Introduction
Follow this guide to replace the touchpad on a Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.
Note: This guide is for DualSense controllers with an FCC ID ending in 1. Check the back of your controller to verify your model. If yours ends in A, there will be differences in the internal design.
What you need
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Insert an opening pick underneath the middle trim at the bottom-right corner of the controller to release the clips securing it to the case.
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Slide the opening pick along the lower-right edge of the middle trim to release the clips securing it to the case.
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Insert an opening pick underneath the middle trim at the bottom-left corner of the controller to release the clips securing it to the case.
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Slide the opening pick along the lower-left edge of the middle trim to release the clips securing it to the case.
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Use your fingers to lift up the bottom edge of the middle trim to release the remaining clips.
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Lift the middle trim over the joysticks to remove it.
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With one hand, grip the controller and use your thumb to hold down the left trigger.
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With your free hand, insert the flat end of a spudger between the L1 and L2 buttons.
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Use the spudger to gently pry the L1 button away from the controller and remove it, holding your finger over the button so it doesn't eject.
Tried prying from the front of the buttons as pictured and my spudger broke off in the gap. A video I watched showed them being pried off from the back (between the R1/R2 and L1/L2 buttons) which seemed much easier.
Agree with Lora's comment above. I was able to use an old credit card to take L1/R1 out this way. I pressed down the L2/R2 button to create space to work in, then came in from between L1/L2 and R1/R2. It's easy to pop one of the outer corners first then you can work the credit card around the top and the rest falls out.
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Repeat the previous step to remove the R1 button.
What I didn't see addressed anywhere (here or in other similar articles) is that replacement R1 / L1 buttons can be differ enough to be un-usable depending on which model your ps5 controller is. The ones I ordered don't fit and now I can't find a way to be sure I get the right ones because few know there's even a difference.
Did you already figured it out? The version the we need yo use?, We are in the same situation here.
Tried prying from the front of the buttons as pictured and my spudger broke off in the gap. A video I watched showed them being pried off from the back (between the R1/R2 and L1/L2 buttons) which seemed much easier.
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the two 6.4 mm screws securing the bottom corners of the lower case.
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Use the point of a spudger to release the two clips on either side of the headset jack.
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Remove the rear case.
There are four more clips/hooks hidden in the seams along the outer sides of the handles. If you pull open the controller as shown in this step, then you will shear off the two tiny clips which are right next to the R1 and L1 buttons.
Therefore, you should first release those clips by prying the seams open sideways.
I noticed this with the updated design of the controller, not sure whether the hooks are present on the first version.
The hooks are not critical for the integrity of the controller as the two halves are held together by the screws hidden under the buttons. The damage does show that the controller has been taken apart.
Thought I'd clarify: The clips next to the L1 and R1 are on the outer side from the L1 and R1 buttons, I'd suggest zooming in on the picture to see them. They're quite easy to break, but also easy to remove using the plastic spudger along the seam, bending the bottom cover outwards
I am still strugling to find the clips. Could someone point them out in the image with a screen shot or something like that.
I keep getting stuck at this step too with the new DualSense CFI-ZCT1WA revision. The top and bottom shells seem like they are fused together next to L1/R1 but I can't seem to be able to find where these hidden clips are located. My controller is still in warranty so I don't want to break them in case I can't fix my issue.
but also easy to remove using the plastic spudger along the seam, bending the bottom cover outwards
I tried this but it seems that the you need a lot of force and I ended up bending the tip of my spudger. Are you sure it's not the top cover that you need to pry away? The bottom cover has a ridge to make sure it's under the top cover so it's not easy to bend outwards.
@samomio I think there needs to be a step added for these new clips.
Ok, not seeing a lot of motion on this request, so I've uploaded photos of the hooks to imgur.
Here ya go: https://imgur.io/a/7NWmQi5
This guide really needs an update on this. I had a really hard time getting the forward clips to release even after referring to the comments above. Pretty sure I broke them in the end. No big deal but would be great if the iFixit experts could work out a good method for releasing them.
I finally figure it out!!
The hidden clip is very tricky but once you understand how it works it is easy to remove.
Use Sean's picture: https://imgur.io/a/7NWmQi5
What sean is showing, is actually the bottom shell of the seam.
To disassemble
1. Use the flat side of the spudger, pry the bottom seam OUTWARDS near the R1/L1 button hole.
2. (most important) While prying the bottom shell seam outwards, push your thumb on the upper shell and push outward as well (you can do this by applying pressure from the removed R1/L1 button hole towards the seam. And then it will disassemble automatically
And that's it!
updated instruction:
I finally figure it out!!
The hidden clip is very tricky but once you understand how it works it is easy to remove.
Use Sean's picture: https://imgur.io/a/7NWmQi5
What sean is showing, is actually the bottom shell of the seam.
To disassemble
1. Use the flat side of the spudger, pry the bottom seam OUTWARDS near the R1/L1 button hole.
2. (most important) While prying the bottom shell seam outwards, hold your thumb on the upper shell as anchor and then use your other finger to pry the bottom edge of the controller up away from the shell. If you are doing the first step, then don't worry about breaking the clip, just force it open. And then it will disassemble automatically
And that's it!
Yes! Thanks a bunch Penn. That did the trick! Much appreciated
Sean -
I managed to do it just by pulling harder than what I was already doing. And I don't think I broke anything. So, for me at least, the technique described in this guide worked.
The video linked below clearly shows how to open the controllers with the extra clips near the L1/R1 areas.
See a video here by How To X on YouTube... https://youtu.be/djIvRoclr_E?si=dKFpQCZe...
I really struggled with releasing the rest of the back panel (close to the shoulder buttons.) What finally seemed to do the trick for me, was doing both sides at once with upward turning motion of the back panel with the shoulder buttons approximately at the axis. Trying to release just one side and then the other felt impossible without potentially breaking the case.
This was what did it for me
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Tool used on this step:Tweezers$4.99
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Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers to disconnect the battery from the motherboard.
Tweezers aren't gonna grip that the way you need.
For those having trouble using tweezers to pull out the connector, you can grab below the lip of the connector and use the controller as a lever to pull it up as seen here DualSense Controller v2 Battery Replacement
This little trick helped me so much and I believe it should be shown on this guide as well.
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Tool used on this step:Tweezers$4.99
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Grab the lower microphone ribbon cable pull tab with your fingers or a pair of tweezers and disconnect it from the motherboard.
These ribbon cables have small tabs on either side you can use to help pull out the cable. You can slightly pull up, alternating between the two sides, to slowly wiggle the connector out.
I tried to use metal tweezers to pull this out and absolutely shredded the ribbon in the process. It's just a microphone so I wouldn't expect it to matter but now none of the games get any input from the controller even though the controller works fine in the home menu 🥲
Probably just use your fingers if you have the dexterity for it.
As others have said, try to only remove the ribbon and not the white connector. I'd advise holding down the white connector with something (perhaps your prying tool or finger) as you pull the ribbon out gently with the tweezers.
Best to avoid pulling out the white connector if possible - but its not the end of the world if you do accidentally pull it out, as I did. You can put the connector back in but you need to be very precise with the alignment over the 6 pins it connects to on the circuit board. I had to use a magnifying glass and it took me a few attempts. -
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 6.4 mm screw securing the battery bracket.
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Lift the battery bracket out of the motherboard.
Black and red wires fit neatly under the lower left and lower right arms of the battery bracket, to avoid potential damage when reconnecting the rear case.
This needs to be noted. Thanks!
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Grip the right trigger assembly ribbon cable pull tab with a pair of tweezers or your fingers and pull up to disconnect it from the motherboard.
If your cables are blue and in a different position, don't sweat. It's all good. Just do the same as they do and if you feel it is necessary, label with a sharpie left and right on each cable. A simple L and R works for this case
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Grip the right trigger assembly ribbon cable pull tab with a pair of tweezers or your fingers, and pull up to disconnect it from the trigger assembly.
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Remove the ribbon cable.
Depending on the revision of your controller, these ribbon cables may be slim and white and if you remove it completely, you might have to remove and tear down the trigger assembly to get the ribbon cable back in.
maybe I'm missing something but in this case it doesn't seem to me like these cables need to be outright removed.
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Grip the left trigger assembly ribbon cable pull tab with a pair of tweezers or your fingers and pull up to disconnect it from the motherboard.
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Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers to grip the upper microphone ribbon cable pull tab, and pull up to disconnect it from the motherboard.
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Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers to grip the touchpad ribbon cable pull tab, and pull it straight out of the motherboard connector.
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Carefully guide the joysticks through the front case and lift the motherboard out.
My motherboard wouldn't just lift right out. So I noticed there's also a pair of barely visible small black clips, one on each side of the motherboard, holding it down. One is right beside the battery connector and the other's directly across on the opposite side of the motherboard right beside the ribbon cable connector.
Such a good observation!
zidek22 -
That helped a lot. If you can push those tabs it comes out a lot easier. I used my tweezers to push the left one and then as others had said pushing on the joysticks from the front of the controller makes it much easier.
Fruke -
Just push on the sticks. Pops out like a charm, zero effort.
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the two 8.5 mm screws securing the light guide.
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Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers to remove the light guide.
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Tool used on this step:Tweezers$4.99
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Use a pair of tweezers to remove the speaker from the midframe.
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the two 6.4 mm screws securing the midframe to the front case.
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Carefully lift the midframe and motherboard up and out of the front case.
Feed the ribbon cable back through the rectangular slot in the midframe during reassembly.
Thank you for catching this!
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Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the two 6.4 mm screws securing the touchpad bracket to the touchpad.
On my early 2022 controller it only had one screw, the other side was a hook, i was able to separate them but pulling the touch pad up slightly away from the top of the controller and pushing towards the side the one screw was on.
Question where can a buy a brand New touch pad replacement. I ripped mijn ribbon cable from the touch pad and cant seem to fix it please help
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Lift the touchpad bracket straight up off the front case.
Que tipo de Flex necesito para cambiarlo?
My aftermarket shell came with its own touchpad bracket. I don’t know why, especially because it has tabs on the underside going by his photo (facing the front of the controller) that prevents the touchpad from being depressed in the middle. I’m putting the OEM one back in and re-reassembling.
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Lift the front case up off of the touchpad.
not sure, but i’m currently trying to take the logic board off of my track pad, idk how to
My shell came with out own colored touchpad, so I needed to remove the circuit board: I rested it board side up (like in the picture) on a heating pad for a few minutes, then used a very thin plastic piece (thinner edge than the iFixit opening picks) until it was lifted enough to insert a regular pick (took another heating cycle to then insert the regular pick and lift it enough to grab the board edge with my fingers and list a little to get the top edge loose.
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To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Answers community for help.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Answers community for help.
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12 Comments
New touch won’t work with motherboard
Can you elaborate? I’m looking to buy one of these for this repair, and not sure which, or where
Hii, first of all big fan but i am havinf trouble finding the touchpad motherboard online to replace mine like i am talking about the whole unit cus the ribbon that is atach to mine i glued on and cant replase the ribbon so if you guys can help me find it would be a big help thx
Did you found a replacement part? I'm looking for the same thing
if I'm understanding correctly, you can use a hair dryer to heat up the touchpad and melt the adhesive that holds it to the board. Then do the reverse to the new touch pad.
Hope this helps!
Superb guide! Allowed me to confidently dismantle the pad and get it back together again in full working order.
It's worth noting, on FCC ID : A controllers the ribbon cable for the touch pad is 16 pins and not 18. When searching for parts online 18 pin seems to be the most common.
I just ran into this with one of my student's PS5 controllers. I could not find the 16-pin version anywhere: every single vendor selling a "PS5 controller touchpad cable" sells the 18pin version. Fortunately, the alignment of the pins in the two cable types is exact. I took an 18-pin cable, and using an x-acto knife, straight edge, and a microscope, I was able to cut off two traces, giving a perfect replacement.
My touchpad assemblage only has a screw on the right side of the black plastic cover; the left is entirely sealed over. How do I remove it?
