{"id":88846,"date":"2019-03-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/03\/guide_how_to_fix_a_drifting_nintendo_switch_joy-con_analogue_stick"},"modified":"2019-03-15T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T12:00:00","slug":"guide-how-to-fix-a-drifting-nintendo-switch-joy-con-analogue-stick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/03\/15\/guide-how-to-fix-a-drifting-nintendo-switch-joy-con-analogue-stick\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide: How To Fix A Drifting Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Analogue Stick"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/1f41ad1685aa8\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/1f41ad1685aa8\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rUTuOOZlX9w?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Switch celebrated its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/03\/anniversary_nintendo_switch_launched_two_years_ago_today\">second birthday<\/a> recently and Nintendo deserves a lot of credit for delivering a console to suit multiple purposes and lifestyles. Its success as a portable device relies on it being a hard-wearing piece of hardware and \u2013 on the whole \u2013 it\u2019s a solid, durable bit of kit.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say it\u2019s perfect, though. From launch there were Joy-Con connection issues and there are a couple of oversights in the design &#8211; why is it even <em>possible<\/em> to attach Joy-Con the wrong way up? Hairline cracks <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/07\/poll_is_your_nintendo_switch_cracking_under_the_pressure\">seen by some owners<\/a> around the heat vents are concerning, but by far the biggest complaint we\u2019ve got is the infamous Joy-Con \u2018drift\u2019 \u2013 a phenomenon where hair, dust or debris somehow gets into the analogue stick mechanism causing movement to register without any pressure being applied.<\/p>\n<p>A quick survey of Nintendo Life staff reveals that almost all of us have had problems at one time or another over the last 24 months. Some have sent controllers back to Nintendo for repair, while others resigned themselves to buying new ones (<em>possibly<\/em> using the faulty sticks as an excuse to pick up some of the more adventurous colours released since launch). While wear-and-tear will take its toll on even the sturdiest hardware, we don\u2019t recall any other Nintendo hardware failing so rapidly. All-in-all, a bit shoddy, no?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"YELLOW\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/42ac44b385c9a\/yellow.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/42ac44b385c9a\/yellow.900x.jpg\" alt=\"YELLOW\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>While <em>some<\/em> games enable you to alter dead zones and work around the problem, most titles don\u2019t which makes most games unplayable, unless you\u2019re a sucker for watching Link repeatedly jog off cliff edges. New Switch owners are covered by the one-year manufacturer\u2019s warranty but sending controllers back to Nintendo is a pain in the backside, especially if you don\u2019t have another controller to tide you over while it\u2019s at the repair shop.<\/p>\n<p>If the problem crops up outside of that guarantee period \u2013 which is more likely anyway \u2013 replacing Joy-Con is a pricey prospect and infuriating, too, when only the <em>stick<\/em> is malfunctioning. Unwilling to fork out \u00a340 for a dull grey replacement, the more <em>industrious<\/em> amongst us got down to a little DIY and found success with a variety of solutions (plus the odd failure, but we\u2019ll get to that).<\/p>\n<p>This guide should get you back on track if drift is getting you down (or just irritatingly to the left or right). These options increase in severity and we\u2019ve provided a list of the necessary tools and items you\u2019ll need for each solution. Following these steps will hopefully mean you can spend that money on a new game rather than a duplicate controller.<\/p>\n<h3>A word of warning<\/h3>\n<p>Disclaimer time! We recommend opening up your Joy-Con <em>only<\/em> as a last resort. Doing so will likely invalidate your warranty (assuming you still have one) and we obviously can\u2019t take responsibility if you snap ribbons or strip the heads off screws.<\/p>\n<p>That said, it\u2019s a lump of plastic and electrical components, not Pandora\u2019s Box; it\u2019s really not as scary as you may think and you\u2019ve got nothing to lose if you\u2019re outside the guarantee period. While there are various tiny screws and clasps to negotiate \u2013 and it\u2019s essential to take your time and have the correct tools at hand \u2013 you shouldn\u2019t have too many problems doing all but the last solution on our list.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get cracking!<\/p>\n<h2>Solution 1: Update Firmware and Recalibrate<\/h2>\n<p><strong>What You\u2019ll Need:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Your Switch<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>An internet connection<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Okay, we hate to be Captain Obvious, but you don\u2019t want to jump to conclusions and open up your precious controllers if you can avoid it; the first thing to try is a good old-fashioned <em>turn-it-off-and-on-again<\/em>, then make sure the firmware is up-to-date and try recalibrating the sticks.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Head into System Settings from the main menu and scroll down the left menu to Controllers and Sensors.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"2\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9dda8daf566b5\/2.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9dda8daf566b5\/2.original.jpg\" alt=\"2\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ce8f278d9ab7e\/3.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ce8f278d9ab7e\/3.original.jpg\" alt=\"3\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>2. Scroll down the right menu to Update Controllers \u2013 press this to download the latest firmware, just in case.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e75d996249d0e\/4.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e75d996249d0e\/4.original.jpg\" alt=\"4\"><\/a><a title=\"5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/319f747eaadcf\/5.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/319f747eaadcf\/5.original.jpg\" alt=\"5\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"6\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/67cfb3e67e4ff\/6.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/67cfb3e67e4ff\/6.original.jpg\" alt=\"6\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>3. Next, scroll to Calibrate Control Sticks and give that a press. Follow the onscreen instructions to click the stick you wish to calibrate. The left one causes the most problems in-game, but we\u2019ve had drift on both.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d53322833e4e6\/7.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d53322833e4e6\/7.original.jpg\" alt=\"7\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/aa5c4c7def0bd\/8.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/aa5c4c7def0bd\/8.original.jpg\" alt=\"8\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>4. If your stick is working perfectly, you should see a green cross dead centre in the crosshair. Otherwise, a green circle will be hovering to one side \u2013 press \u2018X\u2019 to recalibrate.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"9\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/95678ea8dece9\/9.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/95678ea8dece9\/9.original.jpg\" alt=\"9\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"10\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/339ce9ea70593\/10.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/339ce9ea70593\/10.original.jpg\" alt=\"10\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>5. The following screens instruct you to push in the cardinal directions and release, although this can be challenging if the drift is so severe that the circle doesn\u2019t return to the centre. Persevere and it should register \u2013 you can always cancel out with \u2018B\u2019.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"11\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ec7239c0a805d\/11.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ec7239c0a805d\/11.445x245.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" alt=\"11\"><\/a><a title=\"13\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/746582268b93e\/13.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/746582268b93e\/13.445x245.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" alt=\"13\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"12\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/6026013a388eb\/12.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/6026013a388eb\/12.445x245.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" alt=\"12\"><\/a><a title=\"14\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/6dd75c0d9ad7d\/14.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/6dd75c0d9ad7d\/14.445x245.jpg\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" alt=\"14\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>6. Finally rotate the stick several times, as instructed.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"15\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/44f550e2332a9\/15.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/44f550e2332a9\/15.original.jpg\" alt=\"15\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"16\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4925bec42fc01\/16.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4925bec42fc01\/16.original.jpg\" alt=\"16\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>If your Joy-Con is now fully-functional, well done &#8211; you\u2019ve saved yourself a lot of bother. However, if it\u2019s still playing up, continue to the next stage\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rUTuOOZlX9w?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507] Switch celebrated its second birthday recently and Nintendo deserves a lot of credit for delivering a console to suit multiple purposes and lifestyles. Its success as a portable device relies on it being a hard-wearing piece of hardware and \u2013 on the whole \u2013 it\u2019s a solid, durable bit of kit. That\u2019s not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}