Can You Use a PS4 Controller as a Mouse? 3 Options!

So you’re wondering if you can use a PS4 controller as a mouse. Why? Well, maybe you want to hook a laptop up to a TV to watch TV shows but you don’t want to keep getting up to click on things. First world problems, right?

The best solution would be to buy a wireless keyboard with a touchpad but maybe you don’t want to spend extra money. I mean, if both your laptop and PS4 controller have Bluetooth, wouldn’t it make sense to use it as a mouse?

This brings us to our current situation:

Can I Use a PS4 Controller as a Mouse?

When paired over Bluetooth to a Windows 10 device, a PS4 controller can be used as a mouse by holding down the PS button and rotating the R3 analogue stick. You can also enable the option in DS4 Windows.

Holding down the PS button is the automatic setting but there are two other options: use the touchpad or use the gyro, we’ll talk about both of them.

Use the PS4 Touchpad as a Mouse

This is probably the easiest because it’s the closest to a laptop’s touchpad. If the feature is not enabled by default, open DS4 for Windows and under the “Profile” tab select the default profile and click edit. In there, you’ll see all kinds of controls. Look for “Touchpad” and toggle “Use as Mouse”.

In most cases, the touchpad will already be enabled as a mouse, the same with the PS button option. But one that you probably didn’t know about is the gyro.

Use PS4 Controller Gyro as a Mouse

If you don’t like holding down a button and rotating the analog stick, another option would be to use the PS4’s gyroscope as a mouse. Most people, including me, don’t even know the PS4 controller has a gyroscope. I mean, you can’t blame us, there are very few games that use the hardware, anyway.

I actually stumbled across the feature by accident. I opened CS GO on Steam to see how my PS4 controller works on it and CS GO was using the gyroscope for moving around. It took me a while to realize I was actually controlling the camera with the controller’s movement. it’s pretty trippy at first.

Why would you want to use the gyroscope as a mouse? Because you don’t need to hold down anything and pointing the controller at the screen is much easier.

How to Use the PS4 Gyroscope as a Mouse:

  1. Download and Install DS4 Windows
  2. Make sure the program detects your controller in the “Controller” tab
  3. Click on the “Profile” tab
  4. Select “Default Profile” and click “Edit”
  5. Locate Gyro and Toggle “Use as Mouse”
  6. Your Cursor Will Now Move to Your Controller’s Movements
  7. Touchpad to Click

See the picture:

A screenshot showing how to use the PS4 gyro as a mouse

So that’s a cool alternative to buying a wireless keyboard for your media station. Obviously, typing will be a nightmare, unless you use Windows on-screen keyboard, but for streaming media like Netflix, you don’t really have to type much.

You might be able to use it to aim in some games, some people prefer the movement. I think it would be more of a workout than anything and we gamers wouldn’t want that. But it’s something to play around with.

You might also want to buy a Bluetooth USB dongle for your PC, they’re super cheap and work quite well with PS4 controllers. The official adapter is unnecessarily expensive.

Another solution would be to buy a wireless mouse, one that has Bluetooth too, so you easily pair it to a laptop or another device.

Other PS4 Controller Articles:

Boom. First world problem solved.

2 thoughts on “Can You Use a PS4 Controller as a Mouse? 3 Options!”

  1. Hi Timothy, I would like to use a PS4 dualshock controller’s left or right sticks as mouse on a PC – so no the touchpad. Do you know if thats possible? I downloaded DS4windows and can get the touchpad working as mouse, but not the sticks, even though I try to ‘program’ thm in ds4windows to work as mouse. Any help is highly appreciated.
    Regards Mette

    Reply
    • Hey, I’m not sure. I know on Steam when you use the native PS4 (not DS4) you can hold the PS button and move the mouse with the right analog stick. I’m not sure what the click buttons are assigned to though. I couldn’t find the settings in DS4 either. Maybe you can try InputMapper, it’s similar to DS4.

      Reply

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