When you’re switching between different game genres on PC, going from a fast-paced FPS to a racing sim to a slower third-person RPG, you usually want a completely different controller setup for each. Deadzones, trigger resistance, button mapping, none of it really carries over well from one genre to the next. Manually swapping profiles inside DS5Windows (DSX) every time you launch a new game gets old fast.
DSX’s newer v3 releases introduced automatic profile switching, tying specific profiles to specific games so the right settings load without you touching anything. This guide walks through setting that up, along with a few things worth knowing before you rely on it.
A Quick Note on Availability
Auto Profiles is a relatively new addition, it started rolling out in DSX’s v3 betas rather than being a long-standing feature. If you’re on an older version of DSX, you may not see this option yet, updating through Steam should get you there. Also worth knowing: early implementations of this feature have been tied to games recognized in DSX’s own library rather than working as a fully generic “point at any .exe” system, so behavior may vary a bit depending on which version you’re running.
Creating Game-Specific Controller Profiles
Before setting up any switching rules, it helps to have profiles already built for the type of games you play most.
Steps
- Open DSX and go to the Profiles tab.
- Create a new profile, or duplicate an existing one as a starting template.
- Adjust the settings for the genre you’re building it for:
- FPS games: tighter stick deadzones, gyro mapped to aim-down-sights if you use motion aiming, a shorter/lighter trigger response for faster shots.
- Racing games: more resistance on the triggers to simulate throttle and brake feel, standard (not tightened) stick response for steering precision.
- Emulators or retro titles: touchpad swipes mapped to quick-save or quick-load hotkeys if the emulator supports it.
- Name each profile something you’ll recognize later, like
FPS_Competitive,Racing_Sim, orDefault_Desktop, and save it.
Having these ready before you touch auto-switching makes the next part much faster.
Setting Up Automatic Switching
Once your profiles exist, you can link them to specific games so DSX applies the right one automatically.
General Workflow
- In DSX, look for the Profiles or Game Library section where per-game profile assignment is configured, this has moved around a bit across recent versions, so the exact menu name may differ slightly depending on which build you’re on.
- Select or add the game you want a specific profile tied to.
- Assign the profile you built for that genre.
- Save the rule.
From there, launching that game should automatically load the assigned profile, and DSX should revert to your default profile once the game closes.
A Note on Non-Steam Games
Some users have found that auto-switching works most reliably for games already in your library through DSX or Steam, and less consistently for games launched outside that (like ones from Epic, GOG, or standalone installers). If a non-Steam game doesn’t trigger the switch automatically, you may need to select that profile manually for now, this is a known limitation rather than something you’re doing wrong.
Setting a Default Fallback Profile
To avoid your controller getting stuck on a game-specific profile after you’ve closed that game, set a baseline profile that DSX falls back to by default.
How It Works
- On the main Controllers tab, set your primary baseline profile, something like
Default_Desktop. - When DSX detects that a linked game has closed, it should revert the controller back to this baseline automatically.
This keeps your desktop experience consistent (normal deadzones, no racing-specific trigger tuning left active) once you’re done playing.
Useful Things to Know
Anti-Cheat and Protected Launchers
Some anti-cheat systems or protected game launchers can hide or obscure the actual game process, which may prevent DSX from detecting it correctly for auto-switching. If a game isn’t triggering the profile change, try launching the game first, then checking DSX for any active process list where you can select it directly, rather than relying on automatic detection alone.
Running Other Controller Tools Alongside DSX
If you’re also running another controller mapping tool, like DS4Windows, at the same time as DSX, expect conflicts. DSX will generally override the other tool’s actions, so it’s best to stick to one controller tool running at a time rather than layering them.
Multiple Controllers
If you’re using two or more DualSense controllers for local multiplayer, most versions of DSX let you assign separate profiles per controller slot, so each player can have their own settings active simultaneously.
If you run into detection issues while setting any of this up, our Troubleshooting guide and Drivers page cover the more common connection problems. For the full setup process from scratch, our Get Started guide is the place to begin, and you can grab the current version of DSX from its official Steam page.