Switch controller not working? The checklist.

Which controller, held which way?

Half of all "it's not mapping" reports are really "I'm holding it one way and the app is set up for the other". Pick your situation, because the checks below refer back to it.

Is the PC even listening?

1. The tray icon is there

   Look next to the clock on the Windows taskbar. Click the little up-arrow if it's hidden.

   You see

   A grey gamepad icon. Hover it and the tooltip says "Controller Gateway - waiting for phone".
   If not

   The PC app isn't running. Launch Controller Gateway from the Start menu. Not installed? Get it from the downloads page. Tick "Start with Windows" in the tray menu so this never happens again.

2. The driver installed

   The PC app creates a virtual Xbox controller through a driver called ViGEmBus. The installer bundles it.

   You see

   No error on launch. The icon appears and stays.
   If not

   A dialog titled "Controller Gateway - driver missing" means the driver isn't there. Re-run the installer, which installs it silently, then start the app again. If you see "UDP port 47800 is already in use", another program has the port. Usually an old copy of the app. Reboot.

3. Windows Firewall let it through

   The installer adds the rule itself. Some security suites remove it.

   You see

   The phone's Find PC lists your computer.
   If not

   Find PC says "No PC found". Check phone and PC are on the same Wi-Fi, not a guest network and not through a VPN. Then re-run the installer to restore the firewall rule, or allow ControllerGateway.exe inbound on UDP 47800 in your firewall.

4. The icon goes green when you tap Start

   This is the single most useful check. It proves phone and PC are talking, before any controller is involved.

   You see

   The icon turns green. Hover it: "Phone 192.168.x.x - 0 controllers" is fine at this point.
   If not

   Still grey means packets aren't arriving. Go back to step 3. On the phone, an amber "no reply. Is the PC app running?" status means the same thing.

5. Windows sees an Xbox controller

   Take the game out of the picture and ask Windows directly.

   You see

   Press Win + R, type joy.cpl, Enter. After you press a button on the controller, "Xbox 360 Controller for Windows" is listed and its Properties page lights up as you press buttons.
   If not

   Nothing listed means the controller isn't reaching the PC yet. Carry on to Stage 2, it's a phone-side problem. Listed but the wrong buttons light up? Jump to Stage 4.

Is the controller actually paired to the phone?

1. Paired to the phone, not the PC

   A Joy-Con remembers the last thing it paired with. If it ever met your PC's Bluetooth, or your Switch, it will sneak back to that.

   You see

   In the phone's Bluetooth settings, Joy-Con (L) and Joy-Con (R) both say Connected. A Pro Controller shows as Pro Controller.
   If not

   Hold the small round sync button on the rail of each half until the lights sweep, then pick it in the phone's Bluetooth list. If your PC has Bluetooth, turn it off or forget the Joy-Cons there, or they'll keep connecting to the PC instead. A powered-on Switch nearby will steal them too.

2. The app lists it

   On the app's main screen, the Your controllers card shows what the phone can see.

   You see

   Situation A: one row, P1 · Joy-Con (L + R). Situation B: P1 · Joy-Con (L) and P2 · Joy-Con (R). Situation C: P1 · Pro Controller.
   If not

   "No controller yet, tap to pair one via Bluetooth" means Android doesn't see a gamepad. Back to step 6. Only one half listed? Press a button on the missing half (next step).

3. You pressed a button

   A controller is only sent to the PC once it makes its first input. A freshly connected Joy-Con that nobody has touched looks dead. This catches a lot of people.

   You see

   After pressing a button or moving a stick on each half, the tray icon's badge shows 1 and the tooltip says "1 controller".
   If not

   Press something on the other half too. With two Joy-Cons, each half joins on its own first input.

4. The status line is teal

   The line under the Start button tells you the truth about the link.

   You see

   "Live — sending to 192.168.x.x (60 pkt/s)" in teal. The packet rate ticks as you move a stick.
   If not

   Amber "no reply" means the PC app isn't answering: Stage 1. Red "Reconnecting" means Wi-Fi dropped. "Ready — tap Start" means you haven't tapped Start.

Version, toggle, and grip

1. App version 2.4.1 or later

   Joy-Con support arrived in 2.4.1 (September 2026). Before that, each half was treated as a separate, half-broken pad: the right half used up a paid slot and the left half's D-pad didn't work on most phones.

   You see

   Play Store → Controller Gateway → Update button absent, and the store page says 2.4.1 or higher.
   If not

   Update, then fully close and reopen the app. The PC installer has its own version number (2.2.0 at the time of writing); that's fine and unrelated.

2. The "Use Joy-Cons as one controller" toggle matches your grip

   It's the last row of the Your controllers card, and it only appears while a real Joy-Con is connected. It's on by default.

   You see

   Situation A (upright, both halves): toggle on. Situation B (sideways, one half each): toggle off.
   If not

   Flip it. The halves drop and re-join on their next button press, so press something afterwards. Can't see the toggle at all? Then the phone doesn't see a genuine Nintendo Joy-Con (situation D, or not paired).

3. You're holding it the way the toggle expects

   This is the one people argue with. The app can't tell how you're holding it, so the toggle decides.

   You see

   Toggle on, halves upright: left stick moves left, ZL/ZR pull as triggers, SL/SR do nothing. Toggle off, half sideways: the stick's "up" is towards SL/SR, SL/SR are the shoulder buttons, and L/ZL/R/ZR do nothing.
   If not

   Stick pushes the wrong way, or the shoulder buttons are dead? You're holding it for the other mode. Change the toggle or change your grip.

4. Both sideways Joy-Cons are relayed

   Two Joy-Cons as two sideways pads is two controllers. Free play and premium both relay up to four at once, so each half gets its own player.

   You see

   Both rows show as live: P1 · Joy-Con (L) and P2 · Joy-Con (R).
   If not

   A row says "Not relayed"? Either your free play time is used (the banner on the main screen says so, and the one-time £2.99 unlock gives you unlimited play), or four controllers are already connected, so disconnect one. Already paid and still locked? Same Google account, then close and reopen the app.

"It works, but A is B" and other mix-ups

1. A and B are swapped: that's by design

   The PC sees a standard Xbox controller, and buttons go through by position. The bottom button is Xbox A whatever Nintendo printed on it. Steam and every other Joy-Con tool do the same, and it's what games expect.

   You see

   Nintendo A (right) acts as Xbox B; Nintendo B (bottom) acts as Xbox A. In-game prompts say "press A" and mean the bottom button.
   If not

   Prefer the printed letters to match? Controller Studio in the app remaps any button per controller.

2. X and Y swapped on a non-Samsung phone

   A known quirk. On Pixel and most non-Samsung phones, Android's generic Nintendo layout puts X and Y the other way round from a Samsung phone when the halves are joined or you're using a Pro Controller. Sideways mode is already corrected.

   You see

   Top button acts as Xbox X, left button as Xbox Y, only on non-Samsung phones, only upright.
   If not

   A fix is in progress. Until then, Controller Studio swaps them back in two taps. If this one is biting you, email us so we can prioritise it.

3. The Home button sends the phone home

   Android reserves the controller's Home button as the phone's Home key. Pressing it puts the app in the background and, on the Play Store version, Android stops delivering controller input to a background app.

   You see

   Press Home and the phone's launcher appears; the game stops responding until you return to the app.
   If not

   Don't use Home. Capture is the guide button, and it's relayed. To keep the app on screen with a black screen and the relay running, use Screen dim, then double-tap to wake.

4. Steam is re-mapping it

   Steam sees an Xbox 360 controller, not a Switch pad, so any Switch Pro settings in Steam don't apply. But a per-game Steam Input layout can still override buttons.

   You see

   Steam → Settings → Controller shows an Xbox 360 controller. Outside Steam, and in joy.cpl, the buttons are right.
   If not

   If a Steam game misbehaves while joy.cpl is fine, open that game's controller layout in Steam and reset it to the default Xbox template.