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I've noticed recently on Windows 10 that UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps like the Xbox, Windows Store, etc are taking some inputs from my attached Xbox One controller.

There is an article on MSDN regarding how UWP apps can now respond to Gamepad and Remote interactions.

Is there a way of disabling this feature of Windows 10?

My Windows 10 machine is set up as a TV gaming machine with Steam Big Picture and I use Controller Companion which is an excellent mouse/keyboard emulator for controllers when I need to interact with Windows apps. It is way better than the half-baked UWP controller support. But now these two systems clash making using UWP apps on Windows 10 difficult with a controller.

I need a way to disable the UWP gamepad/remote interactions.

Superman
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orj
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  • Wouldn't it be easier to just turn off the controller? The functionality to use a controller is entirely up to the application itself. – Ramhound Jan 30 '17 at 14:36
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    Problem is the controller support is bad in most UWP apps. Tools like Controller Companion are better solutions for machines hooked up to TVs for gaming and the like (my situation). – orj Jan 31 '17 at 23:15
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    I am using Joy2Key to control the mouse with my gamepad. Now the new UWP controller support is ruining my experience, on those apps I can´t control the mouse with the gamepad properly anymore because the app is doing all kind of actions when I use my gamepad. So I am also very interested on disabling this. – diegopau Jun 09 '18 at 17:54
  • @diegopau yes same here and we are in 2020 as I comment this and the problem is still persisting, windows will always assume you are doing things in their terms so they will kinda don't give a damn bout about what you try to achieve to improve your personal experience, I want to control my cursor with my xbox controller but in some official place of this damn piece of software highlights will move as I move the joystick, it's really annoying. – vdegenne Aug 01 '20 at 20:44
  • This is most anoying in the start menu. Have you found a solution yet? – Fox Apr 29 '21 at 12:21

4 Answers4

1

This is the solution.

If you want to use a wired controller, do the following:

  1. Download the cab file "Microsoft - Game Devices, Other hardware - XBOX 360 Controller For Windows" from: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=%20Microsoft%20-%20Game%20Devices%2C%20Other%20hardware%20-%20XBOX%20360%20Controller%20For%20Windows%20
  • Last Updated "8/12/2009"
  • Size "2.5 MB"
  1. Use 7-Zip to extract the cab file. This will result in a folder that contains:
  • two folders "x64" & "x86"
  • and three files: "INF Failures.txt", "xusb21.cat", & "xusb21.inf".

  1. Open "control panel" and search for and navigate to "device manager".

  2. Click on the "View" tab and select "Show hidden devices".

  3. In "device manager" scroll down and you will eventually see "Xbox 360 Peripherals". Click it.

  4. Right click on "Xbox 360 Controller for Windows" and select "Update Driver Software".

  5. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software".

  6. Click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

  7. Click on "Have Disk..." in the lower right corner of the window.

  8. Click on "Browse..." and navigate into the extracted folder from earlier that contains the driver.

  9. Select the "xusb21.inf" file then click "Open".

  10. Click "OK".

  11. Click "Next" then the driver should install.

  12. You will be asked to "restart your computer". Do it when you are ready so that the changes will go into effect.

  13. You should be all set. Hopefully this will work for you.

If you want to Use a bluetooth controller, then do the following:

  1. Open "control panel" and search for and navigate to "device manager".

  2. Click on the "View" tab and select "Show hidden devices".

  3. In "device manager" scroll down and you will eventually see "Human Interface Devices". Click it.

  4. Right click on "Bluetooth XINPUT compatible device" and select "Update Driver Software".

  5. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software".

  6. Click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

  7. Select "Bluetooth HID Device".

  8. Click on "Next".

  9. Restart your computer.

vectorjon
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0

The open-source project HidHide is a generalized solution to the problem of hiding some devices from some applications.

Its description says:

With HidHide it is possible to deny a specific application access to one or more human interface devices, effectively hiding a device from the application. When a HOTAS is preferred for a flight-simulator one can hide the game pads. When a steering wheel is preferred for a racing game, one can hide the joysticks, and so on. When, as mentioned above, a feeder utility is used, one can use HidHide to hide the physical device from the application, hence avoiding multiple notifications while binding game functions and device controls.

The project is currently at version v1.0.30 from Apr 3, 2021, and is still evolving.

It requires as prerequisite the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019.

harrymc
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You can now disable Windows' inbuilt half-baked controller support with a registry edit (source).

Create a new key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Input\Settings\ControllerProcessor\ControllerToVKMapping

Then add a DWORD value to this key named "Enabled" and set to 0.

No other solution I could find seemed to work in my case. Note that I have only tested on Windows 11 with the Controller Companion app, but I believe it should work for Windows 10. I use Xbox Series X controllers through a wireless adapter, but this solution should also work for all XInput devices.

danVnest
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  • Note that as this is controller independent, there are a couple of duplicate questions that are relevant: https://superuser.com/questions/1508391/stop-xbox-360-controller-from-controlling-windows-10-steam-not-installed & https://superuser.com/questions/1540608/disable-xbox-360-controller-in-uwp-apps-like-windows-store-and-start-menu/1722925#1722925 – danVnest May 29 '22 at 12:31
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-Open Device Manager

-Right Click "Xbox One Controller" (under Xbox Peripherals) (if you are using wireless dongle then find that in the device manager)

-Select Update Driver Software

-Browse on my PC

-Let me pick from a list

-Choose: "Microsoft Xbox One Controller"

Ringo Lall
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  • This changed nothing for me. I saw older answers suggesting installing an older driver for 360 controllers, but it doesn't work for xbox one controllers. – Fox Apr 29 '21 at 12:23