Guide

How to connect a Switch 2 Pro Controller to PC

Everything in one place: USB, Bluetooth, Steam, emulators and fixes for the most common problems — for both the Switch 2 Pro Controller and the original Pro Controller. Total time: about two minutes.

On this page What you need Switch 2 Pro Controller over USB (recommended) Switch 2 Pro Controller over Bluetooth Original Pro Controller (Switch 1) Using it with Steam Gyro in emulators (Dolphin, Cemu) Troubleshooting

What you need

  • A Windows 10 or 11 PC
  • A Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller (or the original Switch Pro Controller)
  • A USB-C cable (for the wired setup) or Bluetooth on the PC
  • connectyourpro — free and open source. The installer also sets up the ViGEmBus driver if you don't have it; that's the component that lets Windows host virtual gamepads.

Why is a tool needed at all? On the console, the Switch 2 Pro Controller receives a proprietary activation sequence before it starts sending input. A PC never sends it, so out of the box the controller does nothing on Windows. connectyourpro replays that sequence and then presents the controller to your games as a standard Xbox 360 (XInput) or DualShock 4 pad.

Switch 2 Pro Controller over USB (recommended)

  1. Install and launch connectyourpro.
  2. Plug the controller into the PC with a USB-C cable.
  3. In the app pick Pro Controller 2 → USB → Xbox 360 (XInput) (best compatibility) or DualShock 4.
  4. Press Connect. Activation runs automatically — after a second or two the dashboard appears.
  5. Press a few buttons: they light up on the controller schematic. You're done — start your game.
connectyourpro setup screen: choosing Pro Controller 2, USB connection and Xbox 360 output
USB gives the lowest input lag — the controller reports every 4 ms. If you play anything fast-paced, use the cable.

Switch 2 Pro Controller over Bluetooth

Bluetooth on the ProCon 2 is experimental: expect noticeably more input lag than USB, because the controller talks Bluetooth LE and Windows' BLE stack adds delay. The OS version matters a lot: Windows 10 caps BLE polling around ~20 Hz (sluggish), Windows 11 reaches ~70 Hz. USB always runs at 250 Hz.

  1. Do not pair the controller in Windows Bluetooth settings. If it's already paired there, remove it first — Windows will otherwise grab the connection for itself.
  2. In the app pick Pro Controller 2 → Bluetooth and press Connect.
  3. Hold the controller's SYNC button (the small round button next to the USB-C port) until the player LEDs start sweeping back and forth.
  4. The app finds the controller by itself within a few seconds and activates it.
Nintendo's controllers have a connection cooldown: several connect attempts in a short time and the pad goes silent for a few minutes. If scanning stops finding it, put it down, wait, try again.

Original Pro Controller (Switch 1)

USB

  1. Plug the controller in with a USB-C cable.
  2. Pick Pro Controller 1 → USB → output type → Connect.

Bluetooth

  1. Pair the controller in Windows Settings → Bluetooth & devices first (hold the SYNC button on the controller until the LEDs sweep, then add "Pro Controller").
  2. In the app pick Pro Controller 1 → Bluetooth → Connect.

The Switch 1 pad uses classic Bluetooth (not BLE), which is why Windows pairing is needed here but not for the ProCon 2 — the two controllers speak entirely different protocols.

Using it with Steam

Nothing special to configure: once connected, Steam sees a regular Xbox 360 Controller (or DualShock 4, if you chose that output) and every Steam Input feature works as usual.

If a game shows double input (reacts twice to one press), it's reading both the physical pad and the virtual one. In Steam, disable Steam Input for the "Pro Controller" device, or ignore the physical pad in the game's controller settings.

Gyro in emulators (Dolphin, Cemu)

  1. Connect the controller in connectyourpro (Bluetooth mode carries motion data).
  2. On the dashboard enable DSU server (gyro for emulators).
  3. In the emulator, add a DSU / Cemuhook motion source pointing at 127.0.0.1 port 26760:
    • Dolphin: Controllers → Alternate Input Sources → enable, address as above.
    • Cemu: Input settings → add DSU controller as motion source.

Troubleshooting

The "Pro Controller" in Windows' game controller panel flashes randomly

Expected. That entry is the physical controller, which after activation speaks a protocol Windows can't parse. Games use the virtual Xbox 360 Controller — test that one (or use the live schematic right in the app).

No input after pressing Connect (USB)

  1. Unplug the USB cable, plug it back in, press Connect again.
  2. Try a different USB port and a data-capable cable (some charge-only cables won't work).
  3. Close other tools that may hold the controller open (Steam with the pad configured, a procon2tool browser tab).

Bluetooth scan never finds the ProCon 2

  1. Remove the controller from Windows' Bluetooth device list if it's there.
  2. Hold SYNC until the LEDs sweep while the app is scanning.
  3. Hit the cooldown? Wait a few minutes — the controller locks up after repeated attempts.

Buttons feel wrong (A/B swapped)

That's the Nintendo vs Xbox layout difference. On the dashboard press Swap A<->B, X<->Y (Nintendo layout), or click any button on the schematic and remap it individually.

It worked yesterday, today nothing

Unplug and replug the controller, then Connect again. If Bluetooth: remove and re-add. The controller occasionally needs a fresh activation after sleeping.

Download connectyourpro — free