How To Connect Your Xbox Controller To Your Xbox

If yous ain whatever wireless Xbox controller from the current or previous generation, you already have a great option for playing controller-based games on a PC or smartphone. The key to the adaptability of these controllers is their support for both the Xbox Wireless protocol and Bluetooth. After Apple rolled out iOS fourteen.5 with support for wireless Xbox controllers and Microsoft tested and rolled out firmware updates for the older Bluetooth-equipped Xbox One controllers and the Elite 2 (matching the functionality of newer Serial X models), these controllers went from being the simply de facto choice for Xbox or PC gamers to one of the nearly versatile options for apply beyond consoles, phones, tablets, and Windows PCs.

Connecting to all these devices is simple, and even swapping back and along between an Xbox console and a Bluetooth device is nice and piece of cake.

Here'southward how you set everything upwards:

First, you take to pair your Xbox Serial X, Xbox One, or Aristocracy 2 controller with your phone or PC. You can always play wired on a PC via a USB cablevision, but we're here to use the full capabilities of your wireless controller. Activate wireless pairing on your controller by pressing and belongings the sync button on the dorsum, which is just above the USB-C port on the Series X gamepad. After a couple seconds, the Xbox logo on the front of the controller will wink rapidly.

*Press and hold the sync button on the back of your controller to pair it with your telephone or PC.*

And then, follow the usual Bluetooth pairing procedure on the device you're trying to sync with the controller and look for the controller in the Bluetooth settings menu. For example, on iOS 15, my Xbox Series 10 controller instantly appeared as "Xbox Wireless Controller," followed by a iv-digit number. Once I tapped it, the proper noun automobile-filled with a longer sequence of numbers and letters, and information technology prompted me to pair it. I then selected the controller to pair information technology. Over on Windows x / xi PCs, be sure to click on "Add new device" under Bluetooth and Devices.

*Pairing the Xbox Series X controller with an iPhone on iOS xv.*

Once the controller is connected to your new device via Bluetooth, the white Xbox logo should go solid, and you lot tin can jump right into some games!
To swap your controller back to your Xbox Serial 10 / South panel again, double-tap the sync button. The Xbox logo will wink slowly, and the controller should reconnect with your console.
To switch the controller back from the Xbox to the Bluetooth device, double-tap the sync push one time more than. The Xbox logo again flashes slowly, and then it reconnects to your device.

That'due south information technology! Information technology's at present really elementary to connect a Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One, Elite 2, or Xbox Serial Ten controller to dissimilar devices and swap between that device and your Xbox. With remote play and a growing number of titles available via the Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta, there are more reasons to play Xbox games away from your console — equally well every bit, of course, PC games.

One thing yous should be aware of: this quick-swap functionality only works with the last mobile device or PC that the controller continued to via Bluetooth. When you double-tap the sync push button, the controller is switching betwixt its Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth protocols. Information technology tin can merely be synced with ane Xbox console and i Bluetooth device at a time. So if you want to rapidly swap betwixt your Xbox Series X / S and a different device, you'll demand to manually fix up your controller with that new device first.

Too, since the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows uses the same wireless tech equally Xbox consoles, it won't let you quick-swap between those two.

Update March 4th, 2022, 2:55PM ET: This article was originally published on February ninth, 2021; all the directions accept been updated.