Before you go looking up how to take a PS5 controller apart, know this: disassembly is explicitly named in Sony’s warranty terms as a reason to reject a claim. That leaves you with three verified options – resetting the controller, updating the system software, and a warranty claim or repair. Sony doesn’t describe any of the other tips circulating about drift.
What Sony actually says about drift
Almost nothing, and that matters. Sony has no dedicated page about drift and doesn’t use the word drift on its support pages. There’s a general “DualSense wireless controller troubleshooting” page, and among its branches, next to vibration, pairing, disconnecting and battery, there’s a category called “Issue with buttons or analog stick”. The process Sony walks you through there starts with a reset and ends with a link to repairs.
There is no public statement in which Sony names drift and acknowledges it as a defect. Claims like “Sony knows about the problem and is working on it” therefore have no basis in anything Sony has published.
Resetting the controller
This is the first step according to Sony, and the only hardware intervention it describes itself. The reset button sits inside a small hole next to the Sony logo on the back of the controller, and you can’t press it with a finger.
- Turn off your PlayStation 5 console.
- Unplug the DualSense from the official USB cable.
- Find the reset button in the small hole next to the Sony logo on the back of the controller.
- Use a pin or a similar object to press and hold the reset button for at least 5 seconds. A pin isn’t included in the box.
- Connect the controller to the console with the official USB cable from the box and press the PS button.
Sony’s second step is updating the PS5 system software to the latest version. However, Sony hasn’t mentioned drift or dead zones in the notes for any update so far, so it’s not a fix you can count on.
If the reset doesn’t help, Sony sends you straight to the PlayStation repairs page. There’s no step in between.
Cleaning the sticks: what Sony allows
According to Sony’s manual, the exterior surfaces of the console and accessories should be wiped with a soft, dry cloth. Insecticides and volatile substances, including thinner, benzene and alcohol, are prohibited, as are chemically treated wipes. The widespread guides for cleaning a stick with isopropyl alcohol go against what Sony says, and Sony itself doesn’t describe such a procedure anywhere. The same rules apply when cleaning dust out of your PS5.
Why taking the controller apart isn’t a good idea
The warranty on accessories is provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE), and its document names three situations around opening the product that lead to a rejected claim:
- the official seal or serial number shows signs of damage, removal or tampering,
- the product shows signs of a successful or unsuccessful attempt to open it or remove the casing, and SIEE concludes that the damage was caused by negligence, including repairs outside an authorized service center,
- the product shows signs of a successful or unsuccessful attempt at disassembly, unless this is permitted in the instructions.
The document adds that a claim also won’t be accepted if the product was damaged by maintenance, repair or an attempted repair by anyone other than people authorized by an SIEE service center, or by any modification made contrary to the instructions for proper use. That last condition on disassembly is key, and it works both ways: an intervention that Sony itself describes in its instructions doesn’t void the warranty. A good example is installing an SSD in the PS5, where you remove the console’s cover and Sony provides its own guide for it.
This also explains the only permitted exception among controllers: the DualSense Edge. Here Sony expects you to replace the stick modules and describes it as a user task – if a module doesn’t work properly or stops working, you can replace it with a new one sold separately, and the left and right modules are interchangeable. Nothing like that exists for the regular DualSense.
Warranty claims: two different things that get mixed up
| SIEE warranty | Statutory rights for defective goods in the Czech Republic | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year from the date of purchase | 24 months from receipt (Section 2165 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll.) |
| Who it covers | the first user, personal and non-transferable | the buyer |
| Where you claim it | with SIEE | with the retailer |
| What you need | an unaltered, legible proof of purchase with the date and the retailer’s name | proof of purchase |
| Processing time | repair or replacement within 21 days of receiving the product | handled by the retailer |
Valid as of 11 September 2026. The two don’t exclude each other: according to its own wording, the SIEE warranty supplements statutory consumer rights and doesn’t affect them in any way. So a year after purchase, your options don’t all run out: only the route through Sony closes, and the route through the retailer remains. The statutory column describes Czech law, so check the consumer rules that apply where you bought the controller. A repaired or replaced part is covered by the SIEE warranty for the rest of the original period or for 3 months, whichever is longer, and replaced parts become the property of SIEE.
SIEE won’t accept a claim for a defect caused by commercial use, accident, negligence or improper use, or a defect resulting from use with unapproved peripherals – it names game enhancement devices, hard drives, adapters and power supplies.
Drift also ended up in court
In 2021, a class action lawsuit over DualSense drift was filed against Sony in the US. The plaintiffs claimed the controllers have a defect that causes characters or gameplay on screen to move without user input and without manual operation of the stick. The case ran in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as Turner et al. v. Sony Interactive Entertainment under case number 4:21-cv-02454. The case also involved the arbitration clause in the PS5 license terms, which some of the plaintiffs opted out of so they could seek a jury trial.
These are the plaintiffs’ claims, not Sony’s position, and they change nothing about what your retailer will accept. How the case ended couldn’t be confirmed from public sources, so no outcome is stated here.
What to do if none of this helped
- The controller is less than a year old. Go through SIEE or the retailer, and above all, have your proof of purchase ready. An altered, illegible or damaged receipt is a reason for rejection on its own.
- The controller is between one and two years old. Claim it with the retailer, not with Sony. Under Czech law, the 24-month period applies to consumer goods by statute; elsewhere, check your local consumer rules.
- You’ve had the controller for years and you play competitively. This is about buying, not repairing. How the models differ is covered in the article on which PS5 controller to choose, and the rest is in the overview of PS5 accessories.
- Drift mostly ruins your racing. For racing games, there’s a way out that doesn’t involve sticks at all, see the PS5 racing wheel.
- You still want to use the old controller. It can still be useful for less precise gaming elsewhere – for example connected to a PC, where you don’t need it for aiming in shooters.
Guides on soldering, replacing potentiometers or fitting replacement modules into a regular DualSense are deliberately left out. Sony doesn’t describe them, and doing them falls exactly under the point about disassembly not permitted by the instructions.
FAQ
Sony describes only three steps: resetting the controller with the button in the hole next to the Sony logo on the back, updating the PS5 system software to the latest version, and then repairs through the PlayStation repairs page. Sony doesn’t list any home procedure for fixing a stick.
The SIEE terms name signs of an attempt to open the product, remove the casing or disassemble it as a reason to reject a claim, unless the instructions permit such an intervention. An intervention described in Sony’s instructions doesn’t void the warranty – that’s why replacing a stick module on the DualSense Edge is fine, but not on the regular DualSense.
The SIEE warranty lasts 1 year from the date of purchase and applies to the first user. In addition, buyers in the Czech Republic have statutory rights for defective goods for 24 months from receipt, claimed with the retailer. The SIEE warranty supplements statutory rights, it doesn’t replace them.
There is no public statement, press release or support page in which Sony names drift and acknowledges it. Sony doesn’t use the word drift on its support pages. The closest thing is the u0022Issue with buttons or analog sticku0022 category in the general controller troubleshooting.
Sony doesn’t describe any procedure for cleaning a stick. On the contrary, for cleaning the console and accessories it explicitly prohibits alcohol, thinner, benzene, volatile substances and chemically treated wipes, and allows a soft, dry cloth. Tips involving isopropyl alcohol therefore go against the manufacturer’s instructions.
Information checked as of 11 September 2026. The wording of the SIEE warranty and the content of support pages can change, so before making a claim, check the terms in the current document with your retailer. More articles on PlayStation hardware are in the PlayStation hub on Gamers Together, including the guide on how to connect headphones to the PS5 via the jack on the controller.