How to Use Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons on PC and Mac

If you own a Nintendo Switch, yous already own a pair of miniature the best PC game controllers.

Photo: Shaun Lucas/Tom's Guide — Photo: Shaun Lucas/Tom'southward Guide

The console's included Joy-Con gamepads can be connected to only most whatever PC or Mac that supports Bluetooth, making them a great selection for retro games or multiplayer titles that you need a few actress controllers for. If you're looking to add a little Nintendo flair to your favorite PC games, here's how to get started.

How to Pair a Joy-Con to PC and Mac

one. Open your PC's settings menu and select "Bluetooth & other devices." On Mac, select System Preferences > Bluetooth.

2. Select "Add Bluetooth or other device" and click on Bluetooth.

3. Concur down your Joy-Con's sync button, which is the tiny blackness dot located between the SL and SR buttons.

4. Select Joy-Con from the bill of fare. Your controller will now be paired. For some reason, the Joy-Con's syncing lights continue to flash even when the controller is paired, but as long every bit you follow these steps, yous'll exist connected.

As yous might expect, Joy-Cons aren't a perfect solution for PC gaming. The controller worked instantly with titles like Tekken seven and Pocket Rumble, while other games, such as Ascension of the Tomb Raider and Rivals of Aether, didn't recognize the gamepad at all. For the titles that did work, I often had to remap the buttons in each game'south settings card -- which makes sense, considering the Joy-Cons have a different push button layout than a standard PC controller.

MORE: How to Use Whatsoever Controller on PC

Pro Controller and Continued Joy-Cons

If you have Nintendo's more than traditional Switch Pro Controller, yous tin can connect it to your computer via Bluetooth by post-obit the same steps equally yous would to pair a single Joy-Con. But like with the Joy-Cons themselves, though, non every PC game volition work out of the box with a Pro Controller.

There's no easy way to use two Joy-Cons together as a single controller on PC, merely y'all tin brand it happen with a little scrap of technical trickery. As pointed out in this Reddit tutorial, you can use the vJoy application to trick your computer into thinking your Joy-Cons are a regular old PC controller. While you'll have to follow a decent amount of steps and fudge with some settings, you'll be able to use your continued Joy-Cons merely like you would with your Switch on your TV.

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Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored and was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Eagle is the best Avenger.