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hifihedgehog edited this page May 20, 2026 · 18 revisions

Installation

Install PadForge, run it the first time, and set up the optional drivers.

Quick start (2 minutes)

  1. Download PadForge-v{version}-win-x64.zip from the Releases page.
  2. Extract the zip to any folder (e.g. C:\PadForge\).
  3. Run PadForge.exe.
  4. Open Settings and click Install next to HIDMaestro.
  5. Back on the Dashboard, click Add Controller and pick a type (Xbox, PlayStation, Extended, MIDI, or Keyboard+Mouse).
  6. Plug in a physical controller. It appears on the Devices page. Click the slot badge on its card to assign it.
  7. Done. Games now see a virtual controller.

Upgrading from PadForge v2? On first launch, v3 detects ViGEmBus and vJoy and offers to uninstall them. HIDMaestro replaces both.

Requirements

Requirement Details
OS Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
Runtime .NET 10 Desktop Runtime, bundled. No separate install.
Format Portable single-file executable. No installer. Extract and run.

Settings live in PadForge.xml next to the executable. To move PadForge, move the whole folder.

First launch

PadForge opens the Dashboard with no drivers installed. Set things up in this order.

  1. Install HIDMaestro. Open Settings, click Install next to HIDMaestro, and approve the UAC prompt. This enables every virtual controller type except Keyboard+Mouse.
  2. Create a virtual controller. On the Dashboard, click Add Controller and pick a type. Xbox, PlayStation, Extended (flight sticks, wheels, third-party gamepads, custom HID), MIDI, or Keyboard+Mouse.
  3. Check devices. Open Devices. PadForge auto-detects every connected gamepad, joystick, keyboard, and mouse.
  4. Assign a device. Click the slot badge on a device card to route that physical controller through the virtual one.

Games now see the virtual controller as a standard gamepad.

HIDMaestro

HIDMaestro is the user-mode driver that creates the virtual controllers. PadForge needs it for every output type except Keyboard+Mouse.

The installer ships inside PadForge.exe. Open Settings, click Install on the HIDMaestro card, and approve the UAC prompt. PadForge calls pnputil to register the driver. After that, every controller you add on the Dashboard becomes a fresh HIDMaestro device. Delete the slot and the device disappears. Slots and devices stay 1:1.

If you upgraded from PadForge v2, HIDMaestro replaces ViGEmBus and vJoy. The legacy driver cleanup dialog on first v3 launch handles uninstalling them.

See HIDMaestro Deep Dive for how PadForge talks to the driver under the hood.

Optional add-ons

Two optional drivers install from Settings. HidHide is bundled. Windows MIDI Services downloads on demand.

HidHide
Purpose Hides physical controllers from games so only the virtual ones are visible.
Install when Games see both the physical and the virtual controller (double input).
Skip when No double-input issues.

Windows MIDI Services
Purpose Virtual MIDI devices for sending gamepad input to music software.
Install when You want to send MIDI to DAWs, synthesizers, or VJ tools.
Skip when No MIDI output needed.

Requires Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100) or later. The Install button is disabled on older versions.

Keyboard+Mouse

Always on. Maps controller inputs to keyboard keys and mouse moves. No driver required.

OpenXInput

PadForge ships an embedded fork of OpenXInput at Resources/OpenXInput/x64/xinput1_4.dll and devobj.dll. At launch, PadForge tells the Windows loader to resolve those copies first. PadForge's own XInput enumeration then skips the virtual controllers it just created. The system XInput stays untouched, so games and Steam see PadForge's virtuals normally. Nothing to install.

Auto-elevation (administrator privileges)

PadForge asks for elevation (a UAC prompt) at startup because HIDMaestro driver install/uninstall and HidHide whitelist edits both need administrator access.

Scenario Behavior
Accept UAC PadForge runs elevated. Every virtual controller works normally.
Decline UAC PadForge runs without elevation. Driver install/uninstall and HidHide whitelist edits are unavailable. Already-installed drivers keep working.

Start at login

Turn on Settings > Window > Start at login to launch PadForge on sign-in.

To run PadForge silently in the background, turn on all three options.

Option Effect
Start at login Launches PadForge on sign-in.
Start minimized Skips showing the main window.
Minimize to system tray Keeps PadForge in the notification area instead of the taskbar.

With all three on, PadForge runs in the background with only a tray icon.

Uninstalling

There is no installer, so removal is short.

  1. Open Settings and click Uninstall next to each installed driver (HIDMaestro, HidHide, Windows MIDI Services).
  2. Close PadForge.
  3. Delete the PadForge folder.

If you previously had ViGEmBus or vJoy installed from PadForge v2, the legacy driver cleanup dialog on first v3 launch removes them for you.

Related pages

Last updated for PadForge 3.2.0.

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