Xbox 360 Controller working as mouse

Question

I have an ASUS ROG ALLY Z1 Extreme, I have a fresh install of Win 11 (current version). I added a Xbox 360 controller so i can use it with games but Win 11 is treating it as a mouse, I do not have steam installed. Is there a way to stop Windows from using the controller. The recognition I see in the properties for in device manager is a HID Compliant Mouse @ Location 9. The other HID mouse (wireless and BT are confirmed connected properly) and I'm at a loss, the only information online is the Steam answer answer and for me that isn't an option. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Ken G

I'm sorry to hear you're running into this!

Your controller is show as “HID‑compliant mouse (Location …)” because Windows is using its mouse‑emulation profile instead of gamepad input. This is common with controllers and not a hardware fault.

You can try the following:

• Open Device Manager (Right click the Windows logo at the taskbar)
• Expand Mice and other pointing devices
• Disable the extra HID‑compliant mouse entries (test one by one until the controller stops moving the cursor)

Also check:

• In Device Manager → Human Interface Devices, disable duplicate HID‑compliant game controller entries if present
• On ROG Ally: set Control Mode = Gamepad (not Auto/Desktop) to prevent mouse emulation

If none works, I can only recommend you unplug the controller when you're not using it exclusively for gaming.

Hope this helps. Feel free to update here if anything comes up!

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