Install GamepadBridge
Two ways to get the app, then one short setup that is the same either way. Version 1.0.0, macOS 15 or newer, Apple Silicon and Intel.
Three commands, in this order
Homebrew is the package manager most Mac developers use. If you have never heard of it, that is completely fine — this page explains what it is and installs it for you, then come back here.
Check that you have Homebrew
Open Terminal (press ⌘Space, type Terminal, press Return) and run this. If you get a version number back, you are set.
command not found: brew
Add the tap
A tap is an extra source of packages. This one holds the casks for Georg's macOS apps.
Trust the cask
This step is not boilerplate, and it is worth ten seconds of your attention. A cask is executable Ruby, so Homebrew refuses to load one from a third-party tap until you say out loud that you trust it.
Read it first. Really.
Install the app
Homebrew downloads the signed, notarised build, checks it against the hash in the cask and puts GamepadBridge.app in your Applications folder.
From now on brew upgrade keeps it current along with everything else.
In a hurry? All three at once:
Download, drag, done
No Terminal, nothing to install first. This is the same app Homebrew would give you — the same signed, notarised build from the same place.
Download the disk image
About 950 KB. Your browser will put it in Downloads.
GamepadBridge 1.0.0 (.dmg)Rather see every release? The releases page is here.
Open it and drag the app across
Double-click the downloaded .dmg. A window opens with GamepadBridge on one side and a shortcut to Applications on the other. Drag the app onto the folder.
Then eject the disk image
Launch it from Applications
Open Applications in Finder and double-click GamepadBridge.
No Gatekeeper detour
Both ways end here
First launch, and the one permission
This part is the same whichever way you installed. It is also the part where people lose an hour, so it is worth reading rather than guessing.
Launch the app itself — not from a terminal
Open GamepadBridge.app from Applications by double-clicking it. It has no window: it appears as an icon in the menu bar at the top right of your screen.
This is the mistake that costs hours
Let it fetch the firmware
The adapter needs about 200 KB of firmware that belongs to Microsoft and cannot be shipped inside the app. On first launch GamepadBridge offers to download it straight from Microsoft, checks it against a known hash and stores it in ~/Library/Application Support/GamepadBridge/.
Say yes. It happens once, and it is the app's only network request.
Allow it under Input Monitoring
macOS will ask. If you miss the prompt, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring and switch GamepadBridge on.
Check the name in that list
Plug in the adapter and pair the controller
Plug the Xbox Wireless Adapter into a USB port. Press the small button on the adapter, then the pairing button on the controller. The menu bar icon changes as soon as they find each other, and the menu shows the battery level.
If pairing keeps failing, try another port
Start a game
That is it. The controller now shows up under System Settings → Game Controllers and in games as a normal Xbox controller — no per-game setup, no mapping tool.
Something not working? The help page covers what actually goes wrong.
Removing it again
No uninstaller, no leftovers in the system — the app installs nothing outside its own bundle.
Installed with Homebrew
Installed from the disk image
Quit it from the menu bar, then drag GamepadBridge from Applications to the Trash. To remove the downloaded firmware too, delete ~/Library/Application Support/GamepadBridge.
Stuck on any of that? It happens.
The help page lists what goes wrong in practice — and what each symptom actually means.