How to test a controller in your browser
Connect the controller by USB cable or Bluetooth, then press any button on the controller itself. Browsers hide gamepads until you press something — it stops sites fingerprinting your hardware silently — so nothing appears on screen until that first press. After that, every input shows live.
- Press each face button, bumper and D-pad direction once. Confirmed buttons stay highlighted.
- Squeeze L2 and R2 slowly and watch the analog bars — a good trigger sweeps smoothly from 0.00 to 1.00.
- Push both sticks to their edges in a full circle. The dot should reach the rim in every direction.
- Click both sticks in (L3 and R3), then press the PS or Guide button.
- Let go of the sticks and run the stick drift test.
- Press Test vibration to confirm both rumble motors fire.
How to test for stick drift
Stick drift is a controller reporting stick movement when nothing is touching it. Put the controller flat on a table, take your thumbs off, and run the drift test — it samples both sticks for three seconds and reports the worst deflection it saw. A healthy stick reads under about 0.02.
| Reading at rest | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0.000 – 0.020 | Clean. The stick returns properly to centre. |
| 0.020 – 0.080 | Slight offset. Normal — games ignore this via their deadzone. |
| Above 0.080 | Real drift. Expect the camera to creep or your character to walk unprompted. |
The resting centrefigure matters as much as the peak. If a stick consistently sits at, say, −0.15 on X, it is not noise — the potentiometer's neutral point has physically shifted, which is the classic wear failure on DualSense and Xbox controllers alike.
How do I fix PS5 controller stick drift?
Try the free fixes before spending anything, in this order. They resolve a surprising share of cases, because contamination and firmware are more common than worn hardware.
- Clean around the stick base. Compressed air first, then a cotton bud very lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol, rotating the stick as you go. Dust inside the housing is the single most common cause.
- Reset the controller. On a DualSense there is a small reset hole on the back near the Sony logo — hold the button inside it for five seconds with a paperclip, then re-pair.
- Update the firmware. Both Sony and Microsoft ship controller firmware updates that recalibrate deadzones.
- Recalibrate on PC. Windows has a calibration wizard under Control Panel → Devices and Printers → right-click the controller → Game controller settings → Properties.
- Then consider hardware.If drift persists, the potentiometer module is worn. Replacement modules are inexpensive but require soldering; Sony's own warranty has covered drift in some regions, so check yours before opening it.
Re-run the drift test after each step. It gives you a number rather than a feeling, so you can tell whether cleaning actually helped.
Why isn't my controller detected?
Nine times out of ten it is the first-press rule above rather than a fault. If pressing buttons still shows nothing, work through these.
- Press a button on the pad, not the keyboard. Only input from the controller itself unlocks it.
- Try a USB cable. This rules out Bluetooth pairing entirely, and confirms the cable is a data cable, not charge-only.
- PS5 pads over Bluetooth must be paired in pairing mode — hold Create and the PS button together until the light bar flashes.
- Close Steam. Steam Input can capture a controller exclusively and hide it from the browser. Quit it fully, then reload.
- Switch Pro and other pads sometimes report a non-standard mapping. Buttons still register, but the labels below may not match the physical layout — check the reported mapping line at the bottom of the test.
Buying a used controller? Test it first
A used DualSense or Xbox pad is one of the riskiest small purchases in gaming, because drift is invisible in a shop demo and is the exact fault sellers omit. Run the drift test and sweep both triggers before you pay — worn analog triggers that jump from 0.00 to 1.00 without the values in between are almost as common as drift.
Testing the rest of the setup too? Our keyboard tester and mouse test cover PC inputs, the refresh rate test confirms your screen is running at its rated Hz, and our guide to the best gaming laptops lists the panel speed for every pick. For headsets, see the best headphones guide and the microphone test for party chat.
Frequently asked questions
Does this gamepad tester work with a PS5 DualSense?
Yes, over USB or Bluetooth. All the buttons, both sticks and the analog triggers report normally, and vibration works in Chrome and Edge. The DualSense's adaptive trigger resistance and haptic feedback are not exposed to browsers, so those two features can't be tested here — everything else can.
Can I test an Xbox controller?
Yes. Xbox pads use the standard mapping, so labels line up exactly with the physical buttons. Connect by USB, the Xbox Wireless Adapter, or Bluetooth on the models that support it.
Why does the vibration test do nothing?
Rumble depends on the browser, not the pad. Chrome and Edge support it; Firefox and Safari largely don't, and it usually needs a wired connection. If the readout says “Not exposed”, your browser isn't offering vibration for that controller — it doesn't mean the motors are dead.
Is my controller data sent anywhere?
No. Button presses and stick positions are read by JavaScript in your browser and displayed on the page. Nothing is transmitted, logged or stored, and everything is discarded when you close the tab.
Can I test a joystick or racing wheel?
Yes — flight sticks, racing wheels and arcade sticks all appear as gamepads. They typically report more than four axes and use a non-standard mapping, so the tiles below will be labelled by number rather than by button name. The values are still accurate.