How to connect a gamepad to a laptop

Many people like to play computer games and for convenience they purchase joysticks. But in most cases, they face problems when connecting this device to a laptop. You will learn how to connect a wired and wireless gamepad to a laptop, configure it and what problems you may encounter in our article.

Connecting a joystick to a laptop

In order to connect the joystick to a laptop, you must perform the following steps:

1. Install joystick drivers on your laptop. When purchasing a gamepad, it should come with a driver disk, which must be inserted into the drive and run the installation files. If such a disk is missing, you can use the Internet and download the program you need through a search engine.
2. Connect the gaming accessory to the laptop. Each joystick has a USB cable that must be inserted into the laptop connector. After which the connection will be detected and the connection will be made.
3. Check the functionality of the gamepad during the game. You should check if your game supports the new device. First you need to download it, find the list of devices in the control settings, find your joystick and click OK.If, after connecting, the joystick does not appear in the list of devices or does not work, then the cause of the problem may lie in a malfunction of the gamepad itself or in its design.

Attention! If you do not find your gaming accessory in the list of control settings for this game, then try loading another game and find it there.

The functionality of the gamepad can also be checked through the Control Panel. To do this, you need to open it and select “Game devices”. If there is a green checkmark next to the connected device that says OK, then the gamepad is working, but if not, then the joystick is faulty.

In addition to connecting the Xbox 360 to a laptop via a USB connector, there is another connection method - via the Game port. But when checking the connection after using this connection option, pairing may not occur. This may indicate a defect in the joystick itself or problems with the software on this laptop.

How to set up a gamepad

After the drivers are installed and the gamepad is connected to the laptop, you need to configure it. To do this, go to “Control Panel” and select “Hardware and Sound”. Then, in the “Devices and Printers” item, right-click on the “Controller” item and select “Game Device Settings”, then select “Properties”.

You can also evaluate the current calibration in the “Check” tab. If you want to manually calibrate your gamepad, then to do this you should go to “Options” and select “Calibrate”. Then follow the suggested tips that will be displayed in the dialog box by the calibration wizard.

Features of connecting a wireless joystick

To connect a wireless joystick to your laptop, follow these steps:

1. Install the joystick drivers on the laptop (from disk or download them from the Internet).
2. On a laptop, activate the Bluethooth function by clicking its icon on the toolbar or through the “Toolbar”, selecting “Network”, and then activating “Bluethooth”. If your electronic device does not have this function, then you will need to purchase an adapter.
3. When the wireless connection is complete, you should activate the joystick. On it, press and hold the central button for a few seconds.
4. Then go to the Bluethooth module and select “Add device”. The system will start searching.
5. When a gamepad is detected, click OK.
6. Next, load the game, configure control settings and check the functionality of the gamepad.

Possible problems

After connecting the gamepad to the laptop, some problems may arise: the new device does not appear when connected to the laptop, the gamepad does not connect, the computer game does not support this joystick or does not see it.

The solution to the first problem is very easy: before connecting the cable of the gaming accessory to the laptop and waiting for the connection, you must first install the drivers.

The reasons for the second problem may be: a malfunction of the device itself or an outdated version of the game that does not support connecting a joystick. In this case, to understand whether the gamepad is working or not, you need to run several different games and check the settings for their support for similar devices. If this device is not displayed in games that support the connection of joysticks, then it is better to return it back to the store.

The third problem can be solved in several ways:

1. If you are using Steam, then you need to go to Big Picture mode and use the option in the top right corner to enable “Settings” and then select “Gamepad Settings”.
2. If you are using an unlicensed version of the game, which may simply not support this device, you should find a high-quality emulation program.
3. Most games do not support this device at all or only a certain type. In this case, you need to download an emulating program, for example, x360ce, configure this device in it and copy the settings data to the game folder.
4. The Xpadder program can help, which copies the functions of the joystick buttons when you press the keyboard keys. Thanks to it, the device will work in all games, and for free. This program should be downloaded via the Internet, loaded and launched. Then connect the joystick and in the window that opens, select the image of the gamepad, assign the corresponding keys on the keyboard to the buttons of this device and you can start playing.

The above recommendations will help you connect your gamepad to your laptop.