Test your controller's vibration. Right in the browser.

The JoyCheck controller tester doubles as a controller vibration test: open the vibration panel, fire a rumble preset, and feel whether both sides of the pad respond, driven straight through the W3C Gamepad API with nothing sent to a server.

Rumble motors · Five presets · Both-sides check · 6 min read

A controller vibration test fires the rumble motors on command so you can confirm they still work, and a browser does it in seconds with no install. The W3C Gamepad API exposes a haptics interface[1] that lets a web page play a rumble effect on a connected pad. So JoyCheck buzzes the motors while you hold the controller, and you judge the result by feel.

Updated on 2026-07-10 by Taimoor Bamazai, founder of Elites Algorithm Limited (a registered tech company in Dublin, Ireland) and the builder behind JoyCheck.

How do you test controller vibration in the browser?

You test controller vibration by firing each rumble preset and confirming the pad responds in both hands. Connect the controller, open the vibration panel, and run the presets one by one: the controller should buzz on every one, and each preset should feel like a different rhythm rather than a flat drone.

Run it as a short sequence, not a single tap. Each step checks a different failure, so together they separate a dead motor from a browser that never had rumble support.

1. Connect and wake it. Plug in or pair the pad and press any button, because the Gamepad API stays silent until a button or axis moves.
2. Fire each preset. Run all five patterns (Heartbeat, Machine gun, Wave, Notification, Explosion) and feel whether the controller answers each one.
3. Feel both sides. A dual-rumble command drives the heavy and light motor together, so confirm both grips buzz, not just one.
4. Compare a suspect pad. If a side feels faint, run the same presets on a controller you trust and judge the difference by hand.

The browser gamepad tester exposes the vibration panel next to the button and stick readouts, so you can walk these steps in under a minute.

What does the vibration test actually tell you?

The test tells you whether each rumble motor answers a command, which is exactly what you need to separate a hardware fault from a game setting. It does not tell you how strong the rumble is in numbers, because no browser can read the force a motor produces. Read the result by feel against the four outcomes below.

These are working bands from our own diagnostic testing, not a manufacturer specification, so treat them as a guide rather than a hard line.

The most useful move is the comparison. A single pad in isolation can feel “a bit weak” for a dozen reasons, but two pads side by side on the same preset make a genuine motor fault obvious.

How do I test Xbox controller vibration on PC?

Plug an Xbox Wireless Controller into a Windows PC over USB, or pair it by Bluetooth, then open the vibration test in Chrome or Edge and fire the presets. The two main handle motors should buzz on each one. If they do, the rumble hardware is fine and any silence in a game is a game-side setting.

One honest limit applies to Xbox pads. The impulse triggers, the small motors inside each trigger, use a separate effect that most browsers do not expose yet, so a browser test confirms the two main motors rather than the triggers.

For a deeper Xbox rumble walk-through, including the trigger motors, the Xbox 360 controller diagnostic covers the rumble test and what a failed motor sounds like.

Why is my controller not vibrating?

A controller that will not vibrate is usually a software problem, not a broken pad, so rule software out first. The four common causes, in the order worth checking, are an unsupported browser, rumble switched off in the game or system, a flaky wireless link, and only then a failed motor.

Start in Chrome or Edge with a wired connection. Safari does not expose the vibration interface at all. Bluetooth can silently drop the haptic command while buttons still register, so a wired test in a supported browser removes both variables at once.

If the motors stay silent wired in Chrome, the fault is likely hardware. A pad that took a drop often shows a loose or detached rumble weight, and the DualShock vibration reference covers what a healthy motor should feel like across PlayStation pads.

Can a browser really drive the rumble motors?

Yes, through the same standard the rest of JoyCheck uses. The W3C Gamepad Extensions add a haptics interface[2] that carries a rumble command from the page to the controller, and JoyCheck sends that command straight to the pad with nothing installed.

Support is not universal, which is why the tool checks the pad’s vibration actuator[3] and reports the result honestly. Chrome and Edge implement dual-rumble fully. Firefox supports it in part through the older actuator path, and Safari does not expose vibration at all, so the panel tells you when a browser or controller cannot rumble rather than leaving you guessing.

The practical rule is simple: if you want a clean vibration test, run it wired in Chrome or Edge. That combination gives the most reliable path from the page to both motors.

What a browser vibration test can and cannot do

A browser vibration test can confirm that each rumble motor answers a command, catch a dead side, and prove a pad’s hardware is fine before you blame a game. What it cannot do is measure vibration strength, drive the DualSense fine haptics, or reach the Xbox impulse triggers, because the browser is not given those signals.

That makes it a detection tool, not a bench meter. Once the test confirms a motor is genuinely dead, the fix is physical, either reseating a connector or swapping the motor module.

For the wider picture of your pad’s health, the stick drift test reads the analog sticks, the deadzone tester shows the resting and edge band, and the controller calibration tester checks center, range, and triggers, so vibration is one panel in a full controller checkup.