Playstation 4 (PS4) Stuck on Game Main Menus (cannot play any game) - How to Fix

David A. Wheeler

2020-01-02

Here's a potential problem: you have a Sony Playstation 4 (PS4) and you can move around the console menus, and select a game to start the game main menu, but then cannot actually play the game (you're stuck at the game main menu / game title screen / "press X to play").

The solution that worked for me was to shut down the controller:

Get to the game main menu / title screen, where you are stuck
Hold down for a few seconds the "PS" central button on the DualShock Controller until you see a menu.
Select "Sound/Devices" (move up/down with the direction buttoms and press "X" to select)
Go all the way down and select "Turn off device"
Select "DUALSHOCK 4"; yes, you're intentionally turning off the controller you're using!
Press the "PS" button on the controller to turn it back on; that will start the game.

This involves some sort of subtle defect in the controller; I've tried another controller which didn't have this problem. You should probably get the controller replaced if you can, but this is a useful work-around.

Here are some other techniques you can try, but they didn't work for me:

Reboot game and/or console
Press recessed "reset" button on back of controller (you'll need a paperclip or similar)
Connect the controller with USB, then modify "settings" to disable Bluetooth connectivity (just use USB)
Switch games
Update game
Hold down console power button for until you hear second beep (~7 seconds) to go into safe mode; my contoller could not interact with the console in safe mode.

Feel free to see my home page at https://dwheeler.com. You may also want to look at my paper Why OSS/FS? Look at the Numbers! and my book on how to develop secure programs.