How to Make Switch Pro Controller Sync Consistently to Windows PC and Stay Connected (Includes Steam Input)

[lorul1]

INTRODUCTION:
As you may already know, it is possible to get a Nintendo Switch Pro controller to sync with your windows PC for gaming. To do this traditionally, you go to your Bluetooth settings in windows (search for “Bluetooth and other devices settings”) , then click “add Bluetooth and other devices” and then “Bluetooth”, and press the sync button on your Switch Pro Controller.

If you use Steam Input (AKA SIAPI) , and the controller is connected wirelessly you can even set up gyro motion controls for all your games if you’d like. Using the Switch Pro controller wirelessly is also good If you use Steam Input along with something like the Nvidia Shield or Steam Link for streaming games to your TV.

However, the issue with pairing a Switch Pro controller traditionally is that after the controller is turned off, runs out of battery, or the computer is turned off or reset - the Switch Pro controller will need to be repaired again to Bluetooth. I think this has something to do with how windows handles Bluetooth devices.

This is annoying because if the Nintendo Switch Pro controller is your favorite controller (especially if you like gaming or streaming your PC to your TV) - then this issue means you have to open up the bluetooth settings in windows and resync it EVERY SINGLE TIME. You should be able to pick up the controller, turn it on, and in less than a second it should just sync automatically and not have to re-pair / resync every time and the traditional bluetooth method does not allow for this to my knowledge.

But recently I have discovered a really good workaround that includes motion control support !



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TUTORIAL :
There is a little device called the “Mayflash Magic-S Pro Wireless Bluetooth Controller Adapter”. As of right now it cost 30$ USD over on Amazon. This device allows you to pair a number of many different controllers to either your consoles or in this case your PC. With this method a bluetooth adapter will no longer be required to connect a Switch Pro controller to a PC. (NOTE: the tutorial below is working as of April 2021)

To get the Switch Pro Controller to work:
First you might want to update the device. The device plugs into a usb port and has a little button on the side. Mayflash’s official website has a program you can download for updates. You have to hold in the button on the device first, then plug the device in while the button is being held down and while the update program is running, then when you see the device show up in the update menu let go of the button. You can choose to update the device if the application says your version is outdated. Read the Mayflash instruction manual for a complete set of instructions. I am not responsible if you break your device during updates. This update step is probably not a necessity but I have personally found success on version 1.10

After the device is completely done updating (if you have chosen to update), Press and hold the button on the Mayflash device and a colored LED will change indicating what mode it’s in. After the LED changes, release the button and repeat. So for example, if the light is green that means it's in Xbox mode, and the computer will see any controller paired to the Mayflash device - AS an Xbox controller.

The Green Xbox mode will be what most of you should choose, it works with or without Steam input. So If you have no idea what “Steam Input” is, just choose the green Xbox mode, and then continue with these instructions.
But if you want to set up with gyro for certain games through steam input, use the purple “Switch Pro” mode, the other modes do not support gyro on the pro controller.

You might need to set the buttons if you use Steam Input AND the green Xbox mode.
(Steam Window > Steam (top left) > settings > controller > General Controller Settings > Select Switch Pro controller under “Detected Controller” )

(IMPORTANT NOTE : You can manually add non steam games to steam so that the steam input will work with these games, meaning it is possible to play with the purple mode and add gyro support to non steam games.)

Once the device is in the mode you want, tap the button on the Mayflash device quickly and the LED will flash rapidly, this means it’s in pairing mode. Now press the small sync button next to the USB C port on your Nintendo Switch Pro Controller while the Mayflash’s led is flashing quickly to pair !

If you decide to use Steam Input with the purple (gyro support) mode you will have two more steps:

1. First you will notice that the controller will rumble uncontrollably sometimes, to fix this you will need to turn off “Haptic Preference”. Open the steam window > Steam (top left) > settings > controller > General Controller Settings > Select Switch Pro controller under “Detected Controller” > Preferences > go to “Haptic Preference” set it to off. (You can also get to this page in big picture mode. Click the “gear icon”, then “controller settings” > Etc.., .)

2. You will also notice that the rumble is extremely loud. You will need to turn down the rumble on the Mayflash USB device itself. To do this, open up any game while the Switch Pro controller is connected to the Mayflash. Then hold down Right Trigger, Right Bumper, And click in the Right Stick all at the same time. Hold them all down for 3 - 5 seconds and while holding them down you can use the Dpad up and Dpad down to control the rumble intensity. If you turn it down low enough, the rumble will go away entirely but I suggest just using the “Rumble Preference” setting in the steam controller settings to toggle rumble on and off.

And that’s everything you need to know to get your Switch Pro Controller setup. Now you can simply press the home button to wirelessly play as long as the Mayflash is plugged in and on the correct LED color.



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LIMITATIONS AND OTHER NOTES:
There are a few big cons and limitations to note with the Mayflash Magic-S Pro adapter method.

* The Mayflash device is $30 USD so it will cost you some money.

* The Mayflash device will not allow you to pair more than one controller to it at a time. If you do, both controllers will control the same in-game player. So if you wanted to repeat this process with 3 other controllers for 3 other players you would need to buy 3 other mayflashes (3 x 30$ dollars is a whopping 90$ so … yeah)

* There is a blue circle led that steam allows you to turn on if you connect a Switch Pro controller traditionally. If you use this method, the blue led will not turn on even if you turn on the setting in steam. So you will lose the ability to toggle this cool feature.

* You will need to do a one time update and configuration which will take a few mins. (I already went over this in this post) . This means the Mayflash method is by no means as “plug and play” as the xbox adapter for xbox controllers, where you just press the sync button on both and that's it. If you want to plug and play on a Switch Pro controller then just use a wire I guess.

* If the Mayflash device gets unplugged, you may have to navigate back to the purple mode again every single time you want to use gyro on steam input. So perhaps just use the green mode for everything except the games you want gyro in, then when it’s motion control time, just switch to purple mode. This is why you could just leave the device plugged in, but as you will soon see in the next bullet point even that can cause problems. If you're short on USB ports you could buy a usb hub to give you even more ports.

* I’m pretty sure The Mayflash adapter will always use up a controller slot (player 1 I think). This is annoying because some games and programs will always look for player 1, meaning you might have to unplug the Mayflash when playing these games, and it's annoying to unplug and replug the Mayflash every time (but personally to me, it does beat going into the bluetooth settings every time the controller gets disconnected.) (USB hubs with a button like the saberant ones, can mitigate the issue because you can push a button to disconnect a usb device instead of manually unplugging it.)

So YES - These are a lot of cons but , from what I've seen so far, the Mayflash method is the most consistent way to get a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to work on steam, and on PC in general.

There are 30$ USD unofficial off-brand Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers, and these do resync consistently but the thumb stick dead zone quality is poor, the gyro quality is poor, and the quality of the controller is questionable in general. Some people might not care about those downsides though and this would definitely also be a cheaper option. A 30$ off brand controller + Bluetooth adapter is less money than a 30$ Mayflash + plus official Switch Pro controller.

One other really cool thing about this device is that this adapter also works with the WiiMote, WiiU, and Playstation 3 Controllers, unfortunately I have not been able to get the motion controls on the WiiMote to work with the Mayflash. But it is possible to connect a WiiMote with the Nunchuck to the Mayflash (using the same instructions above). I like using the green xbox mode for the Wii Remote. Getting a Wii Remote to connect consistently for steam games has always been a hassle on PC, but the Mayflash solves this issue too.
Just remember though, you can only connect one controller at a time (No Wiimote and pro controller without buying two Mayflash Magic-S Pro’s) and also your computer won't technically see it as a WiiMote so it might not work as a “Real Wii Remote” with some programs.

According to the Steam 2018 survey almost half a million people have used a Switch Pro Controller on PC. The real number is probably a lot higher since that was about 4 years ago and not everyone on the platform participated in the survey. While many of the people probably just plug in their Switch Pro Controllers, I wrote this tutorial because I know that this can be an annoying issue for the thousands of people who don't. And in my mind, if this has helped even only one person out then it was totally worth it.
Obviously I’m not sponsored by Mayflash or anything and perhaps similar devices, or newer Mayflash devices may have similar success to the Magic-S Pro as well.

Let me know if you have any comments, questions, or if this helped you. (I will be reposting this in reddit too so you might see this post repeated over there as well)

[Gandi]

Hey man, just wanted to let you know that this is not the norm. On at least 3 different PCs where I've used Pro Controllers in the past, none had issues reconnecting after disconnect/reboot.
Not sure if your problem is related to windows versions (running 10 here), pro controller firmware updates, bluetooth dongle hardware (using CSR/Intel ones), or indeed the bluetooth stack (using regular microsoft drivers).
I still love my Pro Controllers, but with the arrival of the DualSense it's seen a bit less use recently.