Essentially, for this method to work, you will need to use the PS4 Remote Play feature which is available to you for free on PC. In addition to this, it will be necessary to download, install and configure an emulator which allows the actions of the console control to be mapped to the keyboard and mouse, but as you will see below, it is a very simple process and also free.
Install and configure PS4 remote play
Obviously the first thing to do is to download and install PS4 Remote Play, and although this application is available for several operating systems, in this case you will need a Windows PC for the emulator which we let’s talk to the next step. The installation is extremely simple (next, next, next) and you don’t have to complicate yourself at all.
You must now connect the console to the application, and for that you must follow the following steps (it is necessary that the console and the PC are on the same LAN network):
- Turn on the console.
- Connect the PS4 controller with the supplied cable to the PC via USB. Initially, you must use the original remote control.
- Launch PS Remote Play and sign in with your PSN account, the same one you have on the console.
- From the console, go to Settings -> Remote play connection settings -> Enable remote play.
- Go back to PS Remote Play and select PS4. The software will search for PS4 consoles with remote play enabled on your local network; When you find the console, a screen will appear asking for a code, so you will need to go back to the console, write down the code that appears on the screen and enter it into the app.
Ready, with this you have already linked the console to the app and if you have the controller connected to the PC you can play the console with the controller.
As additional information, in PS4 Remote Play you can press the gear icon to access the options, and from the second tab “Video quality for remote playback” you can select the resolution and FPS rate. that you want to use.
By default it’s set to 540p which is pretty poor, but with a normal PS4 you can select 720p and with a PS4 Pro you can even do it at 1080p.
Configure your keyboard and mouse to work on PS4
So far you have already set up the console to be able to play on PC with the controller, but as we said at the beginning, the goal is to play with the keyboard and mouse that you have on your PC, so let’s see how to do it.
You have to download and install an emulator called reWASD, free for 14 days or permanently if you pay 6 dollars. During the installation process, you don’t have to do anything, just agree to the terms of use and the process will continue automatically.
Then you need to open the app and create a group with your keyboard and mouse. The process is very simple and quite self-explanatory, because in fact the application is in Spanish.
Once done and since the goal is to be able to play the PS4 with keyboard and mouse, that is, without having to connect the console controller, you will have to go to the virtual devices option on the side. right since by default It is configured for the Xbox 360 controller (select DualShock 4 from the menu).
Now it’s time to add the keyboard mappings. Select the keyboard layout and click the Add button, select the keyboard key you want to use and assign the controller action you want to perform. For example, you can select the WASD keys for the D-Pad controller or the left joystick, but keep in mind that in this initial setup you will need to configure all actions key by key.
To configure the mouse is similar, go to its configuration and select which mouse buttons and controller action you want them to perform individually. If you want the mouse movement to work like the right joystick of the controller to move the camera, just click the arrow icons and select the option. Once you have mapped all the keyboard and mouse actions click on the Save and Apply button and you are done.
Now just open Remote Play, select your console and you will see that you can now perform all the actions you have configured directly from the keyboard and mouse, without even having to connect the controller. Obviously you can also connect the remote if you want, of course.
What if you want to use a controller other than the PS4 controller?
The PS4 Remote app only works with the original console controller, but thanks to that same emulator, you can also operate any controller that works on your PC. The process is similar to the setup we saw for the mouse and keyboard, you just need to go to the controller setup in reWASD, press the magic wand icon and select the “Virtual DS4” option.
Once that’s done, you just need to go into controller setup to map the actions, because as with the keyboard and mouse, you will need to assign the buttons on your controller to the actions of the original DualShock 4 controller from the PS4 console.
Once done, you can now play the PS4 from your PC with any controller that is compatible with your PC, including, for example, the popular Xbox Elite controller.
