How to: Push-to-Talk, Push-to-Mute and Toggle Mute on a game controller

You can use AutoPTT with an Xbox-compatible game controller (or a Playstation controller, with DS4-Windows).

This guide assumes you’re setting up PTT for Discord, where your Push-to-Talk key is “F”. You might not be setting this up for Discord or that particular key but the idea is the same for everything.

However, we should first talk about a potential issue with using a game controller…

Automatic input mode switching

Many games automatically switch input modes based on the kind of device the latest input came from. For example, when you press a key on the keyboard, the Sprint action on the UI might show “SHIFT” next to it, and when you press a button on the controller, the text turns into “RT” and an icon for the right trigger instead.

Having the UI constantly switch between keyboard/mouse and controller as you communicate is quite annoying. Luckily, there are ways around that – provided that the target game or app supports Open Mic or Voice Activity.

Push-to-Talk

Method 1

• Input mode switching: Yes
• Requires: Push-to-Talk

You can effectively remap a button on your controller to a keyboard key, and use that as Push-to-Talk ingame.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Manual”
2. Set “PTT Key 1” to “F”
3. Set “Secondary PTT 1” to a button on your controller.

Method 2

• Input mode switching: No
• Requires: Open Mic / Voice Activity

The “Open Mic to PTT” activation modes are a recent addition to AutoPTT that work by unmuting/muting the microphone when you press/release your Push-to-Talk key. If your game supports Open Mic, you should probably use this method, as it avoids the input switching problem of Method 1.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Open Mic to PTT: Manual” or “Open Mic to PTT (Tap)” (I recommend Tap as you can use it exactly like Manual but it also includes the Activation Window and Release Delay features).
2. Set “Secondary PTT 1” to a button on your controller.

Push-to-Mute

Method 1

• Input mode switching: Yes
• Requires: Push-to-Talk

The traditional way to get Push-to-Mute in AutoPTT is to simply use the “Voice Activity” mode and have the app press and release the key for you.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Voice Activity”.
2. Set “PTT Key 1” to “F”.
3. Set “Push-to-Mute 1” to a button on your controller.
4. Adjust “Activation Threshold” so that the “Current Value” bar turns green when you speak.

Method 2

• Input mode switching: No
• Requires: Open Mic / Voice Activity

This method works similarly to the “Open Mic to PTT” modes: your mic is muted when you press Push-to-Mute, and unmuted otherwise.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Manual”.
2. Under “Other Keys”, click on “Push-to-Mute (Global)” and press a button on your controller.

Toggle Mute

Method 1

• Input mode switching: Yes
• Requires: Push-to-Talk

Swapping between “Voice Activity” and “Manual” activation modes effectively gives you a Toggle Mute, as long as you don’t press the PTT key yourself.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Voice Activity”.
2. Set “PTT Key 1” to “F”.
3. Under “Other Keys”, click on “Mode: Manual/Voice” and press a button on your controller.
4. Adjust “Activation Threshold” so that the “Current Value” bar turns green when you speak.

Method 2

• Input mode switching: No
• Requires: Open Mic / Voice Activity

Swapping between “Manual” and “Open Mic to PTT (Manual)” works because in “Manual” mode, your mic is always unmuted, and in “Open Mic to PTT (Manual)” mode it is always muted, unless you press the PTT key.

Instructions:

1. Set “Activation Mode” to “Open Mic to PTT (Manual)”.
2. Under “Other Keys”, click on “Mode: Manual/Open Mic to PTT (Manual)” and press a button on your controller.

Give it a try!

AutoPTT is free for the first month, so why not try it out?