PlayStation
How to fix Drift on the DualSense, the PS5’s controller, without losing your warranty
There are ways to fix analog stick drift on your DualSense controller without the need to open it up.
Many of the owners of a PlayStation 5 -and a Nintendo Switch- can attest to it: the moment when drift happens with your DualSense is one of the worst moments when it comes to enjoying our favorite video games. You are having so much fun and suddenly, our character or the camera - depending on what stick is affected - begins to move on its own. Yes, your DualSense is under warranty, great, but... what if it’s not? This method can help you alleviate the effects of drift for a considerable time, extending the life of your controller.
How to fix DualSense drift
We have to make one thing clear: it is a palliative method, that is, it does not solve it permanently, but it does solve it for enough time so that you can accumulate savings or wait for a period of spending on less dispensable things to pass.
The first thing you have to do is, with the console turned off, clean the spaces between the sticks of the DualSense, which can be done with a small brush or, ideally, with compressed air, as long as it is not too strong. After this cleaning, the key moment arrives, but don’t worry: it is extremely simple.
Pointing up with the stick affected, you rotate it 360 degrees - that is, complete turns - several dozen times - approximately 20 or 30 - slowly towards one direction, and then you repeat the process towards the opposite direction. It makes no difference whether you start from left to right and then the other way around, or vice versa.
The next step is to press the stick, which would be R3 or L3, depending on which one is faulty, which will be repeated ten times. Then, you do it the other way around, that is, pull the stick outwards, another ten times. After all these “exercises”, you clean again and although it is not essential, it is recommended that you reset the DualSense. Once this entire process is finished, you’ll see that if the drift wasn’t too severe, your controller should work correctly again... and you can continue playing!
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