How to use a PlayStation 3 controller with Windows 10

Ivan Jenic
by Ivan Jenic
Troubleshooting Expert
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Use a PlayStation 3 controller with Windows 10 in 2 quick ways

Windows 10 is closely connected with Microsoft’s own Xbox One console, but there are some exceptions that could be made. For example, you can use Xbox‘s bitterest rival’s joystick as your regular computer joystick, with the little trick I’m going to show you in this article.

I know Microsoft will probably dislike this. So, if anyone from Microsoft reads this post, I’m sorry guys, but there are simply people who own PlayStation consoles (but still use your operating system on their computers, though), and they don’t want to spend money on expensive gamepads for their computers, when they can use the joystick they already have.

How to use PlayStation 3 controller on Windows PC

Use PlayStation 3 gamepad on PC with Motioninjoy

So, to be able to get your PS3 gamepad working on Windows 10, you have to do a couple of things first. The very first thing you need to do is to download the proper driver for your PlayStation 3 joystick.

There are a lot of drivers of this kind, but I recommend Motioninjoy. You can download it for free from this link.

Okay, so you downloaded and installed the driver, but your PS3 joystick still doesn’t work on your Windows 10 machine? Well, that’s normal, because as I said, Microsoft won’t let you use PS3 hardware by default.

So you have to do a little trick, called “disabling driver signature enforcement,” in order to be able to the PlayStation 3 gamepad on Windows 10 computer.

To disable driver signature enforcement, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Start Menu and open Settings.
  2. Go to Update and Recovery.
  3. Choose Recovery from the left panel.
  4. Under Recovery section, choose Advanced Startup.
  5. Your computer will restart and you’ll get advanced startup options on the next boot.
  6. In these options, choose Troubleshoot.
  7. Now head to Advanced options.
  8. And then Startup settings.
  9. The computer will restart again and it will give you the list of startup settings you can change.
  10. You should look for Disable driver signature enforcement, to turn off this option, press F7.
  11. Restart your computer and boot normally.

After disabling driver signature enforcement, your Motionjoy drivers should work just fine. If you can’t get into Recovery mode, check out this guide to solve the problem.

After you set up your drivers, follow the instructions from Motionjoy, and you’ll be able to use PlayStation 3 controller on your Windows 10 computer.

If you need more info on how to disable driver signature enforcement, we’ve covered the subject extensively in this complete guide.

Did you know that you can install any unsigned driver on Windows 10? It’s pretty easy, with the help of this guide.

Use PlayStation 3 controller on PC without Motioninjoy (with Bluetooth dongle)

Using Motionjoy is probably the most popular method of connecting your PS3 controller with your Windows PC. However, there are some people who don’t like Motionjoy, but prefer another method instead.

First, check if you have Bluetooth on your PC. If you don’t know how to do that, take a look at this article.

We’re not going to ask for your reasons, but if you want another method, here’s one for you:

  1. Make sure you have latest Xbox 360 drivers installed on your computer. If you don’t have these installed, you can manually download them from here.
  2. Now, plug in your PS3 controller with your USB. You can also plug a Bluetooth dongle if you want to use that, as well. Make sure you have drivers for your Bluetooth dongle installed.
  3. Now, download the XInput Wrapper drivers from here.
  4. Unpack the file using WinRAR(or any other compression software) and run the ScpDriver.exe file from the ScpServerbin folder
  5. Finish the installation process
  6. Restart your computer

That’s it. After performing this, you should be able to use your PS3 controller with official Xbox 360 drivers.

I know it’s probably against Microsoft’s rules, but if you already have a PS3 controller, why throw money on some expensive PC gamepads, when you can play with what you got.

Furthermore, if you’re in the market for a brand new PS3 controller or any other PS3 accessories, here’s what we’re suggesting for you to buy:

You can also check out the best controllers on the market right now right here. If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been since completely revamped and updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.