PS5 controller calibration

When calibration helps

• A stick stops off center when you let go. As a stick wears, the point it springs back to creeps. Calibrating tells the controller where center is now. Measure it first with the PS5 controller tester: a stick that rests more than about 3% from center is worth calibrating.
• It stops in a different place each time. Worn sticks often stop a little short on the side they came from. That is why the center step asks you to let go from four corners: the controller learns the middle of those resting points. On the controller we tested, the left stick rested anywhere from 1.7% to 5.5% off center depending on how it was let go.
• You replaced a stick. New stick modules, including Hall effect and TMR sticks, read differently from the ones they replace. Calibrate the edges first, then the center.

It won't help when the reading jumps around while you hold still, or drifts on its own while you play: that is a worn or dirty sensor. Try the PS5 stick drift fixes, starting with cleaning and a dead zone.

How to calibrate a PS5 controller

1. Connect. Plug the controller in with a USB-C cable that carries data, press Connect and pick DualSense Wireless Controller in the box Chrome or Edge shows. If it isn't listed, close Steam, DS4Windows or DSX and plug the controller in again.
2. Center the sticks. Press Start. An arrow shows a corner: push both sticks there and let go. The page waits until the sticks have stopped, then shows the next corner. Four corners, about 20 seconds.
3. Check and save. The same four corners again. The page shows how far off center the sticks stopped before and after calibrating, and says plainly whether it helped. Press Save to keep the new calibration, or Undo to go back.

Replaced a stick, or a stick no longer reaches its edge? Choose Calibrate the edges first in step 2: roll each stick around its edge three times, then let go, and the center step starts by itself.

When calibration isn't enough: set a dead zone

A dead zone is a small circle around the middle of the stick where the game ignores movement. If a stick stops 5% off center, a 6% dead zone means the game never notices it, so nothing moves on screen while you aren't touching the stick.

• Where: in each game's settings, usually under Controls or Controller. Look for “dead zone” or “deadzone”; some games have one for each stick.
• How much: the number the check step gives you, or the one from the stick drift test. If the slider goes from 0 to 100, 6% is 6. If it goes from 0 to 1, 6% is 0.06.
• On a PC with Steam: Steam can add a dead zone to any game you play through it. Open the game's controller layout in Steam, choose the stick and change its dead zone.
• On a PS5: the console has no dead zone setting of its own, so set it in each game.

Keep it as small as you can. Everything inside the dead zone is ignored, including small moves you make on purpose, so a bigger one costs fine aim.

What gets changed, and how to go back

The controller stores a center and a range for each stick axis. The steps above change those numbers in the controller's memory only. Pressing Save writes them to its storage; until then, Undo or turning the controller off brings back the old ones.

The first time a controller connects here, this browser keeps a copy of its calibration. If you save a calibration you don't like, a Restore button puts that copy back. The copy never leaves your computer.

The page refuses to calibrate over Bluetooth, the DualSense Edge, and controllers that don't answer Sony's calibration requests, which usually means a counterfeit.

Steam, Windows and the PS5

The PS5 has no stick calibration in its settings. Steam lets you set a dead zone per game but doesn't change the controller. Windows' Set up USB game controllers panel has a Calibrate button, but it only changes how Windows reads the controller for older games; the controller, other apps and your PS5 never see it. A calibration saved here lives in the controller, so it works on every device you connect it to.