Trigger Tester

Quick start

1. 1
   Connect your controller. Plug it in over USB, or pair it over Bluetooth in your device settings first.
2. 2
   Press any button first. Browsers won't notice a controller until they see its first input, even from a button rather than a trigger.
3. 3
   Squeeze each trigger slowly, from fully released to fully pressed. The bars below track every fraction of that pull in real time.

Test your triggers

How to read the results

Pull and the gauge fill

Most modern controllers report triggers as analog inputs, meaning they track exactly how far the trigger is pressed rather than just whether it's pressed at all. The gauge fills from the bottom as you pull, with the pull percentage shown both on the bar and as a precise number underneath.

Peak

This holds the highest pull percentage reached since the last reset. It's the fastest way to confirm a trigger reaches a true 100% at full squeeze. If peak consistently caps below 100% no matter how hard you press, the trigger has a mechanical limit issue rather than a software one.

At rest

This shows the trigger's reported value while it is completely untouched. A healthy trigger should read 0.000 or extremely close to it. A resting value that sits noticeably above zero, even without any finger on the trigger, points to trigger drift, the analog equivalent of stick drift.

Digital state

Alongside the analog pull value, most controllers also report a simple pressed or released state for each trigger, similar to a regular button. This is what games typically check for actions that only care whether the trigger was pulled at all, not how far.

Drift badge

This watches the at rest value automatically. If a trigger reports meaningful input while nothing is touching it, the badge switches to a drift warning so you don't have to keep an eye on the raw number yourself.

Dead zone overlay

Drag the slider and a shaded band appears at the bottom of each gauge. Anything inside that band is being treated as released for the purposes of this test. This is useful for finding the smallest dead zone a game needs to fully ignore a trigger with slight drift, without delaying how quickly a real press registers.

Left vs right symmetry

This compares the peak values of both triggers side by side. A meaningful imbalance, one trigger reliably maxing out lower than the other, can point to uneven wear or a manufacturing difference between the two, even on the same controller.

Why trigger testing matters

Analog triggers see heavy, repetitive use in racing games for throttle and brake, in shooters for adaptive aim or fire modes, and in any game that maps acceleration or pressure sensitive actions to L2 and R2. Because they're mechanical, the same wear that eventually causes stick drift can also affect triggers, just less commonly discussed. A trigger that drifts at rest, fails to reach full pull, or registers unevenly compared to its opposite side can quietly throw off your control without you immediately realising the hardware is the cause rather than your own input.

Running a full pull from released to maxed out, watching the at rest reading for a few seconds of stillness, and comparing both triggers side by side takes under a minute and rules out hardware as the source of any control issue before you start adjusting in game settings to compensate for something a setting can't actually fix.

Connecting by device

Windows and Mac

Plug in over USB, or pair over Bluetooth in your system settings first. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all support the controller out of the box once it's paired.

Android phone and tablet

Pair the controller in your device's Bluetooth settings, then open this page in Chrome. Other Android browsers vary in their support.

iPhone and iPad

Pair an MFi or Bluetooth controller in Settings, then open this page in Safari. iOS has supported the same Gamepad API since version 14.5.

Linux

Plug in over USB or pair over Bluetooth, then use Chrome or Firefox. Some distributions need a one time udev rule for certain Bluetooth controllers to be recognised by the operating system at all, if the controller isn't visible at the system level, it won't be visible here either.

Troubleshooting

The gauge shows movement when I'm not touching the trigger

Watch the at rest readout for a few seconds without touching anything. Tiny flicker under 0.01 is normal sensor noise. Anything larger and steady is trigger drift, and the drift badge above will flag it automatically.

The trigger never reaches 100% even at full squeeze

Check the peak value after several full pulls. If it consistently caps below 100%, the trigger mechanism itself has a limited range, possibly from wear, dust, or a manufacturing tolerance issue, rather than anything fixable through a game's deadzone or sensitivity settings.

One trigger feels noticeably stiffer or looser than the other

Compare both peaks and pull curves side by side using the symmetry panel. A real mechanical difference will show up as a consistent gap in peak value or a different feel through the pull, not just a one time fluke reading.

Nothing happens when I connect a controller

Press a button first, many browsers won't register a controller until they see its first input, and pulling a trigger alone sometimes isn't enough to trigger that first detection.

No vibration or digital click registers alongside the analog pull

Some controllers only report a digital pressed state once the trigger crosses a certain pull threshold, often around the halfway point, rather than at the very first hint of movement. This is normal hardware behaviour and not something this tool or your settings can change.