How to Fix Joy-Con Drift on Your Nintendo Switch

Are you a Nintendo Switch owner? If you are, consider yourself lucky if you’ve never run into controller drift on your Joy-Cons because that is an extremely annoying problem that a lot of Switch consoles have been experiencing lately. 

The big thing is, it doesn’t even seem to be going away soon, even if Nintendo announced a new Switch OLED model. So, for those who have been dealing with Joy-Con drift, you’re left with but one thing on your hands: try to fix the problem yourself. Or else, you’ll have to deal with your character basically moving on their own without any physical input from you.

There are multiple ways of fixing Joy-Con drift. And while not all of them guarantee a total fix, they’re all worth trying.

Joy-Con Drift Fix: The Best Option

Amidst all of the potential fixes you can find on the internet, perhaps this one which was shared by ComicBook.com could be the best option you have. They cite a certain video from the YouTube channel VK’s Channel, which shows how to perform the fix. And judging by the like/dislike ratio as well as most of the comments, it seems to work like a charm.

The actual fix is a little too complicated to describe in words, so you can just watch the video instead. You can skip ahead to the 5:55 mark for the fix, but it also pays to watch the entire video to know how to do it absolutely right:

But if for some reason this doesn’t fix your problem, you can move on to the rest of the article.

Read also: Nintendo Switch OLED is ‘Joy-Con Drift’ Prone–Controller Issue Will Continue Despite Upgrades

Calibrate your Joy-Cons

CNET shares what’s likely the most obvious and easiest attempt at a fix: calibrate your joy-cons. This would work on all Switch models, including the OLED one (assuming that it really doesn’t fix the issue, as rumors claim). There’s a chance that the drift you’re experiencing could simply be a software issue, hence why the calibration is a good place to start.

1. Take out the Joy-Cons from the console (if you have a Switch Lite, obviously, you don’t have to).
2. Go to System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Calibrate Control Sticks
3. Press down on the thumbstick you want to calibrate.

Once you reach the calibration screen, you should see a plus sign in the middle of a circle. As soon as you touch and move the sticks, that plus sign should turn into a dot. Move the stick around and you’ll see that the color of the circle changes from black to blue. If it doesn’t, recalibrate the thumbstick.

Press the X button to start recalibrating. You’ll be then asked to flick the stick to a certain direction and let go. Follow on-screen instructions until the calibration is complete.

Clean the Joy-Con Stick

Perhaps the drift is being caused by dirt and gunk gumming up the hardware, so you can try cleaning the thumbstick.

1. Take a Q-tip and wet it with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
2. Dab the wet Q-tip under the stick’s head which looks like a “graduation cap.”
3. Move the thumbstick around for around 30 seconds to ensure that the alcohol gets under there.
4. Let the thing sit for 15 minutes, then go ahead and recalibrate.

Replace the Thumbstick On Your Own

If you’re relatively handy with tools, then you can just replace the thumbsticks yourself. It could be possible that the contacts have worn out over time, hence the drift. This fix, however, is the most drastic and technical out of everything. Don’t try it if you have absolutely no experience fiddling with anything, especially electronics.

You can buy a new set of thumbsticks on Amazon for basically pennies on the dollar. Sometimes, the package even comes with tools. Once you get them, it’s time to replace the old, drifting ones. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Drift Still Not Fixed? Send Your Joy-Cons to Nintendo

This is your last resort. Nintendo made the Switch, so they for sure know how to fix it, right? You can send back your Joy-Cons for allegedly “free” repairs, and you’ll get them back good as new under the right circumstances.

But suppose you have special edition Joy-Cons (like those special edition “Zelda: Skyward sword” ones) or a Switch Lite. In that case, you’ll have to deal with the possibility of getting boring-looking controllers in return or sending away your entire console for a few days or weeks.

Related: Nintendo Switch Lite Spotted Online with Free 128GB MicroSDXC Card | Console Sells at $199.99 on Amazon SRP

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Written by RJ Pierce

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