PS5 Controller Test
Check a DualSense for stick drift, dead buttons and worn adaptive triggers. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Connect your controller and press any button
Plug it in over USB or pair it over Bluetooth, then press any button so your browser can see it. Some browsers only reveal a controller after the first input.
Let go of both sticks completely, then start the check. We'll measure the resting position for a few seconds.
Left stick
Right stick
Buttons
Labels read Xbox / PlayStation / Nintendo, because the underlying layout is index-based rather than brand-based.
Triggers
Live axis readout
| Axis | Mapping | Value |
|---|
What a DualSense drift reading tells you
The DualSense uses the same class of stick part as the DualShock 4 before it: a potentiometer module rated for a few hundred hours of contact travel, soldered to a board that was never designed for the part to be replaced. Drift reports started within months of the PS5 launch and a US class action followed in early 2021. The characteristic DualSense symptom is a small, constant offset rather than a wild swing — enough to walk a character forward on its own in a game with a tight deadzone, and completely invisible in a game with a generous one. That is exactly the gap this page closes: a healthy DualSense rests inside about 0.020, and the check flags anything past 0.080.
The DualSense also hands its adaptive triggers to the browser as ordinary analog inputs. L2 and R2 should sweep smoothly from 0.00 to a solid 1.00 with no resistance profile applied, because the Gamepad API cannot arm the trigger motors — a web page has no way to make them stiffen. So if a trigger stops short of 1.00 on the bars above, or rests above 0.00, that is mechanical wear and not the adaptive mechanism holding it back.
Sony's first-line fix is a controller reset, and it is worth doing before you blame the sticks: with the pad unplugged, push a straightened paperclip into the small hole beside the Sony logo on the back, hold it for about five seconds, then reconnect over USB and re-pair. That clears a stuck pairing or calibration state. It does nothing at all for a worn potentiometer, and if the offset above is unchanged after a reset, the hardware is the answer.
The DualSense carries a twelve-month limited warranty in the US; buyers in the EU and UK have a longer statutory right to repair or replacement for a fault that was present at purchase, which is worth citing when a pad drifts in its second year. Start from PlayStation Support's repairs page with the serial number on the back of the pad. One first-party exception is worth knowing: the DualSense Edge sells its stick modules as a user-replaceable spare part, making it the only PlayStation controller you can fix for drift without soldering.
If the offset is borderline, the deadzone visualizer shows whether a game would ignore it. Coming from a PS4? Run the PS4 controller test instead.
