JoystickTest

Guides

Controller vibration not working

Rumble fails in two ways. Either nothing is telling the motors to spin, which is a software problem, or a motor is told to spin and cannot, which is hardware. One test tells you which.

Opened game controller showing the two rumble motors in the grips
Two motors, one heavy, one light, each with its own weight. Testing them separately isolates a failed side.

Test the motors directly

Open the Controller vibration test in Chrome or Edge and press each motor button. The page sends a rumble command straight through the operating system, bypassing games and Steam. If the controller buzzes, the motors and the driver are fine and the problem is in the game or its launcher. If the page reports that vibration is not exposed, read the compatibility notes on that page: Safari and some Bluetooth setups cannot send rumble even to a healthy controller. If one motor buzzes and the other does not, that motor or its cable has failed.

Software causes

  • Game setting. Most games have a vibration toggle; some reset it after updates.
  • Steam Input. Steam → Settings → Controller → the controller's settings has a rumble toggle and an intensity slider. Games that bypass Steam Input need the real controller driver; forcing Steam Input off for that title restores native rumble on DualSense.
  • Bluetooth on Windows. Rumble over Bluetooth works for DualSense in Chromium browsers and Steam, but not for the Switch Pro Controller and not for some Xbox firmware. A cable fixes it.
  • Remapping tools. DS4Windows and reWASD have their own rumble settings and can block the passthrough.

Hardware causes

A battery that cannot supply peak current makes rumble weak or absent while buttons still work; charge fully or fit new cells and test again. Motor cables on DualSense and DualShock 4 run through the grips and can tear at the connector after a drop; the motor then spins when you push the connector in. The motors themselves rarely fail, but the eccentric weight can come loose and rattle instead of vibrating. Replacement motors are cheap and solder with two wires.

Close-up of a rumble motor with its ribbon cable disconnected from the controller board
A torn motor lead at the connector is the most common hardware cause after a drop.

Frequently asked questions

Rumble works in the tester but not in my game.

The game or Steam Input is suppressing it. Check the game's vibration setting, then Steam's controller rumble setting, then try forcing Steam Input off for that game.

Why is DualSense rumble weaker on PC than on PS5?

PS5 drives the DualSense's voice-coil haptics with rich waveforms. Windows games mostly send classic two-motor rumble, which the DualSense emulates more softly.

Can Safari test vibration?

No. Safari does not expose the vibration part of the Gamepad API. Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox 125 and later.

Fire each motorStrong, weak, both. If the pad buzzes here, the hardware is fine.
Open the vibration test