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How To Fix Your Joycon Drift Permanently

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


In this video, I'll tell you about my journey to discover the source and the fix for the Joycon Drift problem

▬ Chapters ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

0:00 - Intro
0:42 - What is the joycon Drift?
5:55 - How to fix the Drift
7:31 - Why the Drift Happens

According to the video (which can be seen above and starts the tutorial at 5:55), the solution is to open up the Joy-Con and add a tiny piece of card around 1mm thick underneath the stick’s metal enclosure.

The explanation given in the video is that over time the metal enclosure holding the stick becomes loose and separates from the stick, separating it from its contacts.
 
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nkarafo

Member
There’s no way it’s that simple, this reminds me of the people wrapping their 360s in towels to fix RRoD.
It is actually.

My older 360 pad had a very shitty, loose Dpad. By adding a small paper disk between it's parts to increase the pressure, the Dpad not only got fixed, it feels even better than the XBOX one dpad now. And this fix also aged really well as years later, the dpad is still tight and feels great.

It's amazing how many things a little piece of paper can fix.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
It is actually.

My older 360 pad had a very shitty, loose Dpad. By adding a small paper disk between it's parts to increase the pressure, the Dpad not only got fixed, it feels even better than the XBOX one dpad now. And this fix also aged really well as years later, the dpad is still tight and feels great.

It's amazing how many things a little piece of paper can fix.
User avatar checks out
 
There’s no way it’s that simple, this reminds me of the people wrapping their 360s in towels to fix RRoD.

Well watch the explanation. Is this easier and more plausible than just blowing compressed air or spraying alcohol down the neck of the joycon? RROD fix was retarded, you just melt your console, have you never used paper or tinfoil when after some time your headphone jack loses contact and your sounds starts to skip? Or putting a thin piece of paper in the wall outlet because your plug is too loose? Thats all because of loss of contact. Thumbsticks never showed any wear so the only thing could be contact plus have you seen the inside of a joycon? Theres like 5 things in there in total, its not some heavy mechanics like a car engine where you can have 100 reasons for an issue.
 

jigglet

Banned
Well if you watch the whole video you will see why and he does mention all the previous possible fixes and why they didnt work. Either way im getting a brand new case replacement soon so Ill def do this when I open my joycons.

Ok I watched it. I am happy to admit it when I'm wrong and I think I am. This is genius. You don't even need to remove any components other than the back plate...
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I fixed mine by buying a pro controller.
I had drift on a Pro Controller stick.

Or to be more specific, the left stick would often get ”stuck” when pushed upward, with the stick returning to neutral position but the upward input still registering and the downward input not registering at all. I had to change the inner part of the stick to fix it.
 

Armorian

Banned
There’s no way it’s that simple, this reminds me of the people wrapping their 360s in towels to fix RRoD.

Simple solutions like that are usually good. I had problem with right bumper on X1 controller, it wasn't registering half of the pressures. I just used piece of paper to fix it and it works great.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
All these fixes are always "put a piece of paper in it". The manufacturers should just put those pieces of paper in there to begin with! Or make proper hardware that doesn't degrade like this with normal use.
 
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22•22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
I haven't used the joycons in ages. Firstly because I prefer the Pro controller but a couple months ago I discovered the joycons are drifting so yeah... Does this work or should I just send them to Nintendo?

Nice tell me how your fixed your sheit dpad on that one 😂

It's a little to 'tall' isn't it? As in it sticks out atop the surface to much...
 

Hugare

Member
Step 1: Drop some contact cleaner in that shit

Step 2: That's it

Fixed my horrible drifted joycon by doing this. Its really thst simple.

2 years later and still working perfectly
 

Birdo

Banned
tenor.gif
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
I haven't used the joycons in ages. Firstly because I prefer the Pro controller but a couple months ago I discovered the joycons are drifting so yeah... Does this work or should I just send them to Nintendo?



It's a little to 'tall' isn't it? As in it sticks out atop the surface to much...
well for starters i get false inputs when i play tetris 99
you know a game that needs the dpad.

nintendo the inventor of the dpad.
fucked it up.

🤡 🤡 🤡
 
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UnNamed

Banned
Step 1: Drop some contact cleaner in that shit

Step 2: That's it

Fixed my horrible drifted joycon by doing this. Its really thst simple.

2 years later and still working perfectly
Contact cleaner is a bad idea since the oil can absorb dirt and get stuck inside. I know because I also used it and then I found a mess when I opened the joycon.

There is no way to fix the joycon without open it. Contact cleaner is good for some time but there will be problem later. Compressed air is almost useless and can exacerbate the problem.

You need to open the analog and clean the contacts, but you have to be very careful since joycon components are fragile as fuck. I found a cable almost tor when I opened my joycon for the first time.
 

Hugare

Member
Contact cleaner is a bad idea since the oil can absorb dirt and get stuck inside. I know because I also used it and then I found a mess when I opened the joycon.

There is no way to fix the joycon without open it. Contact cleaner is good for some time but there will be problem later. Compressed air is almost useless and can exacerbate the problem.

You need to open the analog and clean the contacts, but you have to be very careful since joycon components are fragile as fuck. I found a cable almost tor when I opened my joycon for the first time.
I used a specific contact cleaner that shouldnt be considered as an "oil" per say

Its made for eletronics, so it shouldnt cause any mess. When I opened it up it was fine.

As I said, 2 years without a problem.

Maybe I was lucky or something.
 
I fixed mine by buying a pro controller.
lol i bought a pro controller for my switch and guess what? started drifting. so let's not pretend drifting is exclusive to joy cons.

shit, i bought a switch back in April 2017 and sold it in January 2021. never had drifting on it. my PS4 and XB1 controllers? got drifting. i returned my XB1 controller to the store 3 times because of drifting (luckily i bought insurance) and the one i have right now is drifting too but i give up returning it.

i'm not saying drifting doesn't happen on switch. it obviously does but everyone is acting like it only ever happens on joycons. the new PS5/XSX controllers drift too. it's just shitty sticks in all controllers whether they be nintendo, sony, microsoft.
 
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ReBurn

Gold Member
Look, I GET people that affirm the joycons dont have a dpad but in my honest opinion, the joycons have the best feeling dpad of everything I touched. Inputs just work
I hear what you're saying but the Nintendo joycon has no d pad. How can it be the best feeling dpad when it doesn't exist? I guess a third party joycon with a dpad would be ok.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
I had drift on a Pro Controller stick.

Or to be more specific, the left stick would often get ”stuck” when pushed upward, with the stick returning to neutral position but the upward input still registering and the downward input not registering at all. I had to change the inner part of the stick to fix it.
Well yeah, I heard the stick tech used in the DS4/5, XBO/XS and Pro controllers were one and the same so there would be some possible drift in the future as well but it won’t happen as fast.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


WARNING: This repair guide requires you to disassemble the JoyCon on your Switch, which will void your manufacturer's warranty. Do not attempt this fix for Joy Con drifting if you aren't willing to void your warranty.
 

Truespeed

Member
It's bizarre that these companies keep using the same problematic graphite pad design over and over again which leads me to believe it's intentional and they have no interest in coming up with a superior design that doesn't degrade with usage. The cost savings minus the money paid for class action settlements must be very good.
 

Nikodemos

Member
It's bizarre that these companies keep using the same problematic graphite pad design over and over again which leads me to believe it's intentional and they have no interest in coming up with a superior design that doesn't degrade with usage. The cost savings minus the money paid for class action settlements must be very good.
I think it's because the company licensing the design (ALPS?) undercuts every other competitor. When you have to build several million of the things, even a small difference can save you a lot of money.
 

Truespeed

Member
I think it's because the company licensing the design (ALPS?) undercuts every other competitor. When you have to build several million of the things, even a small difference can save you a lot of money.

Smart of them to also design planned obsolescence into them. This hack to apply additional pressure may work, but it's only a matter of time before that graphite is going to wear down.
 

Donwel

Neo Member
I just replaced the joystick on mine, I was surprised just how easy it was, the most difficult part was forcing the battery out. I'd say the whole thing took maybe 10 minutes at most.
 

22•22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
Just buy an adapter and use a dualshock 4 or xbox controller. Problem solved.

Should've known this was possible.. 🙌



I have an issue with my Switch Pro controller where the left thumbstick gives a grindy feeling accompanied with a subtle squeaking sound when moved in the left/upward part of it's radius. It annoys the heck out of me =(
 
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