Map joystick and arcade stick buttons to keyboard keys on Windows.
AnalogtoKey reads input from USB joysticks and arcade sticks and converts every button press, D-pad direction, and axis movement into real keyboard keystrokes — exactly as if you had pressed a key on your keyboard.
➡ Download AnalogtoKey_Setup_v0.45.exe
No .NET installation required. Self-contained, runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit).
Many simulators are best controlled via keyboard shortcuts but have poor or forced gamepad support — causing wrong input, doubled keystrokes, or axes behaving incorrectly when a joystick or arcade stick is connected.
AnalogtoKey bridges the gap:
- Hides the controllers from all other applications (via the HidHide driver)
- Reads all input directly itself
- Sends the correct keystrokes to the active game window
Unlike TSW-specific tools, AnalogtoKey works at the Windows level — it sends real keystrokes, so it works with any simulator or game that supports keyboard input, regardless of game engine.
Known to be a good fit for:
- Train Sim World 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 (TSW)
- Train Simulator Classic
- Running Train
- SimRail — The Railway Simulator
- Open Rails
- Derail Valley
- Zusi
- Any other sim with keyboard support but no native analog input
- Map any button (1–32) to any keyboard key — devices with more than 16 buttons get a paged UI (1–16 / 17–32)
- Button modifier keys — add Ctrl / Shift / Alt to any button mapping via a dropdown (e.g. Button 1 → Ctrl+A)
- Map all 8 D-pad directions independently
- Map analog axes (X/Y/Z/Rx/Ry/Rz + Slider axes) with three modes:
- Steps Mode — axis sends a keypress per step (up to 99 steps, MIN/MAX calibration)
- Center Mode — splits axis at centre with a configurable dead zone; throttle and brake get independent step counts (e.g. 9 throttle + 9 brake = 19 positions)
- Constant Pressure — holds a key down while the axis is past the dead zone, releases when back to neutral
- Modes can be combined freely
- Per-axis key hold duration — configure hold time (ms) independently per axis
- Live raw axis value — shows the raw axis reading in the editor (
raw:30942) to help locate centre points and dial in dead zones - Multiple named profiles — New / Copy / Rename / Delete via the Edit dropdown
- Unsaved changes protection — save indicator (
●) and prompt before discarding edits - Scan for new devices — re-detect controllers without restarting the app
- System tray — X button minimises to tray by default; configurable toggle to close directly instead
- HidHide integration — automatically hides controllers on start, restores on exit
- PDF user guide included
- Download
AnalogtoKey_Setup_v0.45.exefrom Releases - Run it (administrator rights may be required)
- The installer offers to install the HidHide driver — recommended for Running Train and similar games
- Restart Windows if HidHide was installed
- Launch AnalogtoKey from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut
| Situation | HidHide needed? |
|---|---|
| Game forces gamepad mode (e.g. Running Train) | Yes — without it you get double input |
| Game lets you disable controller input in its own settings | No |
HidHide is a free, open-source kernel driver. It is bundled in the installer and only needs to be installed once. AnalogtoKey manages the whitelist automatically — your controllers are restored when you exit the app.
AnalogtoKey works with any controller that exposes itself as a standard DirectInput joystick on Windows.
| Device | Status |
|---|---|
| HORI Fighting Stick Mini | ✅ Confirmed working |
| Simworkshop TSC-X | ✅ Confirmed working |
| Turtle Beach VelocityOne Yoke | ✅ Confirmed working — all axes including sliders detected |
| Turtle Beach VelocityOne Throttle Quadrant | ✅ Confirmed working — all slider axes detected |
| Honeycomb Alpha/Bravo | 🔄 Expected to work — registers as flight controller, fixed in v0.3.5 |
| Saitek/Logitech X-55 Throttle | 🔄 Expected to work — fixed in v0.3.5 (was not detected in earlier versions) |
| Most USB joysticks and HOTAS systems | 🔄 Expected to work |
| RailDriver Desktop Train Cab Controller | ❌ Not compatible — uses proprietary SDK, not DirectInput |
Don't see your device? Try it and let us know if it works via the Issues page. Verified devices get added to this list.
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
- USB joystick or arcade stick
- HidHide driver (bundled in installer, optional but recommended)
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Language | C# 13 / .NET 10 |
| GUI | WPF |
| Joystick input | SharpDX.DirectInput |
| Keyboard output | Windows SendInput API |
| Device hiding | HidHide (kernel driver) |
| Installer | Inno Setup 6 |
Use the Issues page for both bugs and ideas.
Reporting a bug — please include:
- What you did
- What you expected to happen
- What actually happened
- Your Windows version and controller model
Suggesting a feature — describe what you want and why it would be useful. All suggestions are welcome.
This project is released for personal use. HidHide is developed by Nefarius Software Solutions and is subject to its own license.