Windows – Disable Xbox One controller in UWP apps like Windows Store

controllerinputwindows 10xbox-one

I've noticed recently on Windows 10 that UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps like the Xbox app, Windows Store app, etc are taking some inputs from my attached Xbox One controller.

There is an article on MSDN regarding how UWP apps can now respond to Gamepad and Remote interactions.

Is there a way if disabling this feature of Windows 10? My Windows 10 machine is setup as a TV gaming machine with Steam Big Picture and I use Controller Companion which is an excellent mouse/keyboard emulator for controllers when I need to interact with Windows apps. It is way better than the half baked UWP controller support. But now these two systems clash making using UWP apps on Windows 10 difficult with a controller.

I need a way to disable the UWP gamepad/remote interactions.

Best Answer

The open-source project HidHide is a generalized solution to the problem of hiding some devices from some applications.

Its description says:

With HidHide it is possible to deny a specific application access to one or more human interface devices, effectively hiding a device from the application. When a HOTAS is preferred for a flight-simulator one can hide the game pads. When a steering wheel is preferred for a racing game, one can hide the joysticks, and so on. When, as mentioned above, a feeder utility is used, one can use HidHide to hide the physical device from the application, hence avoiding multiple notifications while binding game functions and device controls.

The project is currently at version v1.0.30 from Apr 3, 2021, and is still evolving.

It requires as prerequisite the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019.

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