Can You Use A Xbox One Controller On Pc

The Xbox Wireless Gamepad might have Xbox in the name, but you aren't limited to pairing it with just a console. The controller pairs to Windows 10, too, letting yous use it wirelessly with whatsoever compatible PC game. Here'due south what yous demand to do to kickoff using your Xbox gamepad with your PC.

Figure Out Which Xbox Controller You Own

How to identify your Xbox One controller

To start, the Xbox Wireless Gamepad included with the Xbox Series Due south/Ten, and now widely available as the Xbox Wireless Gamepad, is nearly identical to the Xbox One's controller. They both support Xbox wireless communication and Bluetooth, and the methods for connecting them to your PC are identical. The instructions here utilize to both gamepad generations.

Original Xbox One controllers lack wireless connectivity, only the gamepads that shipped with the Xbox 1 S and later consoles include Xbox wireless communication and Bluetooth. You tin use both controllers wirelessly with your PC, simply the process is different; you must get a wireless dongle for the non-Bluetooth gamepads. The good news is that Bluetooth controllers have been in product for and so long that if you picked yours up in the last four years, there's a good chance that it already has Bluetooth.

To decide whether you have a Bluetooth or non-Bluetooth Xbox controller, you need to await at the plastic surrounding the Guide button. If information technology'southward the same plastic as the face of the controller, without any seams, yous have a Bluetooth gamepad. If it'southward the aforementioned plastic as the bumper buttons, with a seam betwixt the Guide button and the controller'due south face up, information technology's a non-Bluetooth gamepad. If it has a minor, rectangular Capture button betwixt the Carte and View buttons, and a USB-C port on the meridian instead of micro USB, information technology's an Xbox Serial controller and also has Bluetooth.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With a Wired Connection

This is very uncomplicated, simply you do need a physical cable connecting the controller to your PC. Here's how you do it.

Plug ane end of your USB-to-micro USB or USB-to-USB-C (depending on the version of controller) cable into the controller.
Plug the other stop into your PC

That's it! It will automatically configure nether Windows ten and work with virtually any game on your PC.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With Bluetooth

Pairing the Xbox controller with your PC over Bluetooth is nigh the same as pairing information technology with your Xbox One or Xbox Serial. You activate the controller by holding down the Guide push, and then hold the Pairing button for three seconds until the Guide button flashes. This ways information technology'due south in pairing manner. If you're connecting the controller to a console, you hold the Pairing button on the system itself. If you're connecting the controller to a Windows 10 PC, you lot need to go through some menus. You too demand a Bluetooth USB dongle if your PC doesn't have Bluetooth. Here'due south the full step-past-stride process:

Hold the Guide button to plough on the controller.
Hold the Pairing button for three seconds until the Guide button flashes.
Right-click the Bluetooth icon in your organization tray.
Click "Add together a Bluetooth Device."
Click "Add together Bluetooth or other Device" and select Bluetooth.
Click "Xbox Wireless Controller." Wait until the Guide push button is solid white, and the Bluetooth menu says the controller is continued.

You can now use the Xbox Wireless Gamepad with your PC, and play the vast majority of modern games that support controllers. All the same, you can't utilize the headset jack on the gamepad, just similar Sony'due south DualShock iv and DualSense controllers. Although yous tin can use a wired gaming headset with a controller and its associated game system, audio isn't sent through the jack when it'southward continued to a PC via Bluetooth.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With a USB Adapter

If you take an older Xbox One controller, or you lot just want to use your newer one with Microsoft's proprietary wireless connection instead of Bluetooth (and get headset connectivity), you need to go the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows 10. Information technology's a USB dongle designed to connect straight to your Xbox gamepad without whatsoever Bluetooth setup or pairing. All you need to practise is plug in the dongle and pair information technology to your controller only every bit if you lot were pairing your Xbox, pressing the Pairing button on each device.

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This $25 adapter has some benefits over Bluetooth. For starters, you can use up to eight gamepads with the adapter, while Microsoft recommends using just one at a fourth dimension with Bluetooth. The headset jack is likewise enabled if y'all use the adapter, with adjustable settings in the Xbox app for Windows 10.

How to Connect Other Game Controllers to PC

We also accept tips for connecting Nintendo Switch and PS4 controllers to your PC. For more controller advice, check out our guide on how to choose the right controller for your PC.

Once you're gear up to showtime playing, check out our favorite PC games. And if you lot're a PlayStation gamer, read upwardly on how to use a PS4 DualShock 4 controller on a PC. We walk you through the surprisingly complicated procedure.

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