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7 Reasons Your PS5 Controller Vibration Is Not Working

7 Reasons Your PS5 Controller Vibration Is Not Working

With the release of the new PlayStation 5 console, there was added excitement from fans about the new DualSense controller. One of the leading benefits promised by the company was the ability to access the new Haptic Feedback feature. This feature allows players to go beyond the usual vibration offered by controllers. However, this feature doesn’t seem to work with all games. The question arises – is there a way to fix this problem on the new PS5 DualSense controller?

There are many different ways to fix issues with vibration on your DualSense controller. For example, you should use it with only the PS5 console and try re-pairing it to the device. Always make sure to fully charge the controller and ensure Haptic Feedback is switched on. Finally, consider that some games do not support this feature. You can also update or reset the controller to reaccess this feature.

If you really want to feel like you are immersed in the game, you can use the haptic feedback system to get real-time vibration throughout the game. Therefore, fixing this error is essential. You can keep reading this article to learn more about the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and how to fix issues with Haptic Feedback. 

Why Vibration Isn’t Working On The PlayStation 5 Controller

The best way to fix a problem is to understand what factors are causing it to occur. That is why, if you want to get access to vibration features on your PlayStation 5 again, you will need to understand why this problem is happening in the first place. Let’s see what the possible causes are:

Connecting To Other Consoles

Haptic feedback, the feature that results in vibration when using the DualSense controller, is a new feature. While this is available on the controller, you cannot just connect it to an older console and get it to work. The PlayStation 5 console is the only one you can use with the DualSense controller to get these latest features. 

The Console Needs Repairing With Controller

When you use the controller with your console for the first time, you will need to pair it. The process to do this is pretty simple, which is that you switch on the console and connect the DualSense controller with the USB cable. However, if the Haptic Feedback features are not working, you can try disconnecting and connecting them again. That way, you can see if the problem is indeed your connection to the PlayStation 5 console. 

DualSense Controller Battery Is Low

Haptic Feedback is a pretty battery-intensive feature. Therefore, a low battery can affect your ability to feel vibrations even when the controller is still on. There is a way you can keep an eye on the battery level on the controller through the Accessories tab in the settings menu. 

Charge your controller by connecting it to the PlayStation 5 console using a USB cable. The battery icon will light up, and once it is fully charged, you can start using it then. There is also a way that you can keep charging your controller even when it is in rest mode. Here’s how:

  1. On your console, open up the Settings menu.
  2. Go to the System tab, and then choose Power Saving.
  3. From here, now choose ‘Features Available In Rest Mode.’
  4. You can now choose the power supply that will go to the USB port.
  5. Set this to either ‘Always’ or ‘3 Hours.’

Once the controller charging is complete, you will no longer see the battery icon, and you will be able to see three bars. 

Switch On Haptic Feedback And Adaptive Triggers

Photo: The Verge

Before wondering what you need to do to, why not check if the Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers feature is on or not? Here are the steps to make sure that this feature is switched on:

  1. Open up the PlayStation 5 console, and then navigate to the Settings Menu.
  2. From here, choose Accessories, and then Controllers. 
  3. Choose the Vibration Intensity, and set it to either Weak, Medium, or Strong setting.
  4. Similarly, in the Trigger Effect Intensity, you can also choose from the Weak, Medium, or Strong levels. 

Related: How to Know if Your PS5 is Fake (3 Signs)

Play Games That Support Haptic Feedback

One thing to consider is that just because you have the PlayStation 5 console and controller, does not every game will have haptic feedback. In fact, since Haptic Feedback is still a new feature, there are just a few games that support this kind of tool. 

There is also the chance that some games that can create problems in accessing vibration feedback. Unfortunately, there is little you can do about this other than change the game you are playing. The good news is that you can look forward to developers incorporating Haptic Feedback into games more and more as it becomes more widely accessible. 

Update The PlayStation 5 Controller

Sometimes, features like Haptic Feedback and the firmware in your controller can work slow or stop working altogether. This is usually what happens when there is a bug that the developers can fix with a new update. That is why you should always make sure that the controller and the PlayStation can constantly update to the latest software or firmware version. While this often happens automatically, you can use a manual process with these steps:

  1. Go to the Settings menu, and choose Accessories.
  2. Now, choose the Controllers header.
  3. Finally, choose ‘Wireless Controller Device Software.’
  4. Update the firmware to the latest version available. 

You will now be able to update the controller to the latest firmware, and this should hopefully resolve the problem with the Haptic Feedback. 

Reset The DualSense Controller

If nothing else works, you have one more shot at fixing this problem. You can do this by resetting the DualSense Controller. This will cause you to lose all personal data and settings that you save on the controller. 

  1. Switch off the DualSense controller.
  2. Now, look for the reset pinhole. This is at the back of the controller. 
  3. Use a pin to push the button inside the hole, and press down for at least 5 seconds.
  4. Connect your controller to the PlayStation 5 console and switch it back on.

Hopefully, this should restore vibration settings to your DualSense controller. 

Conclusion

If you cannot get Haptic Feedback on your controller after all the steps above, you can try contacting PlayStation customer support. They may be able to help direct you to other troubleshooting steps or service settings.