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It’s a shame that the control sticks of both my Joycons have started to drift with just over a year of use… Now, playing any genre of game with them has become impossible since I have no control over my character’s movement. Luckily, I have found a solution to this problem and if you have the same issue with yours here’s how to fix a drifting Joycon.
WARNING: ALTHOUGH I’VE USED A REGULAR WD-40 CONTACT CLEANER TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT IT’S BETTER TO USE A WD-40 ELECTRICAL CONTACT CLEANER, SO MAKE SURE YOU GET THAT ONE!!!
1. BUY A CONTACT CLEANER
Usually, when a control stick starts drifting it might just mean there’s some dust inside of it and cleaning it might solve the drifting. And the best part is that you can clean it without having to take the Joycon apart, all you need is some contact cleaner! I got a WD-40 contact cleaner but you can get a different one, although I recommend not being cheap on it!
2. START CLEANING
Before you apply the contact cleaner make sure your Joycons and not synced to your Nintendo Switch. Then look for a thin rubber layer underneath the control stick. With the help of some tweezers or the tube from the contact, cleaner lift it and spray it. It will dry after a couple of seconds and while it does keep rotating the control stick.
3. CALIBRATE THE CONTROL STICKS
Now, let’s check if the problem is solved by going to System Settings>Controllers and Sensors>Calibrate Control Sticks. If the drifting persists apply the contact cleaner once or twice more and if it still doesn’t fix the issue you might want to send your Joycon for repair.
4. PROBLEM FIXED!
And that’s how to fix a drifting Joycon! If you have this problem let me know if this guide helped you or not and then think about sharing it with every person that owns a Nintendo Switch because sooner or later their Joycons will also start drifting. Can’t wait for that day where Joycon comes packed with some WD-40!
6 Comments
Unknown
Has this permanently solved your drift problem, or does it still require a cleaning every so often?
Gamer By Mistake
It's been a bit over a year since I've done this and my Joycons haven't drift since then!
irrational moon
How long should I wait after applying the contact cleaner and rotating the joycon to power on and recalibrate?
Gamer By Mistake
I'd say a minute or two should be enough!
guy
another youtuber says the joy-cons wear out from eccsive play and not dust, so will this also fix that?
Gamer By Mistake
Can't say for sure if it will solve the problem in that case. However, I've used my joycons a lot for about two years when it started drifting and this solved my problem. Maybe it was because it actually just needed a good cleaning or it just needed some extra lubrification. Hard to say.