Hello and welcome to consolelibrary.com. Today we are going to be looking at why your PS5 controller is not working in games but only in the PS5 menu. This can be frustrating because every time you start your game the controller doesn't respond to the game. All the buttons stop working but once you are in the PS5 menu everything resumes working as normal.

Let us now see the work around to this issue and how we can fix this issue. I have gathered a few tricks on how you solve this issue. 


Without wasting much time let us see how we can fix this issue.


1. Turn off the Bluetooth and connect through the USB cable

This is one of the best ways to fix this issue. All you have to do is turn off the Bluetooth on the PS5 and then connect your PS5 controller through a USB cable start your game and then disconnect and reconnect the USB cable and press the PS button. This should make your controller to start working in the games as well.

To turn off the Bluetooth on your PS5 go into [Settings] > (Accessories) > (General) > (Turn Off Bluetooth) and then connect your controller through a USB cable and select continue.

Alternatively you can watch the video below to see how to turn off Bluetooth on the PS5.



2. Reset the controller

This is one of the simplest ways to solve this issue where the PS5 controller (Dualsense) is only working in the menu and not in games.


You can simply reset the controller, connect it through the USB cable and then turn it back on by pressing the PS button. After you have done this you can now start your game and see if the problem persist.


To reset your PS5 controller find a small hole behind the controller just next to the word Sony. You can use a paper clip or a SIM card tray eject tool to press in the hole. You should hear a button click when you push through the hole. 


Press and hold the button for 5 seconds and then release. Now connect it to the console through a USB cable. You have now successfully reset you PS5 controller.


You should avoid using a needle as it is too sharp and will wear out the button after a few resets. Make sure you do not confuse the reset hole button with the microphone. Refer to the picture below to confirm the reset hole button.

PS5 controller reset button



3. Re-synchronize the PS5 controller

This is also a good solution to solving this problem. Once you re-synchronize your PS5 controller it may be able to start working in the games as well. Re-synchronizing your PS5 controller isn't just about turning off the controller and turning it back on.


To properly re-synchronize your controller you have to forget it from the Bluetooth Accessories in the PS5 settings and then connect it through a USB cable. 


To forget your PS5 controller on the PS5 go into [Setting] > (Accessories) > (General) > (Bluetooth Accessories) and then select the controller you wish to forget and then select forget. This will de-synchronize your controller and it will no longer connect to your PS5.


Now there are two ways in which you can re-synchronize your PS5 controller. 


The first one is connecting it to the PS5 through a USB cable. The automatically register the controller as a Bluetooth accessory.


The second one you need a second controller to re-synchronize your PS5 controller. This one doesn't require a USB cable. You have to head over into Bluetooth Accessories and put you PS5 controller into pairing mode by pressing and holding the share button and the PS button simultaneously until it starts blinking.


At this point you should PS5 controller should now be listed in the Accessories found list. Select it to synchronize with it.


Once you have done that you can now start your game and see if the controller has started working in the games.



4. Update PS5 controller

If this problem persists where the controller is only working on the PS5 menu and not in the games, then you can consider updating your PS5 controller. Updating your controller will fix most of the issues with your controller like not working in games.


There are two ways in which you can update your PS5 controller. You can either use your PS5 or a PC with Windows 10 64bit or Windows 11.


We will first start by looking at how we can update the PS5 controller from the PS5.


How to update the PS5 controller from the PS5

To update the PS5 controller from the PS5 console you have to make sure your console is up to date. Now go into [Settings] > (Accessories) > (Controllers) > (Wireless controller device software). You should see an update available, Press X and then connect your controller to the PS5 through a USB cable.


Select update and the PS5 should show you a progress bar for the controller update.


Note: If the Update selection is grayed out ensure that the USB cable is properly connected.




How to update the PS5 controller from a PC

You can as well update the PS5 controller using a PC. To do this you must first download and install the firmware updater for DualSense controller from here. 


Once you have installed it, open it and connect the DualSense controller through a  USB cable. Now follow the on screen instructions to update the controller. It should tell you OK once the update is finished.


After you have updated the controller you can now connect it to your PS5 and see if it has started working in the games.


5. Rebuild Database

If you have tried everything mentioned above then the problem is probably the PS5 console itself. The first thing you have to do is to Rebuild Database on the PS5. This will clear all the corrupt data and errors on the PS5 that maybe causing the controller not to be working in the game.


To rebuild Database follow the steps below

  1. Turn on your PS5 console in safe mode by pressing and holding the on button until you hear a second beep
  2. Connect your DualSense controller through the USB cable and press the PS button
  3. Select option 5 [Clear Cache and Rebuild database]
  4. Select Rebuild database

Your PS5 should restart after this process. Now head over to the game you want to play and the controller should work.


6. Update the Console

Now this will be our resort. If everything we have talked about doesn't work, then it is time to update the console. This will fix the issue for the controller only working in the menu and in the games.


To update the PS5 console follow the steps below;

  1. Download the latest system software from PlayStation Here
  2. Format your USB storage with FAT32 file system.
  3. Create a folder in the root of your USB Storage named PS5 and inside the folder another folder named UPDATE. Now it should be USB Storage:\PS5\UPDATE
  4. Put the file you downloaded in step 1 in the directory USB Storage > PS5 > UPDATE.
  5. Now plug in the USB storage into the PS5 and start the PS5 in to safe mode by holding the on button until you hear a second beep (PS5 should be off)
  6. Select option 3 [Update System Software]
  7. Select [Update from USB Storage] and follow the on screen instructions.

Conclusion

As we have seen most of the solutions on how to fix this issue in your PS5, I would also recommend updating your Game title to the latest. Some of the game titles will not respond to the controller if they not updated or are corrupt.


If it is only one game which is doing this you might as well consider re-installing it and see if the error persists.


If nothing works you consider getting another PS5 controller Here.


Thank you for reading and feel free to leave comment if you have any questions.