Is Your Nintendo Switch Joy-Con ‘Drifting’? Find Out How to Get It Fixed for FREE!
Good news for anyone experiencing the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con “drift!”
If you’re one of the Nintendo Switch owners who has experienced “drifting” issues with the company’s Joy-Con controllers, you may be able to have your controller(s) repaired by Nintendo completely free of charge!
What exactly is the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con “drift?”
The infamous “Joy-Con Drift” refers to the controllers randomly moving around and inputting commands to the console, even when they are not being physically moved. Note that there are variations of this defect that can occur, so it’s definitely worth following the steps listed below if you’re experiencing anything that is not quite right.
We recently learned that if you follow Nintendo’s Joy-Con Troubleshooting guidelines provided here and nothing appears to be solving the drifting issue, Nintendo may offer to repair the Joy-Con free of charge – including covering all shipping charges!
So we decided to test this out ourselves to see what sort of response we would receive…
Here’s what Hip Sidekick, Angie had to say…
My kiddos had been complaining about the Nintendo controller going in whichever direction it pleased for some time, but I figured there wasn’t much that could be done. However, after hearing that Nintendo may fix the issue for free, I decided to give it a shot.
I was pleasantly surprised that a little over 24 hours after I had submitted a support ticket, I received a link to print my FREE shipping label, as well as the instructions for what needed to be done in order to get the repair underway. AND, the best part… this was all provided with no charge to me and I was not required to submit a receipt or any other proof of purchase.
I have to say I was SO excited, as were my kids!
Experiencing the Joy-Con Drift? Follow these steps…
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- Head over here.
- Choose the Joy-Con Repair option and follow the prompts.
- Watch your inbox for an email from Nintendo support at the email address no-reply@noa.nintendo.com. It took a little over 24 hours for our email to arrive.
- Follow the instructions in this email to have your Nintendo Joy-Con(s) repaired!
- Note that if your Joy-Con can’t be repaired, it may be replaced with a standard color Joy-Con at no charge.
Hip tip: Can’t live without your Nintendo Switch while your Joy-Cons are being fixed? For around $10, this highly-rated repair kit will let you do the job yourself! It comes with everything you need to fix two controllers in a matter of minutes, without having to send them away to be repaired! 🙌
Expand your collection of Nintendo Switch games when you download these FREE titles!
Thought I’d share that we had a great experience with their customer service as well! Quick response and quick repair and return!! Much appreciated.
Yay! That’s awesome to hear! Thanks for letting us know how successful it was for you!
Going to send in our today hoping they come back fast my kids have been without joycons for about about a year now we ended up buying the controllers instead of new joycons
We had a great experience. We noticed the drifting, called customer service and sent them in and they were shipped back in a couple of weeks. Easy Peasy!!
SO awesome! Thanks for sharing how easy it worked out for you!
I also had a great experience with their customer service. Quick and efficient service. And free!
Wonderful to hear that, Susan! Thanks for taking a moment to comment!
Does it matter when we bought the nintendo switch? I bought mine when it was released and have just begun experiencing this problem.
We sent some in that were pretty old and even sent one set in twice!! Much better than PS4 that wouldn’t back up the same issue on a controller of theirs!
We did this & it was a SUPER fast process! So impressed with Nintendo on this repair!
We did this as well and it was an easy and quick process.
I’ve replaced my sons joy cons twice for that stupid drift within 2 years. I actually went out and bought new joy cons 2 weeks ago, cause i didnt wanna deal with him not having any. I’m gonna try and send his in to have extra ones, cause it will happen eventually with these new ones.
I’ve done this as well. Very quick and easy and my kids haven’t complained since, so I guess they fixed them well!
Sent mine in thanks to Hip2Save very easy process. Turn around was fast no issues since than.
We didn’t want to send the joycons away so we bought a kit from amazon for less than $15 and fixed them ourselves.
We did this too. The kids couldn’t bear to be without their Switch while it was sent away.
Oh wow! Thanks for sharing how you fixed them! Good to know!
Hi! I was wondering if you have to send the whole console or just the joy cons?
Hi there! Just the Joy Cons. Here is what I found on this –
“This form is for Joy-Con repair only. Please do not send in your Nintendo Switch console. Including your console will increase your repair time and possibly the cost.”
I had to do this twice in the past year or two back. The process is actually easy and quick! I never had a problem with either one after that. Thanks H2S!
Awww, I’m so glad to hear it was an easy process! Thanks, Karen!
I didn’t see anything about a switch lite having the same issue. Anyone know if they are fixing the lites too or just the full version joy cons?
Do they repair your controller, or send you a new one? I have one of the special edition colors and would like to make sure I get that one back.
My kid just got his back last week! Great service.