Joy-Cons connect to a PC a little differently from a Pro Controller: the left and right Joy-Con are two separate Bluetooth devices, each with its own Sync button, and each one pairs with Windows on its own. BetterJoy then brings them together — either as one combined gamepad or as two independent controllers. This guide covers pairing both Joy-Cons, confirming them in BetterJoy, and the basics you need before deciding how to use them.
What you need
- BetterJoy installed: ZIP extracted, ViGEmBus driver installed, PC rebooted. If that is not done yet, follow the BetterJoy install and first-run guide first — the package is on the download page.
- Both Joy-Cons, reasonably charged.
- A Bluetooth adapter that can comfortably handle multiple simultaneous connections. The project wiki is explicit about this: Joy-Con lag complaints very often turn out to be a weak or overloaded Bluetooth radio, and one well-known pattern is the second controller lagging when two are connected at once.
Step 1: Pair the first Joy-Con
- Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe.
- On the Joy-Con, find the small Sync button on the flat rail edge (the side that slides into the console), between the SL and SR buttons. Hold it for about five seconds until the player LEDs start cycling.
- In Windows, open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Add device → Bluetooth.
- Select the Joy-Con when it appears (Windows lists each one as a Joy-Con (L) or Joy-Con (R)) and wait for pairing to complete.
Step 2: Pair the second Joy-Con
Repeat exactly the same process for the other Joy-Con: hold its Sync button until the lights cycle, then add it as a second Bluetooth device. Order does not matter — left first or right first both work. The important point is that both are paired individually; there is no way to pair the pair “as a unit” from Windows.
Step 3: Confirm both Joy-Cons in BetterJoy
Look at the BetterJoy window: an icon should appear for each Joy-Con as it is detected. BetterJoy scans continuously, so controllers paired while it is already open are picked up without restarting the program.
Not sure which physical Joy-Con is which icon? The interface includes buttons for locating controllers through vibration — trigger one and the matching Joy-Con buzzes in your hand. The background colour of each icon also reflects that Joy-Con’s battery level, which is handy because left and right drain independently.
Step 4: Decide how you will use them
Pairing is only the connection; now choose a layout:
- Joined as one controller — the classic setup for most games. Click the Joy-Con icons in BetterJoy to toggle between single and joint mode. Full walkthrough: how to use Joy-Cons as one controller.
- Two separate controllers — each Joy-Con held vertically becomes its own input, which is how one pair can serve two players in simple games. See using a single Joy-Con on PC.
You can have more than one pair connected as well — BetterJoy allows multiple pairs of Joy-Cons to be joined up, which is where a good Bluetooth adapter really starts to matter.
Disconnecting and reconnecting
Hold the Home button (right Joy-Con) or Capture button (left Joy-Con) for about two seconds to disconnect. Later, pressing any button wakes the Joy-Con and Windows reconnects it using the stored pairing; BetterJoy detects it again automatically while running.
If a Joy-Con will not pair
- Charge it. A nearly flat Joy-Con may light up but fail to hold a connection.
- Remove and re-pair: in Windows Bluetooth settings, remove the Joy-Con device entirely, then hold Sync and pair fresh.
- Check the Joy-Con is not still connected to your Switch — it can only maintain one host connection, and a sleeping console in the same room can win the race. Power the console down or move out of its range while pairing.
- Try USB for a Pro Controller you own as a control test — it separates “Bluetooth problem” from “BetterJoy problem” in one step.
Keeping the connection healthy
A few habits prevent most Joy-Con connection pain. Keep line-of-sight reasonable — Joy-Cons are small devices with small antennas, and a PC tower under a metal desk is a hostile place for them; a short USB extension lead that puts your Bluetooth adapter on top of the desk works wonders. Pair at your desk, not from the couch, so the first connection is negotiated at close range. And when you finish playing, disconnect with the Home/Capture hold rather than letting the Joy-Cons sleep wherever they fall: a clean disconnect means the next reconnection — press any button, wait for the icon — just works.
If your PC has both built-in Bluetooth and a USB adapter, use one or the other, not both — Windows can end up offering the Joy-Cons to the radio you are not watching, and BetterJoy gets blamed for connections that were never really made.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pair just one Joy-Con?
Yes. Each Joy-Con is independent, so you can pair a single left or right one and use it alone — that is the basis of the single Joy-Con guide linked above.
Can I mix Joy-Cons from different pairs?
Each Joy-Con pairs as its own device, so Windows and BetterJoy treat them individually regardless of which set they came from. Colour and origin do not matter to the pairing.
Why does the second Joy-Con lag?
That is a documented pattern with weaker Bluetooth setups — the upstream advice is a capable Bluetooth adapter and up-to-date Bluetooth drivers (particularly Intel ones). Wired play is not an option for Joy-Cons in normal use, so the adapter is the fix.
Where are the other tutorials?
The tutorials index lists every guide, including gyro mouse control, button remapping, and the configuration file.