What changed in v7.1 (the honest, complete list)

V7.1 is a hotfix with exactly one official fix: config reading did not work when your locale uses a comma as the decimal separator instead of a full stop. That is the entire changelog. If your Windows uses a comma-decimal locale (common across Europe and South America) and you are on v7.0, updating is genuinely worthwhile — your settings file may not be read correctly today. If your locale uses full-stop decimals and v7.0 works for you, v7.1 changes nothing else; update anyway when convenient, but nothing is on fire.

The bigger step is v7.0 (four days earlier): third-party controller support via Add Controllers, gyro-to-joystick, a much more accurate gyro-to-mouse (DCM filter), stick double-click orientation switching, the DoNotRejoinJoycons setting, updated ViGEm drivers, and DS4 mapping fixes. Anyone on v6.x or older gains real features by coming up to v7.1.

Step 1: Back up your configuration

Your settings live in BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config, in the same folder as the executable. Copy that file somewhere safe before you touch anything. After the update you will drop it into the new folder, and your calibration values, rejoin behaviour, and preferences come with you. Our config file guide explains what is in it.

Step 2: Handle very old versions’ drivers first

Coming from a v4-era or earlier install? The upstream release notes for v4 carry a warning that still applies in reverse: each era installed its own driver set, and the old one should be uninstalled before the new version’s drivers go in. Two specifics:

• Old installs put your controllers on the HIDGuardian “affected devices” list so other programs could not grab them. Before uninstalling old drivers, open http://localhost:26762/ in a browser (the local HidCerberus page) and remove your controllers from Currently affected devices, then restart. Skip this and a controller can stay invisible to other software afterwards.
• Uninstall the old ViGEmBus/HIDGuardian-era driver components through Windows’ normal app/driver removal, then reboot, rather than layering new drivers over old ones.

Coming from v6.x? The jump is gentler — drivers from that era are the ViGEmBus line the new package expects; still, a clean reboot between uninstalling the old folder and installing fresh costs nothing.

Step 3: Install v7.1 fresh

1. Get BetterJoy_v7.1.zip from the download page (it links to the official GitHub release; SHA-256 is printed there for verification).
2. Extract it to a new permanent folder — do not run from inside the ZIP.
3. Install the driver from the Drivers folder: ViGEmBusSetup_x64.msi (or the x86 MSI on 32-bit Windows), then reboot.
4. Copy your backed-up BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config into the new folder, replacing the stock one.
5. Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe, pair your controller, and confirm it appears — the full checklist is in the first-run guide.

A note on driver versions

The ViGEmBus bundled inside the v7.1 ZIP is old — upstream’s own README text still references the 1.16.116-era installer. The driver works, but the final ViGEmBus release is 1.22.0 (the project has since been retired, with 1.22.0 as its last version), and our download page links to it directly. If you hit a ViGEmBus not found style error after updating, installing the current 1.22.0 driver and rebooting is the documented fix. Do not install random “driver updater” repacks from download portals — get ViGEmBus only from its official GitHub releases.

One more boundary to keep straight: the HIDGuardian components in the original package are legacy. Their modern successor is HidHide, and the two must not be installed together. If you are moving toward the community-maintained BetterJoy fork (which uses HidHide), uninstall the HIDGuardian side first and reboot — mixing the generations is a reliable way to make controllers vanish.

Verify the update worked

After the move, spend two minutes confirming you actually gained a clean install rather than a new folder with old problems. Launch BetterJoy and pair a controller — it should appear without coaxing. Open your emulator, confirm the XInput source still points at the virtual controller, and check one motion game to see gyro data arriving via the motion server (127.0.0.1 port 26760). If you carried your config across, spot-check the setting you care most about — a calibration value or DoNotRejoinJoycons — against the backup you made. Only once all of that passes should you delete the old folder; until then it is your rollback.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a newer version than v7.1?

Not from the original project — v7.1 is the latest official release, and there is no official nightly channel. A community fork (maintained by d3xMachina, currently on a v8.5 LTS line) continues development; it is a separate download from a separate author, and we cover it separately rather than presenting it as an official update.

Will updating delete my pairings?

No. Bluetooth pairings live in Windows, not in BetterJoy. Updating the program folder does not unpair your controllers.

Can I just overwrite the old folder with the new files?

It usually works, but the clean-folder method above is safer: it guarantees no stale DLLs or an old config in a mixed state, and your backup means nothing is lost either way.

Where are the other guides?

The BetterJoy tutorials hub indexes everything, including pairing, gyro, and remapping guides — and our Pro Controller connection guide if anything needs re-pairing after the move.

First, a reality check on what “support” means

BetterJoy was written against Nintendo’s own hardware. Third-party controllers imitate that hardware to varying degrees: they may use different Bluetooth identifiers, different polling behaviour, and differently scaled sensors. That is why the v7 release notes tell you to check the project’s issues tab for hints, tips, and tricks for specific models, and why the release provides config-file calibration values (covered below) instead of promising one-size-fits-all support. Some models will work beautifully, some will work with quirks, and a few — certain PowerA models are a long-running example in the issue tracker, reported across years as connecting to Windows but not appearing in BetterJoy — may not be recognised at all. That is the honest landscape.

If you have not installed BetterJoy yet, start with the first-run guide; the package is on the download page.

Step 1: Pair the controller with Windows

A third-party pad joins Windows the same way Nintendo’s does: put it into pairing mode (on most Pro-style pads, hold the Sync button until the lights cycle — check the pad’s own manual for its exact button), then add it under Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Add device → Bluetooth. USB also works on pads that offer a wired mode. The controller needs to be visible to Windows before BetterJoy can do anything with it; our Pro Controller connection guide covers the Windows-side flow and the remove-and-repair fix in detail.

Step 2: Use the Add Controllers button

1. Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe with the third-party controller connected.
2. Click the Add Controllers button in the BetterJoy window — this is the v7 feature built specifically for hardware BetterJoy does not recognise automatically.
3. Add your controller through that flow and confirm it appears as an icon in the main window.
4. Choose the output you need (XInput is the compatible default, DS4 for tools that expect it) and test buttons and sticks in your game or emulator’s input settings.

Step 3: Calibrate in the config file if the motion feels wrong

The classic third-party symptom is a gyro or stick that is technically working but scaled wrong — aim that flies across the screen, or barely moves. The v7 release notes document the fix: you can change the default calibration for a third-party controller in the config file, via the acc_sensiti… (accelerometer) and gyr_sensiti… (gyroscope) values in BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config.

Work methodically: back the file up, change one sensitivity value by a small step, relaunch, and test in a practice screen. Our config file guide covers safe editing and the other documented keys.

What to check when a third-party pad refuses to appear

• It is awake and really connected. If Windows itself loses the device, BetterJoy never had a chance — fix the Windows connection first.
• Its mode. Many multi-mode pads can present as different device types (XInput, Switch-style, etc.). BetterJoy’s Add Controllers path is for pads presenting as Switch-style controllers; a pad locked into XInput mode is already a PC controller and does not need BetterJoy at all.
• The project’s issues tab. The release notes explicitly point there for per-model hints — search it for your controller’s name before assuming yours is a new problem.
• Expectations. If your exact model has open “not detected” reports spanning years, software settings are unlikely to rescue it; that pad is better used in its native XInput mode or replaced.

Buying advice if you have not purchased yet

If you are shopping for a cheaper Pro-style pad specifically to use with BetterJoy, manage your risk: buy from a seller with easy returns, and test the pad on the day it arrives — pair it, run Add Controllers, and check the gyro in a game, not just the buttons. The failure mode that matters (Windows sees it, BetterJoy does not) shows up immediately, so a returns window is all the insurance you need. Players who mainly want guaranteed gyro behaviour on PC are still best served by Nintendo’s own Pro Controller or Joy-Cons, where support is documented rather than hoped for; third-party pads earn their discount by trading certainty for price.

Also keep receipts of a different kind: if you do get an obscure pad working, note the sensitivity values that fixed it. Clone hardware varies even within one model name, and your working numbers are the first thing another owner of the same pad will search for in the issue tracker.

Frequently asked questions

Will my specific controller work?

Nobody can promise that — not us, and notably not the project itself, which calls the support imperfect. The practical test is cheap: pair it, open Add Controllers, and see whether it appears and responds. The calibration values fix scaling quirks; they cannot fix a pad BetterJoy cannot see at all.

Does this also apply to the maintained fork?

The community fork of BetterJoy states it has only tested official Nintendo Pro Controllers and Joy-Cons — third-party pads are untested there. For clone controllers, the original v7 line with Add Controllers is the documented route.

Can I use a third-party Joy-Con pair as one controller?

If both halves are added and recognised, the same join/split behaviour applies as with Nintendo Joy-Cons — clicking the icons toggles joint mode. Recognition is the hurdle; joining is the easy part.

Where are the other tutorials?

The tutorials index lists all our BetterJoy guides.

Fun fact that underlines why this file matters: the single official fix in BetterJoy v7.1 — the current release — was that config reading did not work on systems whose locale uses a comma as the decimal separator. The file is small, but the program genuinely depends on reading it correctly.

Before you edit anything: the safety rules

1. Close BetterJoy first. Edit only while the program is not running, so your changes are not overwritten or half-read.
2. Back up the file. Copy BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config to BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config.bak in the same folder. Every fix for a bad edit is “put the backup back” — but only if you made one.
3. Use a plain text editor such as Notepad. The file is an XML-style settings file: change values only, never the surrounding tags or key names, and save it as plain text.
4. Change one thing at a time, then launch BetterJoy and test. If you change five values and something breaks, you will not know which one did it.
5. Know the factory reset: the original .config ships inside the v7.1 ZIP (available from the download page). Re-extracting a fresh copy of the file restores default settings — another reason to keep your own backup, which preserves your settings instead.

The documented settings

These are the keys the project itself documents in its release notes and wiki-era material. Treat anything else you find in the file as hands-off unless a specific troubleshooting source names it.

DoNotRejoinJoycons

Controls BetterJoy’s habit of joining a pair of Joy-Cons back into one controller. Set it when you want two Joy-Cons to stay as two separate controllers in vertical mode — two-player sessions where each person holds one Joy-Con. It is the setting behind our joining and splitting guide and the single Joy-Con guide.

acc_sensiti, gyr_sensiti (third-party controller calibration)

Version 7 added support for third-party controllers via its Add Controllers button, and the release notes explain that you can change the default calibration for a third-party controller in the config file — the acc_sensiti… and gyr_sensiti… values govern accelerometer and gyroscope sensitivity. These exist because clone controllers report motion differently from Nintendo’s own hardware; if a third-party pad’s gyro feels wildly too fast or too slow, these are the documented knobs. Adjust in small steps. Our walkthrough for adding such controllers is here.

Inactivity timeout (default: 30 minutes)

BetterJoy can time out an idle controller connection, and the period is configurable — the documented default is 30 minutes (this option arrived in v6.3). If your controller seems to “give up” during long cutscenes or while a game is paused, this is the value to lengthen; if you prefer controllers to disconnect sooner and save battery, shorten it.

UseHIDG (legacy, troubleshooting only)

A legacy toggle related to the bundled HIDGuardian hiding layer. It surfaces in real issue reports — for example, a known workaround for repeated low-battery notifications interfering with an emulator involved changing this config value together with a specific start order. Do not flip it casually: hiding-layer changes affect how Windows sees the physical controller everywhere. Change it only when a troubleshooting source for your exact symptom names it, and note your original value first.

PurgeWhitelist (legacy, troubleshooting only)

Another legacy name from the HIDGuardian era that appears in issue reports — the whitelist is the list of devices the hiding layer affects. As with UseHIDG: documented here so you can recognise it, not as an invitation to experiment. Mishandled whitelist changes are how people end up with a controller that no program can see at all.

Version discipline: read values against your version

Not every key exists in every version, because features arrived over time: DS4 emulation in v6.1, the inactivity timeout in v6.3, and the third-party calibration keys and DoNotRejoinJoycons in v7. If you are still running an older build, a missing key is normal — it is a sign to update, not to paste keys in and hope. Our update guide covers moving to v7.1 while keeping this very file. And note the fork boundary: the community-maintained fork of BetterJoy uses a newer runtime and its own settings evolution, so do not copy config advice across between the original and the fork without checking which one a guide is about.

Frequently asked questions

I edited the file and BetterJoy will not start. What now?

Restore your .bak backup (or a fresh .config from the ZIP) and start again, changing one value at a time. A malformed settings file is the usual cause — most often a tag or quote damaged while editing.

My numbers use commas. Is that a problem?

It was — that is exactly the v7.1 fix. If your Windows locale writes decimals as 1,5 instead of 1.5, make sure you are on v7.1, where config reading was fixed for comma-decimal locales.

Can I copy my config to another PC?

Yes — the file is portable plain text. Copy it next to the executable on the other machine (same version recommended) and your settings travel with it.

Where are the other guides?

Everything is indexed on the BetterJoy tutorials hub.

What can be remapped

• SL, SR, and Capture → keyboard keys. The official feature list is explicit: you can remap the special buttons (SL, SR, Capture) to key bindings of your choice. On a joined pair of Joy-Cons, SL/SR are the little rail buttons; Capture is the square button on the left Joy-Con and Pro Controller.
• A/B and X/Y swap. An app setting swaps the structural layout between the Nintendo arrangement and the Xbox arrangement, so the button your thumb expects to be “confirm” actually confirms in XInput games.
• Gyro → joystick. Since v7, gyro motion can be mapped to an analogue stick output — the sibling feature to gyro-to-mouse, covered briefly below.
• Gyro → analogue triggers. Gyro can also be mapped to trigger inputs (added back in v6.3), for tilt-to-accelerate style experiments.

Before you start: the administrator note

Here is the catch that generates most “my remap does nothing” reports: if keyboard or mouse mappings do not register in your game, run BetterJoyForCemu.exe as Administrator (right-click → Run as Administrator). Windows restricts how a normal-privilege program can inject keystrokes into a game running with higher privileges, and the official documentation names exactly this situation as the reason to elevate. You do not need admin rights for ordinary controller use — only when keyboard/mouse simulation is involved.

If BetterJoy is not set up yet, do the install and first-run steps first; the package is on the download page.

Step 1: Connect the controller and open its settings

Pair your Pro Controller or Joy-Cons and confirm the icon is showing in the BetterJoy window. Then open the settings for that controller inside BetterJoy. This is where per-controller options live — output behaviour, the settings described below, and the binding entries for the special buttons.

Step 2: Bind a special button to a keyboard key

1. Find the binding entries for the special buttons — SL, SR, and Capture.
2. For the button you want to reuse, assign the keyboard key it should produce. Sensible choices: Capture → a screenshot key or push-to-talk; SL/SR → confirm/cancel or item keys in games that leave them unused.
3. Apply the change and test it in a harmless place first — a text field will show you instantly whether the key is being produced.
4. If nothing is produced in your game but it works on the desktop, that is the privilege issue above: relaunch BetterJoy as Administrator.

Step 3: Swap A/B and X/Y if the layout fights you

Nintendo prints A where Xbox prints B. Games show you Xbox prompts, so “press B” can mean the button labelled A on your controller. If you find yourself confirming when you meant to cancel, turn on the A/B and X/Y swap setting in BetterJoy’s app settings. It changes the reported positions so prompts match positions rather than labels. Try both ways for ten minutes — there is no universally right answer, only the one your thumbs prefer.

Step 4: Map gyro to the stick (optional)

Gyro-to-joystick presents your tilts as right-stick input on the virtual controller. It is the fallback for games that accept only controller input and have no mouse aiming at all. It is less precise than gyro-to-mouse (the stick’s deadzones and smoothing get a vote), but it works everywhere XInput works. Our dedicated gyro as mouse guide compares the two approaches in more depth.

Where these settings are stored

BetterJoy keeps its settings in BetterJoyForCemu.exe.config, next to the executable. Most remapping is done in the app’s settings screens, but some documented behaviours — third-party controller calibration values, whether Joy-Cons rejoin automatically, and more — live in that file. Our config file guide explains what is in it and how to edit it safely with a backup.

Practical binding ideas

A few assignments players commonly settle on: Capture → screenshot key (it sits exactly where your thumb already goes after a good moment); Capture → push-to-talk in voice chat, which keeps your keyboard hand free; SL/SR → save-state and load-state keys in emulators, turning two nearly invisible rail buttons into the fastest save/load pair you own; and Capture → media play/pause for couch sessions. The pattern to copy is not the specific key but the logic: bind the button to something frequent, keyboard-shaped, and missed by its absence on a normal pad — that is exactly the gap BetterJoy’s remapping was built to fill.

Frequently asked questions

Can I remap every button, like a full macro tool?

That is not BetterJoy’s design. Its remapping focuses on the special buttons (SL, SR, Capture) to keyboard keys, layout swap, and gyro mapping. For full per-button remapping of the standard pad buttons, your game or emulator’s own input settings are the right place.

My keyboard bindings work in Windows but not in my game. Why?

Almost always privileges: the game is running elevated and BetterJoy is not. Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe as Administrator — this is precisely the case the official documentation describes.

Does remapping work with a single Joy-Con?

Yes, and it is genuinely useful there: a lone Joy-Con has few buttons, so binding Capture or the rail buttons to keyboard keys recovers functions the layout lacks. See using a single Joy-Con on PC.

Where are all the tutorials?

The tutorials index has everything, from pairing to gyro aiming.

How gyro-to-mouse works in BetterJoy

Your Pro Controller or Joy-Con constantly reports its rotation. BetterJoy reads that stream and converts it into mouse movement on the Windows desktop, system-wide. Two design choices matter:

• Stability filtering. Version 7 significantly improved gyro-to-mouse accuracy and stability by switching to a DCM filter, which smooths out the jitter that made earlier gyro mouse control feel shaky. If you tried this feature years ago and gave up, v7 is noticeably better behaved.
• An activate-gyro button. BetterJoy has an “activate gyro” concept: you designate a control so motion only steers the mouse while you are engaging it. This is what makes gyro mouse practical — you are not fighting the pointer every time you shift in your chair, only while you deliberately aim.

If BetterJoy is not installed yet, start with the install and first-run guide; the package is on the download page.

Step 1: Connect the controller and open BetterJoy

Pair your Pro Controller or Joy-Con(s) over Bluetooth (or plug the Pro Controller in by USB) and confirm the icon appears in the BetterJoy window. Gyro data flows either way, but most gyro-aim players prefer Bluetooth so the cable does not tug against their wrist movements.

Step 2: Enable gyro-to-mouse and choose your activate control

In BetterJoy’s settings for the controller, turn on the gyro mouse function and assign which button or input activates it. Choose something you can hold or toggle without disturbing your aim — a button your thumb or finger already rests near. The pattern most players settle into:

• Gyro inactive while moving, looting, or in menus — the stick (or your real mouse) does the work.
• Gyro active while aiming — engage the button, tilt to track the target, release when the moment passes.

Step 3: Calibrate your feel in a safe place

Open a practice range, an empty map, or even just the Windows desktop, and spend five minutes on feel before judging the feature:

• Make small tilts, not big arm movements. Gyro aiming is a wrist skill; large swings overshoot.
• Rest your forearms or rest the controller against your leg. A stable base dramatically reduces drift and wobble.
• If the pointer slowly creeps on its own, set the controller down flat and still for a moment so the gyro can settle, and check you are not accidentally engaging the activate control.

Sensitivity and related behaviour can be fine-tuned further — the sensitivity values live among BetterJoy’s settings, and our config file guide explains which values the project documents and how to edit them safely (with a backup).

Gyro-to-mouse vs gyro-to-joystick vs the motion server

BetterJoy offers three different gyro outputs, and picking the right one per game is the whole game:

• Gyro-to-mouse (this guide): best for PC shooters and any game where the mouse is the aiming device. The game needs no gyro support at all.
• Gyro-to-joystick: maps gyro onto the virtual controller’s stick instead. Useful in games that only accept controller input — see remapping buttons in BetterJoy, which covers gyro-to-joystick alongside button remapping.
• UDP motion server: for emulators that read real motion data themselves (Cemuhook/DSU on 127.0.0.1 port 26760). Here you should not use gyro-to-mouse — the emulator wants the raw motion, not a mouse.

Honest limitations

Gyro-to-mouse is a mouse, not magic. It cannot add motion support inside an emulator that expects motion data (use the motion server there), and it will feel wrong in games that aggressively smooth or accelerate mouse input. It is also a learned skill: expect an awkward first hour, then rapid improvement. Finally, remember this is the controller’s gyro doing double duty — if you also have the motion server feeding an emulator in the same session, you can end up steering two things at once. Use one gyro path per game.

Frequently asked questions

Does gyro-to-mouse work with Joy-Cons, or only the Pro Controller?

Both — every supported controller has a gyro. A single right Joy-Con is actually a popular gyro-aim setup, since your other hand is free for keyboard movement keys.

The cursor drifts even when I hold still. How do I fix it?

Put the controller down on a flat surface for a few seconds so the gyro settles, keep your forearms supported while playing, and make sure you are only engaging the activate control when you mean to aim. The v7 DCM filter already removes most raw jitter; persistent one-direction creep usually means the controller was moving when the gyro centred.

Is gyro aiming actually better than stick aiming?

For fine aim, most players who stick with it say yes: the gyro handles small corrections at a precision a stick cannot match, while the stick still does the large turns. It is a hybrid technique, not a replacement — expect the combination, not gyro alone, to be the upgrade.

Can I use gyro-to-mouse outside games?

Yes — it drives the actual Windows pointer, so it works on the desktop and in any application. That is also why the activate button matters: without it, everyday controller handling would keep shoving your cursor around.

What else can BetterJoy do?

See the full list on the tutorials hub, including joining Joy-Cons, remapping, and third-party controllers.

Step 1: Pair the Joy-Con you want to use

A single Joy-Con pairs exactly like one half of a pair — because that is what it is. Hold the Sync button on its rail edge for about five seconds until the LEDs cycle, then add it in Windows Settings → Bluetooth & devices. Our Joy-Con connection guide has the detailed walkthrough, and the BetterJoy package is on the download page if you are starting from zero.

Left or right? The right Joy-Con has the Home button and the more familiar button cluster; the left has the Capture button and a D-pad-style arrangement. For simple games either works; pick the one whose layout suits the game.

Step 2: Make sure it stays in single (vertical) mode

With the Joy-Con shown as an icon in the BetterJoy window, its mode is toggled by clicking the icon: one state joins it with its partner into a single gamepad, the other leaves it as an independent controller. For single play you want it independent — see joining and splitting Joy-Cons for how the toggle works.

If BetterJoy keeps rejoining your Joy-Cons into a pair, set the DoNotRejoinJoycons option in the configuration file. It exists precisely for this use case: using two Joy-Cons separately in vertical mode. It stays off until you turn it on, and each Joy-Con then remains its own controller permanently.

Step 3: Set the orientation

In vertical mode you hold the Joy-Con upright, stick at the top — the natural way to hold it one-handed. BetterJoy lets you change Joy-Con orientation by double-clicking the stick: this flips between the split and joined arrangements, so experiment once at your desk until the on-screen behaviour matches how you are holding it (push the stick up and check the game moves up). Orientation mistakes are the number one reason single Joy-Con control “feels wrong,” and they are a ten-second fix once you know the shortcut.

What a single Joy-Con can and cannot do

Be realistic about the hardware. A single Joy-Con gives you one analogue stick and a limited button set. That is genuinely enough for:

• Party, racing, and platform games in local multiplayer, where each player takes one Joy-Con.
• Simple indie and retro-style games that only need a stick and a few buttons.
• A spare or travel controller for casual play.

It is a poor fit for games that need two sticks or a full trigger set — camera control in 3D games, for example, will fight you the whole way. For those, join the pair or use a Pro Controller.

One trick that stretches a single Joy-Con further: its special buttons can be remapped to keyboard keys. Binding Capture (or SL/SR) to something like a jump, confirm, or menu key effectively adds the button the layout is missing. See remapping buttons in BetterJoy for how.

Two players from one pair

Pair both Joy-Cons, leave both in single mode (with DoNotRejoinJoycons set, if needed), and each player gets a controller. In your game or emulator, the two Joy-Cons appear as two separate XInput controllers — assign player 1 and player 2 accordingly. Both players also get gyro, since each Joy-Con reports its own motion through BetterJoy.

Comfort and control tips for one-handed play

A vertical Joy-Con is light enough to hold for hours, which hides a trap: players grip it tightly because it is small, and their hand tires anyway. Hold it loosely, rest your forearm, and let the stick do the work — you will aim and steer more accurately too. For the right Joy-Con, your thumb rests naturally between the stick and the face buttons; for the left, expect to reach a little more for its buttons, which is why many players assign the left Joy-Con to the less demanding role in two-player games (steering in a racing game, for example, rather than constant button work).

Battery is the other practical point: a single Joy-Con has a small battery and no partner to hide behind. Watch its icon background colour in BetterJoy, heed the low-battery notification, and remember that the second Joy-Con from the pair can be paired and swapped in mid-session if your main one dies — BetterJoy picks up newly connected controllers while it runs.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a single Joy-Con sideways, like a mini NES pad?

BetterJoy’s documented single-Joy-Con mode is the vertical grip, and its orientation toggle covers the split/join arrangements. Treat vertical as the supported way to hold it; sideways play is not the layout BetterJoy is built around.

Does gyro still work with one Joy-Con?

Yes. A single Joy-Con has its own gyro and accelerometer, and BetterJoy passes its motion data on — including to the UDP motion server for emulators.

My inputs are rotated 90 degrees. What is wrong?

The orientation does not match how you are holding the controller. Double-click the stick to flip the orientation, then re-test with the stick.

Where are the other guides?

All of them are listed on the BetterJoy tutorials index.

Prerequisite: both Joy-Cons paired

Joining happens inside BetterJoy, but only after each Joy-Con is individually paired with Windows and visible as an icon in the BetterJoy window. If you have not done that yet, follow connecting Joy-Cons to PC first. The BetterJoy package itself is on our download page.

Step 1: Toggle joint mode by clicking the icons

In the BetterJoy window, each connected Joy-Con appears as an icon. Clicking a Joy-Con’s icon toggles it between single and joint mode. When the pair is joined, BetterJoy presents them to Windows as one controller: the left Joy-Con contributes the left stick and D-pad side, the right Joy-Con the right stick and face buttons, and both halves’ motion sensors report through the combined device. Your game or emulator sees a single standard gamepad — select the XInput source in its input settings and map it as usual.

Clicking again splits the pair back into two independent controllers, which is what you want for the two-player setup described in using a single Joy-Con on PC.

Step 2: Switch orientation by double-clicking the sticks

Version 7 added a shortcut: you can double-click the sticks to change the Joy-Cons’ orientation — flipping between the split (two separate vertical controllers) and joined arrangements without reaching for the mouse. This is most useful on a couch setup, where the keyboard is across the room and you want to reconfigure from the controller itself.

Step 3: Stop automatic rejoining with DoNotRejoinJoycons

By default BetterJoy likes to bring a pair back together. If your goal is to use two Joy-Cons separately in vertical mode — two players, one Joy-Con each — set the DoNotRejoinJoycons option in the configuration file. With it set, joined pairing stays off and each Joy-Con remains its own controller. Editing that setting is covered step by step in our BetterJoy config file guide (remember to back the file up first).

How motion works when Joy-Cons are joined

When an emulator reads the joined pair through Cemuhook, it actually receives both Joy-Cons as motion sources, and both carry the full button set — choosing one or the other simply tells the emulator which hand you prefer for gyro controls. In practice: pick the right Joy-Con if you aim with your right hand, the left if you aim with your left, and leave everything else as it is. BetterJoy’s UDP motion server (127.0.0.1, port 26760) is what carries this data, and it works while the Joy-Cons are joined or split.

Playing with more than one pair

BetterJoy can join up more than one pair of Joy-Cons at the same time, so two pairs become two full controllers for local multiplayer. The practical limit is your Bluetooth adapter: the project wiki advises a decent adapter that is comfortable handling three or four connections at once, and every extra pair raises that bar. If the second pair lags, the adapter — not BetterJoy — is the first suspect.

Joined mode vs a Pro Controller: which should you use?

Players with both often ask whether the joined pair replaces a Pro Controller. Functionally they overlap — one virtual gamepad, full buttons, real gyro — but the feel differs. The joined pair is lighter in each hand and lets your arms rest apart, which many people prefer for long gyro-aiming sessions; the Pro Controller has bigger sticks, a conventional D-pad area, and one battery instead of two. For motion-heavy games the pair has one subtle edge: because Cemuhook receives both Joy-Cons as motion sources, you choose which hand supplies gyro, and some players aim better with a single light Joy-Con’s worth of inertia in the joined grip. None of this requires buying anything — if you own Joy-Cons, join them and play; the Pro Controller is a comfort upgrade, not a capability unlock.

One more habit worth building: after joining, glance at both icons’ background colours before a long session. A pair where one half is nearly empty will end your game asymmetrically — the dead half takes the whole controller down with it.

Frequently asked questions

Joined mode is on, but my game still shows two controllers. Why?

The game may be reading the raw Joy-Cons as well as BetterJoy’s virtual controller, which is the classic double-input situation. Make sure the game is set to the virtual XInput controller, and avoid running another input layer (such as Steam Input) over the same game at the same time.

Does joining affect battery or charging?

No. Each Joy-Con still runs on its own battery and drains at its own rate; watch the icon background colours in BetterJoy for each half’s level before and during longer sessions.

Which mode should I use for emulators?

Joined mode for anything designed around a normal gamepad — that is nearly everything. Split mode is for party-style games where each player takes one Joy-Con.

Where can I learn more?

The BetterJoy tutorials hub collects all of our guides, from installation to gyro aiming and button remapping.

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

1. Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe.
2. 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.
3. In Windows, open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Add device → Bluetooth.
4. 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.

Before you begin

Make sure BetterJoy itself is installed first: extract the v7.1 ZIP to a permanent folder, run the ViGEmBus driver installer from the Drivers folder, and reboot. If you have not done that yet, start with our complete BetterJoy install and first-run guide, then come back here. Grab the package from the BetterJoy download page if you need it.

For Bluetooth, your PC needs a working Bluetooth adapter. Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers are chatty wireless devices, and the official project wiki notes you want a decent adapter that is comfortable handling several connections at once — a weak built-in radio is the root cause of many lag complaints.

Method 1: Connect over Bluetooth

1. Open BetterJoyForCemu.exe so it is ready to detect the controller.
2. On the Pro Controller, find the small round Sync button on the top edge, next to the USB-C port. Hold it down for about five seconds, until the four player LEDs at the bottom start cycling back and forth. That cycling pattern means the controller is broadcasting and ready to pair.
3. In Windows, open Settings → Bluetooth & devices (Windows 11) or Settings → Devices → Bluetooth (Windows 10) and choose Add device → Bluetooth.
4. Select the Pro Controller when it appears in the list and wait for Windows to confirm the pairing.
5. Look at the BetterJoy window: the controller’s icon should appear. BetterJoy continuously scans, so a controller that connects while the program is already running is picked up automatically.

The icon’s background colour gives you a rough battery indication while you play, and BetterJoy can pop up a low-battery notification before the controller dies.

Method 2: Connect over USB

1. Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe.
2. Plug the Pro Controller into your PC with a USB-C cable. Use a data cable — some cheap cables only carry power and will charge the controller without ever showing up as a device.
3. Give Windows a few seconds to finish setting the device up, and the controller icon will appear in BetterJoy.

Wired play is the right choice if your room is full of wireless interference, if your Bluetooth adapter is weak, or if you are troubleshooting: switching to USB is the fastest way to prove whether a problem is wireless or something else.

Disconnecting and reconnecting

To disconnect, hold the Home button (or the Capture button) down for about two seconds. The controller powers down and drops out of BetterJoy. To reconnect later, just press any button on the controller — because the pairing is already stored in Windows, it reconnects without repeating the Sync process, and BetterJoy picks it up again while it is running.

Removing the controller from Windows (and when to do it)

Sometimes a pairing goes stale: the controller shows in Windows but never appears in BetterJoy, or it worked yesterday and not today. The clean fix is to remove the device completely and pair it fresh:

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth & other devices.
2. Find the Pro Controller in the device list, click it, and choose Remove device.
3. Optionally toggle Bluetooth off and back on — this clears a surprising number of stuck states.
4. Hold the controller’s Sync button until the lights cycle, and pair again from scratch, as in Method 1 above.

Making games see the controller

Windows pairing alone is not the last step. Games do not talk to the Pro Controller directly — they talk to BetterJoy’s virtual controller. In BetterJoy, choose XInput output for the widest compatibility (or DS4 output for tools that expect a PlayStation controller), then in your game or emulator select the XInput controller and map the buttons. If you want motion controls in an emulator, BetterJoy’s UDP motion server on 127.0.0.1 port 26760 supplies the gyro data.

Want to customise what the extra buttons do? The Pro Controller’s Capture button can be bound to a keyboard key — see our guide to remapping buttons in BetterJoy. And if you are pairing Joy-Cons as well, the process is similar but each Joy-Con pairs separately — see connecting Joy-Cons to PC.

Frequently asked questions

Can I charge the controller while playing?

Yes — playing over USB charges the controller at the same time. Over Bluetooth it runs on battery, and BetterJoy’s icon colour and low-battery warning help you keep an eye on it.

The controller pairs but nothing happens in my game. Why?

Usually because BetterJoy is not running, the ViGEmBus driver was never installed (or the PC was not rebooted afterwards), or the game is looking at the raw controller instead of the virtual XInput one. Check those three things first.

Does this work with the Switch 2 Pro Controller?

No. BetterJoy v7.1 predates the Switch 2 and only recognises the original Switch Pro Controller, Joy-Cons, and SNES controller. The Switch 2 Pro Controller uses a different Bluetooth protocol and is not supported by BetterJoy.

Where are all the tutorials?

Everything is indexed on our BetterJoy tutorials hub, from first install to gyro mouse control and the configuration file.

What you need before you start

• A Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. BetterJoy is Windows-only; there is no official Mac, Linux, or Android version.
• A Switch Pro Controller, a pair of Joy-Cons, or a Switch SNES controller. Third-party Switch-style pads can also be added in v7 (see our guide on adding third-party controllers), but support for them is not perfect.
• Bluetooth on your PC for wireless play, or a USB-C data cable for a wired connection.
• The BetterJoy v7.1 package from our download page, which links to the official GitHub release.

Step 1: Download and extract the ZIP

Download BetterJoy_v7.1.zip (4,438,028 bytes) and extract the whole archive to a permanent folder, for example C:\BetterJoy. This step matters: do not run the program from inside the ZIP file. BetterJoy reads its settings from a configuration file that sits next to the executable, and it needs its driver folder in place, so everything must be extracted first. Keep the folder somewhere it will not be moved casually — if you later install the bundled legacy drivers, Windows will reference paths inside it.

Step 2: Install the ViGEmBus driver and reboot

Open the extracted folder and go into the Drivers subfolder. Run ViGEmBusSetup_x64.msi (on the rare 32-bit Windows install, use ViGEmBusSetup_x86.msi instead) and follow the installer prompts. ViGEmBus is the virtual gamepad bus driver: it is what allows BetterJoy to create the virtual Xbox 360 or DualShock 4 controller that your games will see. Without it, BetterJoy cannot output anything.

When the installer finishes, restart your computer. Skipping the reboot is the single most common reason a first install appears to do nothing.

Note that the ViGEmBus version bundled in the v7.1 package is old. The driver still works, but the final, current ViGEmBus release is 1.22.0, and our download page links to it if you would rather install the up-to-date driver separately.

Step 3: Run BetterJoyForCemu.exe

Back in the extracted folder, run BetterJoyForCemu.exe. The main window shows slots for your controllers; as controllers are detected, their icons appear there. The colour of a controller icon’s background reflects its battery level, and the program can show a low-battery notification so you are not caught out mid-game.

You do not normally need administrator rights. Only right-click the executable and choose Run as Administrator if your keyboard or mouse button mappings do not work — that is the one case the official documentation calls out.

Step 4: Connect your controller

For Bluetooth, hold the small Sync button on the controller — on top of the Pro Controller, on the rail edge of each Joy-Con — for about five seconds, until the player lights start cycling. Then open Windows Bluetooth settings, choose Add device, and pair it like any other Bluetooth device. For a wired connection, simply plug the controller in with a USB-C data cable.

The detailed walkthroughs are in our dedicated guides: connecting a Pro Controller to PC and connecting Joy-Cons to PC. Once paired, the controller should light up as an icon in the BetterJoy window. Keep BetterJoy running (it can sit minimised) for as long as you play — closing it ends the translation. There is also an option to start the program minimised to the tray if you use it every day.

Step 5: Choose XInput or DS4 output

BetterJoy can present your Switch controller to Windows in two ways:

• XInput (Xbox 360 emulation) — the safest default. Almost every PC game and emulator understands an Xbox controller, so pick this unless you have a specific reason not to.
• DS4 (DualShock 4 emulation) — useful for the smaller set of games and tools that expect a PlayStation controller.

Separately, BetterJoy runs a UDP motion server (the Cemuhook/DSU protocol) on 127.0.0.1, port 26760. This is how emulators receive genuine gyro and accelerometer data from your controller, rather than just buttons and sticks.

Step 6: Set up your emulator

In your emulator’s input settings, select XInput as the input source/API and assign the buttons and sticks as normal — the emulator is now talking to BetterJoy’s virtual controller. If the game supports motion controls, also enable the motion/DSU option in the emulator and confirm it points at 127.0.0.1 port 26760, with the controller selected as the motion source. In Cemu specifically, the upstream recommendation is to set rumble to around 70–80% for a sensible vibration strength.

One warning: do not stack input systems. If Steam Input, BetterJoy, and an emulator’s native controller support all try to read the same physical controller at once, you can get doubled or missing inputs. Pick one route per game.

Frequently asked questions

Is BetterJoy free?

Yes. BetterJoy is released under the MIT licence and costs nothing. The official source is Davidobot’s GitHub repository; our download page links there directly.

Does BetterJoy work on Windows 11?

There is no official Windows version compatibility list. Version 7.1 dates from 2021, but there are continuing community reports of it running on Windows 11, and no known Windows 11-specific total failure — most problems trace back to Bluetooth drivers or leftover legacy driver components rather than the operating system itself.

Do I need to pair the controller again every time?

No. After the first pairing, disconnect by holding the Home (or Capture) button for about two seconds, and reconnect later by pressing any button on the controller.

Where can I learn the individual features?

This guide is the overview. The full BetterJoy tutorials index covers each skill in depth — joining Joy-Cons into one controller, gyro mouse control, button remapping, the configuration file, and updating from an older version without losing your settings.