NixaniHow to play your PS5 on your PC
Updated 15 November 2026 · about 5 minutes to set up
Remote Play streams your PlayStation to your Windows PC: the game runs on the console, and you see it and play it on your PC, with your controller plugged into the PC. This guide sets it up with NixaniPSN, a free Remote Play app for Windows. A PS4 works too; its menu names differ slightly.
- On the PS5: Settings › System › Remote Play › Enable Remote Play.
- On the PC: install NixaniPSN, sign in with PlayStation Network, and type the code from Link Device.
- Pick a mode for your game and press Play.
1. What you need
- A PS5 or PS4 and the PlayStation Network account you use on it.
- A Windows PC: Windows 10 (version 2004 or newer) or Windows 11, 64-bit, with an NVIDIA, AMD or Intel graphics card and a current driver.
- A controller: a DualSense is recommended. Over USB it gets haptics and adaptive triggers; over Bluetooth it gets rumble. Other controllers Windows recognises work too, without haptics.
- Your home network: the PC and the console on the same network for the first link. A cable is steadier than Wi-Fi.
2. Set up the console
On the PS5, open Settings › System › Remote Play and switch on Enable Remote Play.
To start playing while the console is in rest mode, and to play away from home, also open Settings › System › Power Saving › Features Available in Rest Mode and switch on:
- Stay Connected to the Internet
- Enable Turning On PS5 from Network
3. Install NixaniPSN
Download NixaniPSN and run the installer. It has one page (desktop shortcut and starting with Windows, both your choice), installs for your Windows user only without asking for admin rights, and fetches Microsoft Edge WebView2 if your PC doesn't have it yet.
The installer isn't code-signed yet, so the first time Windows shows "Windows protected your PC": click More info › Run anyway. On a fresh Windows 11 with Smart App Control switched on, unsigned installers are blocked completely, so it has to be off.
4. Sign in and link your console
- In NixaniPSN, sign in with PlayStation Network. Sony's own sign-in page opens in a window of the app; your password goes to Sony only.
- On the console, open Settings › System › Remote Play › Link Device. It shows an 8-digit code.
- Type that code in the app. That's it: you only do this once per console.
5. Pick a mode for your game
Each mode is a ready-made set of picture and latency settings for a kind of game. You can switch any time, and a game can keep its own.
| Mode | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Turbo | Fastest response: a 720p stream is encoded, sent and decoded quicker. Softer picture. | When every millisecond counts |
| Competitive | Lowest latency at full 1080p. Nothing is buffered, fast FSR upscale. | Shooters, fighters, sports |
| Balanced | The default. AI upscaling on RTX cards, sharp FSR on others, with low latency. | Everyday play |
| Story | Best picture: upscaling plus sharpening. | Single-player, exploring |
| Smooth | Frame generation, 60 → 120 fps. Adds about one frame of latency. | Slower games, 30 fps titles |
6. Play
Press Play. If the console is in rest mode, NixaniPSN wakes it first. The stream opens fullscreen, and the launcher comes back when you disconnect. While playing:
- F1 opens the menu over the game, F3 cycles the stats overlay, F11 toggles fullscreen.
- Ctrl+Q disconnects. Every key can be changed in the app.
7. Play away from home
Use the Internet button next to Play. NixaniPSN finds your console through PlayStation Network, with no port forwarding. The console needs the two rest-mode settings from step 2, and a steady upload on the home connection helps a lot.
8. Tips for the lowest latency
- Use a cable for the PC, and for the console if you can.
- Pick Competitive or Turbo for fast games; keep Smooth for slower ones.
- G-Sync or FreeSync display? Allow tearing on the Picture page for the quickest frames.
- Press F3 to see latency per stage, frame times and network stats, so you know where the delay is.
- Try Auto-tune in the in-game menu: it measures your connection and picture cost and suggests settings.
9. If something doesn't work
The console isn't found
Check that Remote Play is switched on (step 2) and that the PC and console are on the same network. Several consoles show up separately; pick the one to use on the Play page.
No picture, or the picture looks wrong
On Windows N editions without an NVIDIA card, install Microsoft's Media Feature Pack first. If the picture is missing or looks wrong, choose another decoder under Connection › Video decoder: Windows, compatibility mode, or Processor.
For HEVC and HDR streams on AMD and Intel cards, install the free HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store (many PCs already have them). Without them the stream uses H.264, which still works.
It stopped working after a console update
A PlayStation system update can break Remote Play clients until they catch up. NixaniPSN checks for updates and tells you when one is needed to keep playing.
Still stuck?
Send the two log files from %APPDATA%\NixaniPSN (nixanipsn.log and nixanipsn.1.log) to hello@nixani.com.