Every controller drifts the same way

I tried all of these but it doesn't seem to have helped.

Three notable things however:

1. The Switch Pro controller is not natively recognized(?) by Windows and requires Steam to [removed_js]. This is to say that it is impossible for me to calibrate it or adjust any sort of settings for it outside of Steam. Opening the properties > calibrate menu as stated in your 3rd point shows that every button on this controller is being pressed at the same time with the joysticks moving erratically. I have known it does this and that it doesn't function outside of Steam (even with third party software), I am simply stating that here for clarity.
2. For my other controllers while doing the directions listed in your 3rd options, it does not detect the Z Axis during calibration. Nothing I do seems to be recognized. I thought maybe Z meant forward and back as if clicking in the joystick, but that wouldn't really make sense to calibrate in the first place so I'm not sure.
3. While calibrating the X Axis, the "raw inputs" showed that it detected I was moving the joystick but the progress(?) bar remained a 0% no matter what I did or how I moved the joystick. The same progress bar did move for the Y Axis calibration though, just not the one for X Axis. The "test" tab showed it was detecting my X Axis joystick movements just fine, but the calibration menu didn't. (See attached images. I am holding the joystick diagonal down-left in both images)

I did disable third party and Steam while testing outside of the Switch Pro controller as stated above.

Unfortunately when uninstalling HID devices, none of them are labeled so it's just a mess of 10+ drivers labeled the same thing which means a lot of uninstalling my mouse and keyboard to attempt to figure out which could even potentially be a controller.

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your issue — that sounds really frustrating! Since you’re seeing the exact same right stick drift across multiple controllers and brands, it’s very likely the problem is with your PC or how it handles controller input rather than the controllers themselves.

Here are some simple steps you can try to fix or diagnose the problem:

1. Try different USB ports

Plug your controllers into different USB ports, especially the ones directly on the back of your PC (avoid front panel ports or USB hubs).

2. Reinstall controller drivers

Go to Device Manager, find your controllers or HID devices, uninstall them, then restart your PC. Windows should reinstall fresh drivers when you reconnect your controllers.

3. Calibrate your controllers in Windows

Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers > right-click your controller > Game controller settings > Properties > Calibrate. This helps reset how Windows reads your joystick’s center position.

4. Disable any extra controller software temporarily

Close Steam or any third-party controller mapping apps and test if the drift persists.

5. Check for controller firmware updates or resets

Some controllers like PS4 have reset buttons or firmware updates that might help.

Give these a try and see if the drift improves. If it doesn’t, feel free to share your PC specs and Windows version, and I can help you troubleshoot further.

Hope this helps!