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hifihedgehog edited this page May 26, 2026 · 18 revisions

Installation

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

Add Controller popup, the first thing you reach after install

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 after first launch. The engine installs HIDMaestro automatically on start (one UAC prompt at app startup covers it). Set things up in this order.

  1. 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.
  2. Check devices. Open Devices. PadForge auto-detects every connected gamepad, joystick, keyboard, and mouse.
  3. 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 driver ships embedded in PadForge.exe. The engine calls HMContext.InstallDriver() on first start, which registers the user-mode driver through pnputil. The one UAC prompt at app startup covers it. The Settings page shows a green status dot with the driver version once installation completes. 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

Hides physical controllers from games so only the virtual ones are visible. Install it if a game sees both your physical pad and the PadForge virtual one at the same time and treats each input twice. Skip it if you do not see double input.

Windows MIDI Services

Creates virtual MIDI endpoints for the MIDI virtual controller type. Install it if you want to send MIDI to DAWs, synthesizers, or VJ tools. Skip it if you do not need MIDI output. 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, bundled inside the single-file PadForge.exe. At launch, PadForge tells the Windows loader to resolve that copy 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.

Administrator privileges

PadForge declares requireAdministrator in its manifest and shows a UAC prompt at startup. HIDMaestro driver registration (first-launch only, with no in-app uninstall path), HidHide install / uninstall / whitelist edits, and Windows MIDI Services install / uninstall all need administrator access. The engine path that reads physical controllers needs it too. Declining the prompt means PadForge does not start.

The UAC shield is on the EXE icon as a hint. PadForge prompts once per launch.

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

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