Controller:Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

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Switch Pro Controller

XInput support
Connection method
Bluetooth, USB-C
Predecessor
Wii U Pro Controller Wii U GamePad

The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is a game controller released by Nintendo on March 3, 2017. It was released alongside the Nintendo Swtich and the Joy-Con.

Unlike the Joy-Con which is a pair of stick-like controllers, the Switch Pro Controller features the more traditional game controller form-factor. It has HD rumble motors, NFC reader, accelometer and gyroscope.

The Switch Pro Controller is a DirectInput controller, so it is not supported on games that use the XInput API unless XInput wrappers like Steam Input are used. Some wrappers can expose additional features including gyroscope. For wireless connection using Bluetooth, it requires the host device to supporting Bluetooth 3.0 or later. Currently, only standard rumble is supported and NFC reader support is still in the work.

Inputs

• Motion sensing: Accelerometer, Gyroscope
• 2 × clickable analog sticks: LS, RS
• 2 × digital shoulder buttons: 𝐋, 𝐑
• 2 × digital triggers: ZL, ZR
• 8 × digital buttons: 𝐀, 𝐁, 𝐗, 𝐘, -, +, ⧇ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴜʀᴇ, ⌂ ʜᴏᴍᴇ
• 4 × digital directional buttons (d-pad): ↑, ↓, ←, →
• Sync button: sʏɴᴄ
• NFC reader

Availability

Official Switch Pro Controller - Black - Amazon

Use with PC platforms

Connection

Bluetooth

Connecting USB-C cable will make the controller show up, but it will be unusable this way. Controller has to be connected via Bluetooth 3.0 unless you use Steam Input or reWASD.

Connecting the controller

Make sure the controller is turned off, then hold the sync button next to charging port until lights start blinking from side to side. From PC, pair the new Bluetooth device and select `Pro Controller` from the list. Notes Controller will keep flashing the led indicators from side to side even when fully connected and working when used with PC or any other device than Nintendo Switch. To disconnect and shut down the controller, simply press the sync button once. To connect the controller again, press any regular button on the controller.

Windows

BetterJoy allows the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to be used with CEMU, Citra, Dolphin, Yuzu and as generic XInput. It also allows using the gyro to control mouse and remap the special buttons (SL, SR, Capture) to key bindings of your choice.

Custom application reWASD lets remap whole controller. Software gives advanced customization options eg. reassigning buttons to keyboard or mouse actions, macros, activate custom modes etc.

Supported features	reWASD	DS4Windows	JoyShockMapper	Steam	DSAdvance	WiinUPro	Gamepad Phoenix
Virtual Xbox controller emulation	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Virtual Nintendo controller emulation	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
HD Haptic Feedback	~	~	~	~	~	~	✗
Motion Control	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
LEDs	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
NFC	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
Dead-zone adjustment	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multiple controllers	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✓
Virtual DualShock emulation	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Keyboard & Mouse input emulation	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
Retro DInput/WinMM compatibility	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓
Flick Stick	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗
Cemuhook's UDP protocol	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗

XInput wrapping

Acting as native DirectInput controller, it's possible to use any of the generic wrappers. See the controller article for those.

WiinUPro

Allows for seemless Windows intergration of most Nintendo controllers via Bluetooth.

DInput or XInput output compatibility.

Xinput force feedback supported.

Supports full custom button remapping, including keyboard shortcuts.

Gyro not supported as of time of edit.

reWASD

LED shows which config slot is active at the moment.

Supports motion control via gyro.

Has enhanced sticks calibration.

Allows emulate virtual DS4 controller to play PS4 Remote Play, PS Now or Dualshock 4 compatible games. Including gyro and accelerometer control.

Allows emulate virtual Xbox 360 controller to play XInput compatible games.

Not free of charge. 7-days trial.

Custom configs for Switch Pro controller can be found in official Community Configs Library maintained by reWASD users.

DS4Windows

Because ZR and ZL are digital it may be difficult to play games that make use of analog triggers.

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR or higher required for wireless connection.

Motion sensors are supported.

LEDs cannot be controlled.

DSAdvance

Xbox controller emulation support.

A gyroscope and various modes of its operation are supported - mouse emulation and driving.

Easy to use, minimum settings

Support the Pro controller in wired mode.

Support for only one controller.

JoyShockMapper

No GUI.

DS4 and Xinput emulation.

Full button mapping.

Gyro support.

Flick stick.

Linux

Native support since kernel 5.16

Steam

Controller can be found in Supported Controller Database and it's correctly recognizable as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Full support of Steam Input including gyroscope and motion controls.

You can toggle "Use Nintendo Button Layout" option depending on whether you prefer the 𝗔𝗕𝗫𝗬 buttons to be mapped as they are on the Pro Controller or to be mapped like it's an Xbox 360 controller or Xbox Wireless Controller.

Steam Link compatibility

Works via USB and Bluetooth. Includes gyroscope and motion controls.

Works without any drivers on any operating system that supports Steam.

Can be used just to send input from a controller to a PC. Go into Streaming options, hit 𝗬 and disable video and audio streaming.

Won't work great unless you connect it to LAN or a low latency Wi-Fi.

Hardware

Cronus Zen Adapter

Cronus Zen allows the use of licensed gaming controller on all major gaming platforms, including all versions of PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, Windows PC, Android, Raspberry Pi.

Supports mods, scripts and macros.

Integrated Bluetooth.

ConsoleTuner Titan Two Adapter

Titan Two is an all-in-one gaming device that combines features of dozens of products in a single form factor. Supports PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation TV, Xbox 360, Computers and more...

Customize the controller layout accordingly your needs for any game.

Support in games

Supported natively by a growing list of games, allowing the use of the controller and some/all of it supplementary features without any additional software installed.

Support for some controller features may be only available on certain systems. Refer to game-specific articles for details.

Games with motion control support

For a list of games, see List of games that support tracked motion controllers in non-VR gameplay.

Thanks to JoyShockMapper, Steam Input, reWASD application, gyro control can be remapped to mouse or right stick in any game.

Number of games which natively support motion controls is limited and gyro support is still not a PC standard.

Games with NFC support

Joy-Con Toolkit demonstrates how the NFC reader can be used on PC. NFC objects can be used to execute combos like activating cheats, changing game configuration or performing advanced combos like fatalities in Mortal Kombat games.

Pro Controller contains a near-field communication reader mostly used with Amiibo.

NFC reader support for PC games is still in development stage. See more.

See List of video games using NFC.

Games with HD haptic feedback support

For a list of games, see List of games that support HD haptic feedback.

HD Rumble is an extra level of immersion by letting feel a wide variety of sensations through Joy-Cons and Switch Pro Controller vibrations. DualSense's haptic feedback was designed by same company as Switch's HD Rumble technology - Immersion Corporation.

Joy-Con Toolkit has HD Rumble Player feature to play different vibrations patterns.

Switch emulator Yuzu supports HR Rumble.

There is no software which allows to translate DualSense's haptic feedback vibrations into HD Rumble yet.

PC games do not support natively HD Rumble feature yet.

Games with Nintendo button prompts

List of games with Nintendo button prompts

Technical information

Device name: Pro Controller, HWID: 057E:2009

Controller button	Button label and axis
A	Button 2
B	Button 1
X	Button 4
Y	Button 3
L	Button 5
R	Button 6
ZL	Button 7
ZR	Button 8
-	Button 9
+	Button 10
Left stick (LS)	Button 11, X-axis, Y-axis
Right stick (RS)	Button 12, X-rotation, Y-rotation
Home	Button 13
Capture	Button 14
D-pad up	POV up
D-pad down	POV down
D-pad left	POV left
D-pad right	POV right

Input lag

Wired connection input lag: 19.6 ms for button press and 5.9 ms for joystick move.

Wireless connection input lag: 11.5 ms for button press and 4.5 ms for joystick move.

Connection	Input lag
USB (button press)	19.6 ms (± 5.8 ms)
USB (joystick move)	19.2 ms (± 5.9 ms)
Bluetooth (button press)	11.5 ms (± 4.5 ms)
Bluetooth (joystick move)	11.9 ms (± 4.3 ms)