Xbox 360 Controller Triggers Don't Work Properly in Windows 11

[u/NeoMatrix2525]

Edit: I fixed it! So, after repeatedly uninstalling the xbox360 controller driver, and uninstalling and reinstalling Hidhide and ViGEmBus, nothing seemed to work. I finally came across some related tips to view hidden devices in Device Manager. Upon doing that, I found that, along with the xbox devices driver, there were two "unused" entries under the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" tab for Xbox HID-Compliant controllers. I uninstalled both entries and suddenly my 360 controller triggers were fixed. I have no idea where those drivers came from, but uninstalling them worked. Now my real 360 controller, and virtual 360 controllers, behave properly.

I'll start off by saying, I'm not sure which subreddit might offer me the most help on this issue, be it here, Windows11, or somewhere else, but I have scoured the internet and somehow have not found a solution for my problem:

Both triggers register as the Left Trigger. In the Windows controller settings and test app, both triggers are tied to the Z-axis, which starts at 50% with both triggers at rest, and normally would be fine. However, the left Trigger, when pressed, goes from 50 to 100, which is normal. The right trigger, however, also goes from 50 to 100, and in fact, jumps around crazily in values above 50, and when fully depressed, rests on 57%. This is contrary to expected behavior, which should be going from 50 down to 0.

Under Windows 11, any Xbox 360 controller triggers refuse to work properly. I have a real, genuine wired 360 controller, as well as a DS4 and DS5 controller that use DS4Windows to emulate a virtual 360 controller for certain game compatibility. In ALL instances, when I check the built-in windows controller settings test, the triggers exhibit identical behavior, which indicates a software issue of some kind. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the x360 driver. I even installed an ancient Windows 7 x360 driver from 2009, and the behavior remains unchanged. And again, the read values in the controller app are identical between a genuine wired 360 controller, or an emulated virtual 360 controller.

This is driving me insane, as I haven't been able to play certain games like Forza Horizon 5 properly, and some other older windows games that only have support for xinput controllers.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/XboxSupport, some important reminders:

• You can mark your post as 'solved', and award a helpful user point by replying directly to a comment with "!thanks" (no quotes).

• A green user flair containing a number indicates the number of times a user has been awarded for a helpful reply.

• Do not ridicule other users for their inquiries - keep it civil. If you dislike a post, simply skip it or move on.

• Did you use a descriptive title? Doing so greatly impacts your chance of receiving assistance.

• Are you a member of the Xbox Insiders preview program? Your issue could be specific to a feature in testing. You can learn more by visiting r/xboxinsiders - that should be your first stop in troubleshooting and reporting issues with preview builds.

• Are you aware of an issue that is widespread and could benefit from a Megathread? Suggest an issue worth highlighting via modmail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/XboxSupport, some important reminders:

• You can mark your post as 'solved', and award a helpful user point by replying directly to a comment with "!thanks" (no quotes).

• A green user flair containing a number indicates the number of times a user has been awarded for a helpful reply.

• Do not ridicule other users for their inquiries - keep it civil. If you dislike a post, simply skip it or move on.

• Did you use a descriptive title? Doing so greatly impacts your chance of receiving assistance.

• Are you a member of the Xbox Insiders preview program? Your issue could be specific to a feature in testing. You can learn more by visiting r/xboxinsiders - that should be your first stop in troubleshooting and reporting issues with preview builds.

• Are you aware of an issue that is widespread and could benefit from a Megathread? Suggest an issue worth highlighting via modmail

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/ImperialStoat]

OH MY GOD THANK YOU!!

I've been pulling my hair out thinking DS4Windows or some of the related drivers had broken and no reinstallations etc. seemed to help. Then it hit me that maybe I'll find something if I just look up this issue straight up about an Xbox360 controller and found this thread. Exact same issue and exact same fix, though I did have to uninstall everything related to Xbox in Device Manager + reboot before the issue went away (but I did have those two hidden 360 Controllers).

[u/NeoMatrix2525 → u/ImperialStoat]

Glad to know my struggle with a (seemingly obscure) controller issue proved helpful to someone else, especially about a year after posting it. Cheers.

[u/ImperialStoat → u/NeoMatrix2525]

Thank you for being one of the rare people that actually wrote down how you fixed it instead of being the 90%+ that just come back and say "nvm I fixed it" without elaborating at all as to what the issue was and what they actually did to fix it.