Skip to content

Profiles

Jump to bottom
hifihedgehog edited this page Mar 19, 2026 · 23 revisions

Profiles

Profiles switch your entire controller configuration automatically when you change games. Set up a profile once — PadForge handles the rest.

Profiles

What a Profile Stores

Each profile captures a complete snapshot of your controller setup:

Setting Details
Virtual controller topology Created slots, enabled slots, and each slot's type (Xbox 360, DualShock 4, vJoy, MIDI, or Keyboard+Mouse)
Button and axis mappings Every per-device mapping for every slot (Button and Axis Mappings)
Dead zones Per-axis Stick Dead Zones and per-trigger Trigger Dead Zones
Force feedback Force Feedback configuration per slot
Macros All Macros definitions — triggers, actions, and conditions
vJoy configurations Per-slot axis count, button count, and POV settings

When PadForge switches profiles, all of these settings change at once. Physical devices stay connected — only the virtual controller configuration changes.

The Default Profile

The Default profile serves as your baseline configuration. PadForge loads it on startup and returns to it when no other profile matches. It cannot be deleted or renamed.

Set up Default as your general-purpose layout (e.g., standard Xbox for platformers). Create game-specific profiles only for games that need something different.

Important: Changes made on any page (Dashboard, Mappings, Macros, etc.) save to whichever profile is currently active.

Auto-Switching

Auto-switching monitors the foreground window (~30 times per second) and switches profiles to match:

  1. You associate each profile with one or more game executables.
  2. When a matching application gains focus, PadForge applies that profile.
  3. When you switch to an unmatched application (desktop, browser, etc.), PadForge reverts to Default.

The switch saves the outgoing profile's state, then applies the incoming profile — no interruption to your controller connection.

Enable it: On the Profiles page, check Auto-switch profiles based on foreground application.

Creating a Profile

  1. Go to the Profiles page in the sidebar.
  2. Click New (empty profile) or Save As (clone current configuration).
  3. Enter a name (e.g., "Racing Games", "Elden Ring", "Flight Sim").
  4. Click Browse... to add game executables. You can select multiple files at once.

Recommended: Save As

The fastest approach:

  1. Configure PadForge exactly how you want it for a game — mappings, dead zones, macros, slots.
  2. Go to Profiles and click Save As.
  3. Name the profile after the game.
  4. Click Browse... and select the game's executable.

This captures your entire working configuration, ready for auto-switching.

Executable Matching

Each profile can match one or more game executables. When the foreground window belongs to a matching process, that profile activates.

  • Added via the Browse... file dialog; stored as full paths
  • Multiple executables per profile supported — useful for sharing one profile across several games
  • Case-insensitive — EldenRing.exe matches eldenring.exe
  • Use the Remove button to delete a selected executable from the list

Pipe-Separated Format

Internally, executables are stored as a pipe-separated (|) string of full paths:

C:\Games\game1.exe|D:\Steam\game2.exe|E:\Epic\game3.exe

This is visible if you edit PadForge.xml directly. Each path is matched against the foreground process path using a case-insensitive full-path comparison.

Topology Display

Each profile in the list shows badges indicating virtual controller counts by type:

  • Xbox badge — Xbox 360 slot count
  • DS4 badge — DualShock 4 slot count
  • vJoy badge — vJoy slot count
  • MIDI badge — MIDI slot count
  • Keyboard+Mouse badge — Keyboard+Mouse slot count

This gives a quick visual overview of each profile's contents without loading it.

Managing Profiles

Action How
New Creates an empty profile with no controller slots
Save As Clones your current configuration (all slots, mappings, macros) into a new profile
Edit Rename the selected profile or modify its executable list
Load Apply the selected profile's settings (double-click also loads)
Delete Remove the selected profile (Default cannot be deleted)

Practical Examples

Scenario Setup
Racing game with custom dead zones Create a "Forza" profile with wider trigger dead zones and a specific stick curve. Associate with ForzaHorizon5.exe. Auto-switches on launch; reverts on Alt-Tab.
Flight sim with vJoy Create an "MSFS" profile using a vJoy slot instead of Xbox 360. Map axes to flight stick axes. Associate with FlightSimulator.exe. Normal games keep the Default Xbox 360 profile.
Emulators sharing one profile Create an "Emulators" profile and add Dolphin.exe, Cemu.exe, and Ryujinx.exe. All three activate the same configuration.
Macros for one game only Create a profile with D-pad-to-keyboard macros for an MMO. Associate with the MMO executable. Default has no macros, so they only activate when that game is in focus.

Tips

  • Set up Default first with your general-purpose configuration. Create game-specific profiles only for differences.
  • Use Save As from a working configuration — much faster than building from scratch.
  • Test auto-switching by Alt-Tabbing between applications and watching the active profile indicator.
  • Macros are per-profile — game-specific macro setups only activate when that game runs.
  • Physical device connections persist. Only virtual controller configuration changes during a switch.
  • Back up PadForge.xml to preserve your profiles.

Related Pages

Clone this wiki locally