PS5 Remote Play
Moonlight reads your PS5's picture over your home network and sends your controller to the console. No capture card and no controller adapter.
About 3 minutes to read
PS5 Remote Play connects Moonlight to your PS5 over your home network. It carries the console's picture to Moonlight and your controller back to the console, so you need no capture card and no controller adapter.
It is part of Moonlight AI and Moonlight Console.
#What you need
- A PS5 on the same home network as the Moonlight PC. It works on your local network only, not over the internet.
- Remote Play turned on in the PS5's Settings > System > Remote Play.
- A controller plugged into the Moonlight PC by USB or Bluetooth: a DualSense, a DualShock 4 or an Xbox controller.
A wired connection for the PS5 and the PC keeps the picture steadier than Wi-Fi.
#Pair your PS5
You do this once.
- Turn the PS5 on, or leave it in rest mode.
- In Moonlight, open Settings > Capture, choose PS5 Remote Play and press Pair a console.
- Find your console. Press Search. If the PS5 does not appear, type its IP address instead, for example
192.168.1.50. - Sign in to PlayStation. Press Sign in to PlayStation. Sony's sign-in page opens in your web browser; sign in there. When it finishes, Sony shows a blank or error page. That is expected: copy that page's address from the address bar (Ctrl+C) and Moonlight picks it up by itself. Or paste the address into the box in Moonlight and press Enter. Moonlight only receives your account ID, never your password.
- Enter the pairing PIN. On the PS5, go to Settings > System > Remote Play > Pair Device. Type the 8-digit number it shows and press Pair.
The pairing is saved on this PC for your Windows user. Forget removes it.
If your PS5 user has a login passcode, press Login passcode on the same card and enter it. Moonlight saves it with the paired console.
#Use it
- In Capture, choose PS5 Remote Play and pick your console.
- In Input Device, set Output to PS5 Remote Play. Moonlight passes your controller to the console and adds its own stick output. Use this output whenever the picture comes from PS5 Remote Play: a Titan Two output switches off while Remote Play is active.
- If the PS5 is in rest mode, press Wake to turn it on.
- Press Start Moonlight.
Then set up the game and Moonlight's controller settings: Tune aim for a controller.
#Picture settings
| Setting | Choices | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 1080p, 720p | Default 1080p. |
| Frame rate | 60, 30 | Default 60. |
| Codec | H.264, H.265 | Default H.264. H.264 works on every PC. H.265 looks better at the same bandwidth and needs the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store. |
Changes apply after you stop and start Moonlight.
#Limits
- Home network only.
- The picture is compressed and sent over the network, so it is softer than a capture card and arrives a little later. For the lowest delay, use a capture card.
#If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| No console answered the search | Make sure the PS5 is on or in rest mode and on the same network as this PC. Or type its IP address. |
| "Sign-in did not finish" | Press Sign in to PlayStation again, sign in, and copy the address of the page Sony shows at the end, not the sign-in page itself. |
| "the pairing PIN is the 8-digit number shown on the console" | Type the 8-digit number from Pair Device, not a different code. |
| "the console did not answer; check the address and that the pairing screen is open" | Keep the Pair Device screen open on the PS5 while you press Pair. |
| "the console refused pairing; check the PIN and try again" | Open Pair Device again and type the number it shows now. |
| "the console pairing is incomplete" | Press Forget, then pair the console again. |
| "the console asks for a login passcode" | Your PS5 user has a login passcode. In Settings > Capture > PS5 Remote Play, press Login passcode, enter your 4-digit PS5 login passcode, then press Start again. If the button is not there, update Moonlight first. |
| "the console rejected the login passcode" | Press Login passcode and enter it again. |
| "video decoder" error with H.265 | Install the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, or switch Codec to H.264. |
Stuck on a step? Ask in the Moonlight Discord and a staff member will help.