If you searched “DS5Windows” looking to get a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller working on PC, here’s the honest, direct answer: DSX (DualSenseX) won’t help you here. It’s built specifically for Sony’s DualSense family, DualSense, DualSense Edge, and DualShock 4, and doesn’t support Nintendo controllers at all.
What you actually want is DS4Windows, a separate, well-established open-source tool that genuinely does support the Switch Pro Controller, along with Joy-Cons, DualShock, and DualSense. We’re covering it here because enough people land on this site searching for exactly this, and pointing you to the wrong tool wouldn’t be useful.
What DS4Windows Does for Switch Pro Controllers
DS4Windows takes input from your Switch Pro Controller and emulates a virtual Xbox 360 controller, which Windows games recognize natively without any extra configuration needed on the game’s end. It was originally created by Jays2Kings, carried forward by Ryochan7 for years, and today the actively maintained version is developed by the DS4-Windows.com team, building on that earlier foundation. It’s genuinely open-source under a GPL license throughout its history.
What You’ll Need
- DS4Windows itself. Ryochan7’s original build (the one most older guides link to) was archived in early 2024 and no longer receives updates. For new installations, get the current, actively maintained v3.5 build from ds4-windows.com instead, it continues development on Ryochan7’s foundation with ongoing fixes and new features
- Microsoft .NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime (x64), required for the app to run at all
- ViGEmBus, the driver that actually creates the virtual Xbox controller, from its official GitHub release page
Connecting Your Switch Pro Controller
Over Bluetooth: hold the small sync button on top of the controller until the lights start cycling, then go to Windows Settings, Bluetooth & Devices, Add Device, and select it from the list.
Over USB: just plug it in with a USB-C cable, Windows will recognize it as a generic DirectInput device on its own.
Installing DS4Windows
Download the v3.5 build from ds4-windows.com, extract the folder, and run the executable. On first launch, you’ll be asked where to save your settings, the default AppData location works fine for most people. It’ll also prompt you to install ViGEmBus if it’s not already present.
Enabling Switch Pro Controller Support
DS4Windows defaults to focusing on PlayStation controllers, so Switch Pro support needs to be turned on explicitly.
- Open DS4Windows and go to its Settings tab.
- Look for a device detection or controller support option.
- Make sure Switch Pro is checked or enabled.
Exact wording for this setting has shifted a bit across different DS4Windows versions and forks, so if you don’t see it exactly as described, check nearby settings related to controller type detection, it’s usually grouped close to similar toggles.
Setting Up Your Profile
Go back to the Controllers tab, your Switch Pro Controller should now be listed. Click Edit on its profile. Nintendo’s button layout swaps A/B and X/Y compared to Xbox’s standard layout, so you can flip these in the mapping screen if you want your muscle memory from Nintendo controllers to carry over, or leave it as standard XInput layout if you’d rather match what most PC games expect by default.
Save the profile, then confirm DS4Windows shows as actively running. Your controller’s status indicator should confirm it’s successfully hiding the physical controller and presenting a virtual Xbox gamepad to Windows instead.
Fixing the Double Input Glitch
Since Windows can technically see both your raw Switch Pro Controller and the newly emulated virtual Xbox controller at the same time, some games end up reading both, causing duplicate button presses or general confusion in menus.
HidHide fixes this the same way it does for other controller emulation setups:
- Install HidHide from its official GitHub release page.
- Under the Devices tab, find your Switch Pro Controller and check the box to hide it.
- Under Applications, add DS4Windows to the whitelist.
- Enable hiding.
Steam-Specific Considerations
If you’re playing through Steam, either close DS4Windows entirely before launching, or go into Steam’s controller settings and disable Steam Input for Switch controllers specifically. Running both DS4Windows and Steam Input at the same time means two separate translation layers are competing over the same input, which tends to cause exactly the kind of conflicts and double inputs described above.
Why This Naming Confusion Happens in the First Place
It’s worth understanding why you ended up here at all. “DS4Windows” is a real, established name, so when the DualSense launched, people naturally started searching for a “DS5” equivalent, even though no official tool by that name exists. Some sites lean into that search term to describe DualSenseX, which is a reasonable connection since DSX genuinely is the DualSense-focused counterpart to DS4Windows. But DS4Windows itself already supports the DualSense too, alongside DualShock and Nintendo controllers, so the naming overlap goes both directions and causes genuine confusion depending on which controller you actually own.
The short version: if you’re on a Switch Pro Controller or Joy-Cons, DS4Windows is your only real option between the two. If you’re specifically on a DualSense and want features built around its unique hardware, adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, DSX is the more specialized choice. They’re not interchangeable, and neither is a strict upgrade over the other, they’re built for different controllers with some overlap in the middle.
If You’re Also Using a DualSense
If you’ve got both a Switch Pro Controller and a DualSense and want to use DSX for the DualSense specifically, that’s genuinely fine, just don’t run DS4Windows and DSX at the same time for the same controller, and be aware that running both apps simultaneously in general (even for different controllers) has been known to cause conflicts. Our Drivers page covers driver setup if you’re configuring DSX separately, though DS4Windows setup itself is a distinct tool with its own installation, as covered above.