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Connect a controller

The full walkthrough (USB, PlayStation, Xbox, 8BitDo Micro, "paired before and won't connect", then your first minute of play): CONNECT_CONTROLLER.md. This page is the quick reference.

Short steps for each controller, what to look for at each step, and how to get it back next time. The top bar always tells you: orange CONNECT A CONTROLLER with a hollow light means none yet, a green light with CONTROLLER or its short name (or PHONE) means you are connected. Click it for the steps.

The same steps are inside Plugin Player: CONTROLS tab → CONNECT A CONTROLLER (next to the CONTROLLER list). It opens on the controller you picked in that list, or on the one that is connected; with neither, it asks Which controller do you have? first.

Before anything: open Plugin Player and leave it open. On Windows, Plugin Player can pair an 8BitDo Micro or a PlayStation controller for you. On a Mac, pair every Bluetooth controller in System Settings → Bluetooth; the Mac steps below work for every controller in the table.

The quick answer

PlayStation 4 controller (DualShock 4)

1. Hold SHARE and PS together for 3–5 seconds. Look for: the light bar flashes fast, two blinks at a time. Watch out: pressing PS alone also makes it blink, but that is "go back to the PS4", not pairing. Nothing will find it. Hold SHARE too.
2. Put it down and wait 10–30 seconds. Plugin Player finds it and pairs it. Look for: the CONTROLLER card says PAIRING…, then the light bar stays on.
3. Press any button. Look for: CONNECTED: PLAYSTATION 4. Plugin Player draws a PlayStation controller and names every button ✕ ○ □ △.

In Plugin Player, the scene button is a touchpad click, or press the right stick in (R3). The full button list is in CONTROLLER.md §0.

Next time: press PS. Windows remembers it and it reconnects in a second or two. Press any button so Plugin Player sees it.

PlayStation 5 controller (DualSense)

Same as the PS4 controller, with CREATE (the small button left of the touchpad) instead of SHARE:

1. Hold CREATE and PS together for 3–5 seconds. Look for: the light around the touchpad flashes fast, two at a time. PS alone = "go back to the PS5", not pairing.
2. Wait 10–30 seconds. Look for: PAIRING…, then the light stays on.
3. Press any button. Look for: CONNECTED: PLAYSTATION 5.

The DualSense Edge works the same way. R3 (right stick in) or a touchpad click is the scene button. Next time: press PS.

8BitDo Micro

1. Slide the mode switch to D. Watch out: in K or S Plugin Player sees nothing, even when Windows says Connected.
2. Hold PAIR (the small button on the bottom edge) for 3 seconds. Look for: the light blinks fast. A slow blink means "looking for its last device", not pairing.
3. Put it down and wait. Look for: PAIRING… then CONTROLLER READY.
4. Press any button. Look for: CONNECTED: 8BITDO MICRO.

Next time: press Start. More detail, and every way it can go wrong: PAIRING_8BITDO.md.

Xbox controller

Plugin Player does not pair Xbox controllers itself; your computer's Bluetooth settings do it.

1. Easiest: plug it in with a USB cable. It works at once. Done.
2. Bluetooth on Windows: in Plugin Player, CONTROLS → CONNECT A CONTROLLER → Xbox → OPEN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS. Then Add device → Bluetooth. On a Mac, use System Settings → Bluetooth instead.
3. Press the Xbox button to turn it on, then hold the small pair button on top (next to the USB port) for 3 seconds. Look for: the Xbox button flashes fast.
4. Pick Xbox Wireless Controller, then press any button. Look for: CONNECTED: XBOX.

Next time: press the Xbox button.

Any other controller

1. Easiest: a USB cable. Press any button.
2. Bluetooth: put it in pairing mode (its manual says how; usually hold a pair or home button until the light blinks fast). On Windows, choose OPEN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS → Add device → Bluetooth and pick its name. On a Mac, choose it under System Settings → Bluetooth → Nearby Devices and click Connect.
3. If the picture on screen is the wrong controller, pick Other (standard) in the CONTROLLER list.

Pairing on a Mac

1. Open Apple menu → System Settings → Bluetooth and turn Bluetooth on.
2. Put the controller in pairing mode using the table above.
3. Under Nearby Devices, click Connect next to its name: Wireless Controller (PS4), DualSense Wireless Controller (PS5), Xbox Wireless Controller, or 8BitDo Micro gamepad.
4. Return to Plugin Player and press any button.

The Plugin Player automatic-pairing steps above are for Windows. macOS does the pairing in System Settings.

Pairing in Windows by hand (when you need it)

If Plugin Player cannot pair it (an Xbox controller, another brand, or the guide says WINDOWS DID NOT LET PLUGIN PLAYER PAIR IT):

1. CONTROLS → CONNECT A CONTROLLER → OPEN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS (or Windows Start → Settings → Bluetooth & devices).
2. Add device → Bluetooth. Put the controller in pairing mode (table above).
3. Pick the controller, nothing else. Windows lists every Bluetooth thing nearby: smart lights (for example a Govee lamp), speakers, TVs, phones. A PlayStation 4 controller is called Wireless Controller, a PS5 one DualSense Wireless Controller, the Micro 8BitDo Micro gamepad, an Xbox one Xbox Wireless Controller.
4. Wait for Connected, then press any button.

Look out for

• Hold two buttons, not one (PlayStation). PS alone never pairs with a new computer.
• Pick the right name in the Bluetooth list. Not the lamp, the speaker or the TV.
• USB cables that only charge. Some cables carry power but no data. The controller then connects for a few seconds and drops, or shows nothing at all. Try another cable (the one that came with a phone usually carries data), and push it all the way in.
• One home at a time. A PlayStation controller remembers one machine. Use it on your PS4 / PS5 and it forgets this computer: hold SHARE (or CREATE) + PS again. Plugin Player clears the old Windows entry and pairs it again by itself.
• Press a button. Windows hands a controller to an app only after its first button press. If the CONTROLLER card says CONNECTED · PRESS ANY BUTTON, press one.
• Keep Plugin Player open while pairing. The automatic pairing only runs while it is running.

Troubleshooting

Removing a controller from Windows and pairing again (the fix for an old entry that will not reconnect):

1. Windows Start → Settings → Bluetooth & devices (or OPEN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS in Plugin Player).
2. Find the controller (Wireless Controller, DualSense Wireless Controller, 8BitDo Micro gamepad) → ⋯ → Remove device → Yes.
3. Put the controller in pairing mode with Plugin Player open (table at the top). It pairs it again.

More symptoms: TROUBLESHOOTING.md. What every button does: CONTROLLER.md.