have it installed, you might see the message “ViGEmBus Not Installed.” However, in some cases, even though you have installed the driver, you still might get the above error message. Here, you require uninstalling the driver first, re-booting your PC, and then re-installing the driver.
- Microsoft 360 Driver for DualShock 3/4, and even for DualSense.
- Make sure the OS running on your PC is Windows 10/11 or Windows 8.1.
2. Is the DS4Windows Folder Write-Protected?
- We recommend extracting the contents of the DS4Windows ZIP file in Documents or Downloads or any other location other than C Drive.
- Sometimes contents in C Drive are write-protected and if you are not an admin on the PC, you will run into issues running DS4Windows.
Don’t forget to check out this –
DS4Windows – Supported Controllers & Gamepads (New 2024)
3. Check User Data
Sometimes user data can undergo corruption and that might cause DS4Windows crashing or failure to start.
- Close the software if it is running.
- Take a backup of the user data.
- Delete the user data files and start the software.
- Restore the user data files, from the backup, one by one to see which data file gives issues.
- If you do happen to locate a specific user data file that gives issues, delete it.
- This fixes the issue in case corrupt user data is the cause.
4. Check DS4Windows Logs and Windows Event Viewer
- Usually the log section of DS4Windows gives all the error messages whenever the tool is not working properly.
- Hence, we do recommend inspecting the log files in an attempt to locate the cause.
- You will have logs in the main folder as well as in App Data folder on your PC.
- You can launch App Data by hitting Windows Key + R and typing %appdata% in the command window.
- In case you see the issues viz “Attempting to start the service winmgmt failed” or “Windows Management Interface not found” in the log file or the event view, you have to repair windows installations using MS Windows installation tools/media.
- As an alternative, you can do the following.
- Launch command prompt on your PC.
- Key in net stop winmgmt in the command prompt.
- Key in Y.
- Now type winmgmt / resetrepository and hit Enter.
- Make sure you do reboot your PC after the above.
You should check out this –
5. Have a look at incompatible apps, if any
Some of the apps that are running on your PC might interfere with DS4Windows. Two of the best examples are MSI Afterburner and MSI RTSS Riva Tuner. If you have any of these tools installed, we recommend uninstalling them same. As an alternative, you can even do the following for the RTSS app.
- Launch the RTSS app and go to Riva Tuner Statistics Server Settings.
- Choose None under Application Detection Level and save.
6. Do you have a legacy ScpVBus Driver installed?
With ViGEmBus Driver, the need for a ScpVBus driver finished. Hence, if you still have it installed, it might interfere with the working of the ViGEmBus driver. Please uninstall the same to see if that resolves your issue.
7. Latest Windows Update is to Blame
If none of the above is working for you, however, you know that the issue sparked after latest automatic updates happened on your PC; then the updates are to blame. Check below how you can uninstall the latest Windows update.
- On your Windows PC, go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features > Installed Updates.
- Latest update on the top of the list can be uninstalled by right-clicking and selecting Uninstall.
- Simple on-screen instructions will come up assisting you in uninstalling the update.
8. Update your Windows
If by chance you are using the old version of Windows OS not compatible with DS4Windows, we recommend updating it to the latest available version. Please attempt this fix only after you have exhausted the above possible causes and fixes.
Don’t forget to check out this –
8 Best DS4Windows Alternatives (Software 2024)
DS4Windows Not Saving my Settings/Not Working/Not Opening
Well! The above are the common causes behind the DS4Windows Doesn’t Open / Crashes / Fails to Start issue or DS4Windows Not Saving Settings / Not Working.
Let us know in the comments below what worked for you from the above. However, even if none of the above fixes work for you, we would like to hear it in the comments below thereby enabling us to assist you further.
Leave a Comment
DS4Windows might not work on your PC or laptop because of a number of reasons. You can troubleshoot the issue and try the following fixes to resolve the problem.
Update Your Windows
DS4Windows is constantly updated. So, it might not be working with your current Windows version because your Windows is not updated.
Check to see if updates are available for Windows. Updating your Windows will resolve the issue.
Install or Update All the Required Drivers
If you don’t have all the prerequisites installed, then DS4Windows will not work on your system. Make sure you have the following installed and updated to the latest version.
- Microsoft .NET 6.0.6 Runtime Desktop.
- Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable.
- ViGEmBus driver
- Microsoft 360 Driver
Most of these drivers are installed by default on Windows 10 and 11. If some of these drivers are not installed, DS4Windows will give you a prompt to install them when you are installing the software.
Some users have reported that the .NET runtime doesn’t resolve the issue. If that is the case on your system too, then you should install the .NET SDK version.
Make Sure DS4Windows Folder isn’t Write-Protected
Never install DS4Windows in a write-protected folder. A write-protected folder requires higher privileges to be able to save and edit data. So, if you have installed DS4Windows in such a folder, it might not be working because of that issue.
Windows folders, Program Files, and sometimes Desktops are considered write-protected folders.
You can install this software in any other folder to prevent this issue.
Inspect Log and Windows Event Viewer
DS4Windows log is responsible for issuing important warnings when there is a problem. So, you must locate and inspect the log to find out the problem.
The log is most commonly located in two places. You should check out both of them and inspect the log that is latest.
Find log and windows event viewer in the following locations:
- DS4Windows Main Folder
- DS4Windows Folder inside App Data Folder
There can be a number of issues listed in that directory that are preventing your DS4Windows from starting.
Here are a few of them:
1. ViGEmBus is not installed
While inspecting DS4Windows and Event Log, if you come across the message that ViGEmBus is not installed, then you must verify it is working properly.
If the driver is not working, then you must uninstall it, perform a full clean-up and then install it again. Learn How to install/remove page (ViGEmBus) .
Normally, DS4Windows installs this driver automatically. But if there is a problem with it, you might have to download it and install it manually.
2. Winmgmt failed or not found
Windows Management Interface failed to run or was not found by DS4Windows may also prevent its launch. You can solve this issue by repairing the Windows installation or by running Win OS “WMI repository repair” commands.
Repairing your windows using a Microsoft Windows Installation media will resolve this issue.
3. ScpVBus driver installed
The ScpVBus is an older version of ViGEmBus. So, if you have it installed on your system, then it might prevent the starting up of DS4Windows.
Most of the time, the program ignores the ScpVBus driver, because it is outdated. But sometimes, it can cause an issue.
So, you must properly uninstall this software and remove all traces of its presence from your system. You might need to access a detailed guide in order to fully remove this driver.
4. “Visual-C++ 2017 runtime libraries” Not Found
ViGEmBus driver requires Visual-C++ 2017 runtime libraries to run. You will need the x64-bit version of the drivers.
So, if you don’t have these drivers, then you must download and install them.
Make Sure User Data Isn’t Corrupted
One of the reasons why the DS4Windows isn’t opening or working is the corruption of User Data.
You can easily detect user data corruption by turning DS4Windows off, then backing up the user data, and then erasing.
If after erasing the user data, the program works normally, it means the user data was corrupted.
You can copy each file of user data one by one back into the DS4Windows folder to find out which file is corrupted and causing the problem.
You’re Running MSI Afterburner and/or MSI RTSS RivaTuner
The WPF version of DS4Windows is not compatible with MSI Afterburner and MSI RTSS RivaTuner. So, they might be the primary cause of your software not launching.
You can resolve the issue by opening the RTSS application and then altering some settings. Add the DS4Windows.exe file to the RTSS application list and add the set app option as “Application Detection Level=NONE”.
Doing this will resolve the issue quickly and you will be able to run the DS4Windows program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is DS4Windows not working on my system?
The program might not be working because of a number of reasons. You might not have updated your windows or installed the prerequisite drivers. You can check the issue by accessing the Windows Log and Event Manager.
Why are DS4Windows not opening?
If the DS4Windows program is installed properly but not opening on your system, then you must check if all the drivers are correctly installed and updated and the user data isn’t corrupted.
What should I do to fix DS4Windows errors?
You can update your Windows to the latest version, and ensure that all the prerequisite drivers are installed and up-to-date. Also, make sure that user data isn’t corrupted. We have shared detailed fixes in the above guide.
DS4Windows Crashing Upon Launch
Hello!
Recently, DS4Windows has stopped launching. Ever since a few weeks ago, it stopped working. I have not made any changes to my PC. I have tried my best trying to solve this solution to the best of my ability without making a post here. Now I am here.
What happens when I launch DS4Windows with & w/o Administrative Privileges’
What have I done?
- Reinstalled all runtime requirements
- Uninstalled any required drivers
- Updated or reinstalled any required drivers
- Followed the many methods posted on the DS4Windows subreddit
- Followed the many methods posted on 3rd party sites
- Ran DS4Windows with elevated privileges’
and everything else in the book…
I have taken the time to see what error might occur within the ‘Event Viewer’ on Windows, this is what I got!
Fault bucket 1680054911418598179, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0
Problem signature:
P1: DS4Windows.exe
P2: [3.1.1.0](https://3.1.1.0/)
P3: 62b2fac5
P4: KERNELBASE.dll
P5: 10.0.19041.1826
P6: 299341e8
P7: e0434352
P8: 0000000000034fd9
P9:
P10:
Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER9F9B.tmp.mdmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER9FFA.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERA01A.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERA02A.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERA05A.tmp.txt
These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_DS4Windows.exe_67b98b84345cdcb37d173b959efc21699c4f22_dd9ad86c_9055f4ec-7d0c-486c-aed8-85b007f4574b
Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 9ede5807-6bbe-4253-ac03-e9ecd7041004
Report Status: 268435456
Hashed bucket: 312f1330f09dd6c3e750c10a66418323
Cab Guid: 0
Furthermore, DS4Windows does not even open. The moment I double click the application, my mouse has the loading circle for 2 seconds then returns to the normal cursor. Nothing else happens. It is pure nothingness.
I have even tried opening up the other applications within DS4Windows, like XInputCheck & DS4Updater, they will not even open.
If anyone is able to help me out and give me some support, it will be much appreciated!
Thank you, so much!
Extra Info:
- Windows 10 Home
- DS4Windows Version 3.1.1 x64