How to turn the PS5 controller touchpad into extra buttons on a Mac
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
Draw regions on the touchpad in InputConfig, the free mapper I make, and each region becomes a button: touch it and it sends a key, a shortcut, a click, or anything else a button can. The built-in Touchpad Zones preset is a working example, with the four corners as Undo, Redo, Copy and Paste.
macOS has nothing like this. It does not even turn the touchpad into a pointer. Regions work on the DualSense, the DualSense Edge and the DualShock 4, over Bluetooth or USB, and a preset can hold up to 16 of them. A Steam Controller's left and right trackpads each take regions of their own too.
On this page
Steps
- Open a preset in the editor and pick Touchpad in the controller's Regions card, or choose Controller, Touchpad Regions while a preset runs.
- Drag a rectangle on the pad, or click Add Region.
- Bind the region to a key, or add a row with the input type Touchpad Region and pick it.
- Save the preset and touch the region to try it.
Try the built-in preset first
- You: Activate Touchpad Zones and touch a corner of the pad.
- InputConfig: Sends Undo top left, Redo top right, Copy bottom left and Paste bottom right, each with a short pulse so you can feel that it landed.
- Check: Pressing the pad is still a left click, and a two-finger tap is a right click.
The four regions belong to that preset, so editing them there changes nothing anywhere else.
Draw your own regions
Step 1: Open the Regions card
- You: Open the preset in the editor, scroll to the Regions card at the end of the controller's group, and pick Touchpad. While a preset runs, Controller, Touchpad Regions in the menu bar opens the same drawing.
- InputConfig: Shows a drawing of the pad, with your finger on it live.
- Check: Add Region is available. It stays off until a preset is open or running, because regions belong to a preset.
Step 2: Draw a region
- You: Drag a rectangle on the drawing of the pad. Add Region adds one in the middle without drawing, and a region's Left, Top, Width and Height fields, in percent, place it by number.
- InputConfig: Adds the region to the list.
- Check: The region shows on the pad where you drew it.
Step 3: Bind it
- You: Rename it from its right-click menu, then click the link button next to it and pick a key. Or add a row with the input type Touchpad Region and choose the region, or press Scan on a row and touch the region.
- InputConfig: Fires that row while a finger is in the region.
- Check: Save the preset and touch the region to try it.
Apply default 1 to 16 replaces the regions with a 4 by 4 grid and binds each square to a key, 1 to 9, 0, then F1 to F6, which is a quick start for a hotbar or a macro grid.
Know how a region behaves
A region is held while a finger is inside it and lets go when the finger leaves, like a key held down. Rest a finger in a region bound to W and a game keeps walking. A quick touch is a quick press.
A tap inside a region fires the region rather than a tap row. Regions carry every option a button does: a hold action, a double tap, toggle, turbo, rumble or spoken feedback.
Share the pad between regions and the pointer
Regions and pointing can share the pad. A finger that lands in a region fires it. A finger that moves drives the touchpad's pointer rows. The press stays its own button, so pressing the pad can click while the regions send keys. Keep regions near the edges and leave the middle for pointing, and the two rarely get in each other's way.
Pick a layout that works
- Reading. Left half and right half as Page Up and Page Down.
- Anki. Three columns as Again, Good and Easy: see Anki from a controller.
- A hotbar. A strip of five along the top as keys 1 to 5.
- Editing. Four corners as Undo, Redo, Copy and Paste, as the built-in preset does.
The pad is roughly 5 by 2.5 centimeters, so six to eight regions stay easy to hit without looking. A short pulse on each region, set in its row's Options, tells you which one you touched.
If a region does not fire
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Watch the Touchpad view. The Live Visualizer's Touchpad view draws the preset's regions on the pad and lights each one as you touch it, with your finger shown live. The Regions card shows your finger as well.
- Check the preset. Regions belong to the preset you drew them in and save with it.
- Check the binding. A region with no row or link does nothing. Bind it with the link button, or Scan a row and touch the region.
If the region lights in the Touchpad view, the region works and only its binding is missing.
What it cannot do
Touchpad regions are areas of the controller's touchpad. They cannot be drawn on the Mac's own trackpad, which moves the pointer and does not report finger positions to apps. Its equivalent is screen regions: areas of the display that fire while the pointer is inside them, whatever moves the pointer. Screen regions has that setup. Touchpad regions are for a PlayStation touchpad or a Steam Controller's trackpads, and screen regions are for everything else.
The short version
- Try it. Activate Touchpad Zones and touch a corner.
- Make your own. Pick Touchpad in the editor's Regions card, draw, then bind each region.
- Keep it usable. I would stay at six to eight regions near the edges, with a pulse on each.
On a Mac the touchpad does nothing by default, and regions are what put the whole surface to work.
Questions
How many touchpad regions can I make?
Up to 16 per preset. Six to eight are comfortable to hit without looking at the pad.
Does the PS4 controller touchpad support regions?
Yes. The DualShock 4's touchpad takes regions the same way as the DualSense and DualSense Edge.
Can I make regions on the Mac's own trackpad?
No. The Mac trackpad moves the pointer and does not report finger positions, so its equivalent is screen regions: areas of the display that fire while the pointer is inside them.
Does every preset share the same regions?
No. Each preset has its own regions, so the pad can be Anki buttons in one preset and a hotbar in another.
Do I need to calibrate the touchpad first?
No. The touchpad needs no calibration, because macOS reports the whole pad, and regions are drawn on its full surface.
Can pressing the pad do something different from touching a region?
Yes. The press is its own button. A region fires on touch, and the press can send a click or anything else on its own row.
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