If you are an avid gamer and you are fed up of a standard Keyboard or a Mouse on your PC, you can use an Xbox 360 controller to play games. Well, to some players it might be something new, but you should know that many PC games allow you to use an Xbox Controller on PC. You can simply plug-in an Xbox 360 controller via USB and enjoy playing your favorite games. Just like all other USB devices, the Xbox 360 controller requires drivers to work on your PC.
Most of the times, the drivers work just fine and you face no problems at all, but sometimes, your Xbox 360 controller might suddenly stop working. Well, this could be a problem with device drivers. If you are using Windows 10 and you are facing problems with your Xbox 360 controller driver, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We will tell you exactly how you can solve the problem if Xbox 360 driver is not working on Window 10.
How to Fix Xbox 360 Controller Driver
Windows 8.1 Xbox Controller Driver
If you’ve thoroughly checked and there is actually a problem with the Xbox 360 controller driver, you can resolve this issue by the following two methods.
Xbox One wireless controller adapter now supports Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Dongle, dongle, dongle, I don't want to leave the Congo.
1. Reinstall Xbox 360 Controller Driver on Windows 10
To reinstall Xbox 360 Controller driver on Windows 10, make sure your Controller isn’t plugged into your PC. If you have the Xbox 360 Accessories installed, please uninstall them from the Control panel. Follow the further steps below.
Step 1: Open “Device Manager.” Press Windows Key and X (Windows+X) at the same time. Click the ‘Device Manager.’
Step 2. Click ‘View’ in the menu items, and then click on ‘Show Hidden Devices’.
Step 3. Once through this step, a lot of devices which were previously hidden, will show up. Go to ‘Universal Serial Bus’ and find the ‘Xbox 360 Drivers’.
Step 4. For some users, it’ll be under the ‘Universal Serial Bus Controllers’, while some users will find it under ‘Universal Serial Bus Devices’.
Step 5. Now you need to find the correct device drivers for the Xbox 360 Controllers, right-click on it and select ‘Uninstall’. This will fully uninstall the USB Drivers for Xbox 360 Controller.
Step 6. Once through this step, you’ll see a dialogue box that will ask confirmation for Driver uninstallation.
Step 7. Check the box with the statement ‘Delete the driver software for this device’ and hit enter or click Ok.
Step 8. Now restart your Windows PC.
Step 9. Once the PC is restarted, plug in your USB Xbox 360 Controller and Windows 10 will find the suitable drivers for it.
Step 10. Follow the onscreen instructions and install the Xbox 360 Controller driver to make it work on Windows 10.
2. Update Xbox 360 Controller Driver Automatically (Wireless Controller)
In case you are using a wireless Xbox 360 Controller on Windows 10, then you must be using a wireless receiver for connecting it to the PC. Sometimes, the Xbox 360 Controller driver or the receiver can cause problems. To get rid of the problem, you need to manually download the Xbox 360 Controller and Xbox 360 Controller Receiver drivers. Follow the steps below.
Step 1: Uninstall the Receiver driver as well as Xbox 360 wireless controller driver from Windows 10 PC. The steps are similar as shown in the above solution.
Step 2. After completing the Step 1, visit official Microsoft website and download the Xbox 360 wireless controller and Receiver drivers for Windows 10.
Step 3. After downloading, install the drivers and check if both the Controller and Receiver are working properly and are connected.
Step 4. Make sure you download 32-bit or X64-bit drivers based on the architecture of your PC.
This should most probably fix any kind of Xbox 360 controller driver error on your Windows 10 or older versions.
Reinstall Windows 10
In most cases, the first two solution should be enough to fix the subject error. However, if you could not fix driver for Xbox 360 Controller, then you might want to reinstall the Windows 10. It will fix all the possible errors with any of your device drivers.
Make sure that you take the backup of all your important files before proceeding for fresh Win 10 installation.
Fix Also: Display driver stopped responding and has recovered
Conclusion
Let us know if any of these methods fix the issues with your Xbox 360 Controller driver on Windows 10. If you could not fix it, comment below with the error details you are getting.
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller(s) + Wireless Gaming Receiver for Xbox 360 = PC gaming fun
If you have an Xbox 360, you probably have extra Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers that you can pair with your Windows 8 system, for some fun. Read more about Apple Mac Mini macZilla and Lenovo Yoga 13 yZilla, which do a great job running vintage games. In a compact, efficient way.
The problem with getting these 2.4GHz controllers working with your PC is that the separate Microsoft-branded Wireless Gaming Receivers for Xbox 360 are getting rather hard to find. So how about a generic version? Yeah, it requires a unique driver installation, but the driver is baked right into Microsoft Windows 8.
[works fine with native driver built into Windows 8.1 as well, see 'May 04 2014 Update' added below this article]
This 'dongle' device itself costs well under $20 shipped, I tested Amazon's 'Seller1ON1' and 'Able Provider' reseller versions, variety of sellers on Amazon, or from or Newegg.
The install process is pretty straight-forward, but you'll need to follow each step carefully:
1) Connect the USB 2.0 cable from the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver to the Windows 8 PC
make sure to always use that same USB port in the future, and don't use the CD that may have been included with the receiver
2) On the Windows 8 system, press Win+X, then choose Device Manager
then follow along with the following sequence of screenshots:
3) Press Win+W, type Devices, select 'Devices and Printers' and hit Enter.
4) Turn off and unplug your Xbox 360 Console from power
to be sure the controller doesn't power up the console in the next step
5) Tap the power button on the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
6) Simultaneously press and hold the pairing buttons
Press and hold the (only) button on the the Wireless Gaming Receiver, then also on the top of the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, holding both for about 3 seconds, you should hear the usual Windows 'New device found' recognition tone.
7) You'll now see the 'Xbox 360 Wireless Controller' show up in Devices and Printers:
8) Test
To demonstrate proper controller functionality, you can:
- right-click on the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller in the Devices and Printers view
- select 'Game Controller Settings'
- select the Xbox 360 For Windows controller
- click the 'Properties' button
- on the Test tab that comes up, you can now test the controller's buttons and triggers for proper function
9) Add more controllers
If you have other controllers to add:
press and hold the pairing buttons on the Wireless Gaming Receiver and on the top of the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, simultaneously for about 3 seconds
10) You can now plug your Xbox 360 console back in
Since the controller(s) are now paired with your PC instead of your console.
11) Configure any PC games or simulators or emulators to use the newly available gaming controller(s)
Go have fun, because this controller install is done! Be sure to manually turn off the controller when done playing.
If you'd prefer a video walk-through of the install and testing instead, it's all shown clearly here:
Comments sharing your successes, or failures, are always appreciated, right below this article.
Related articles:
- for those using Windows 7, I had good luck with the method explained in this article:
krisrowland.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/fake-microsoft-xbox-360-wireless-controller-adapter-in-windows-7-64-bit - You can buy a new black controller with the Microsoft-branded USB adapter straight from Microsoft for $59.95, using the Microsoft Store link found here:
microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd//Xbox-360-Wireless-Controller-for-Windows-with-PC-USB-Adapter/productID.226973700
May 04 2014 Update:
With Windows 8.1 now released, good news, all the above information still applies. There's just one screenshot that varies slightly, seen here.
Multiple controller support on one wireless receiver opens up interesting possiblities, such as configuring Dolphin Emulator for 2 player GameCube games. Enjoy!
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Windows 8 Driver
And here's a video of the same procedure working on 8.1: