Skyrim Controller Controls Keep Resetting
I know I'm late to the party, both because this game is old and because similar questions have been asked. But none of the other answers I've seen work for me so far.
My Problem
In Skyrim, I can go to Settings -> Controls, and change the button mapping for my controller (controller, not keyboard). From then on, everything works perfectly until I quit the game. Upon reopening Skyrim later for another session, I find that the controls have reset to what they were previously. This happens every time I close and reopen the game, forcing me to remap my desired controls at the start of every game session.
My Setup
I'm running Skyrim Special Edition on a Windows 10 PC with Steam. I have all three official DLC packs installed. I have one mod installed (through the official, in-game mod system), but it's only the "Unofficial Skyrim Patch", which to my understanding is a highly used, very benign mod. I'm using a Dualshock 4 controller (PS4 controller), connected via USB.
Interesting Note
If I play without a controller and change a keyboard mapping, that change does persist through sessions. So it's only the controller mapping that seems to be the problem, not the keyboard mapping.
What I've Tried
These are suggestions from various other posts which I've tried to no success.
Running as Administrator
I've gone into the compatibility settings for both SkyrimSE.exe
and SkyrimSELauncher.exe
and checked off "Run this program as an Administrator". No change.
Taking ownership of the install folder
I looked at the security settings of C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition
and I can see that my current user is already the owner of this folder. So this suggestion as not applicable.
Delete ControlMap_Custom.txt
When I launch Skyrim with this file deleted, the controls that I get are different from the usual controls, but are not the ones I saved. After remapping the controls in Skyrim, this file is recreated, and then next time I open the game, I'm back to the original incorrect controls.
Contrary to the .txt
file extension, this file does not seem to be a text file. Opening it in Notepad is gibberish, so I can't even take a look at what's inside. I will say that upon testing, changing my controller mapping doesn't seem to affect at all what gibberish is inside the file. It stays consistent no matter what buttons I assign to what function.
What I Want
What I'd really like is a fix for this very simple problem. Ideally there would be a way to make this work in vanilla Skyrim itself, but at this point I'll accept a mod solution as well.
Short of that, I'd appreciate any information on where/how Skyrim stores its controller mapping. And if the answer is the ControlMap_Custom.txt
file, I'd appreciate info on how to open that file correctly so I can read (or hopefully even edit) it.
Best Answer
The solution would appear to be to set up your controller configs in Steam/Big Picture Mode. Open Steam, select Steam from the top right menu, select Settings, then navigate to the Controller submenu. From here, click either General Controller Settings or Big Picture Configuration, which should both accomplish the same thing.
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How do I fix my Skyrim controls?
Uncheck the 360 Controller Option. Go to Settings, then Gameplay....Reset your Controls to Default.Why is my controller not working for Skyrim on PC?
Make sure you have it in Xbox mode (no do NOT use an external program to make it look like an Xbox controller). There is a switch on the controller itself that governs the way the PC sees the controller. In one mode, Skyrim will not recognize it, in the other it treats it as an Xbox controller.How do I get Skyrim to stop detecting controller?
To turn off a controller for Skyrim Special Edition on PC, press [ESC] to go to the pause menu, click Settings, and then click Gameplay. From inside the Gameplay settings, select the "Controller" box to disable the controller.How do I reset my controller default?
Resetting the Controller to Default SettingsRemapping Buttons for Controllers on Steam
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Images: Andreu Marquès, Erik Mclean, Pixabay, Dmitry Demidov