The drivers needed for gamepad operation are outdated: Another common reason your Windows 10/11 PC cannot recognize your gamepad is that the drivers running on your system are outdated.When such processes are running in the background, they could terminate the default gamepad controller processes that ordinarily enable Windows to recognize gamepads and use them. These processes are usually unnecessary, with some of them breaking the startup process of some apps and system components. Too many Windows processes are already in operation: Excessive Windows processes can interrupt the normal operation of gamepads on Windows.Your Windows 10/11 PC may be unable to recognize the gamepad you plugged in to the ports for a number of reasons. Why Gamepad is Not Recognized in Windows 10 and 11 So, if you are like other Windows 10/11 users who are typing “How can I fix my gamepad if it’s not recognized on Windows” on their search engines, this article is for you. You can easily resolve it once you know the origin of the issue. Gamepad Not Recognized is not a big issue. You plug in the connector to a different port on your Windows PC and find that it does not register, indicating that your gamepad is not recognized on your device. You install it and get your gamepad, ready to smash game characters. Maybe you just downloaded a new game and cannot wait to start things off.