JoyCon Drift Fix! How to Replace the Nintendo Switch Left Joy-Con Joystick

The Nintendo Switch is out of stock pretty much everywhere—again. This console has been a hot commodity since its release, but having limited quantities available for purchase means if your Switch experiences the dreaded joy-con drift phenomenon, you might be stuck with a broken system.

Well, we wouldn’t want that—so today, we show you how to replace the left joystick on your Nintendo switch and fix that drift.

Our Fix Mat is great for organization!

00:00 Introduction
00:20 Tools Required
00:54 Opening Joy-Con
01:31 Disconnecting and Removing Battery
01:45 Mid-Frame Removal
01:58 Disconnecting Motherboard Zif Cables
02:15 Joystick Removal
02:25 Inserting New Joystick
02:39 Re-connecting Cables to Motherboard
02:50 Screwing Mid-frame Back In
03:05 Inserting Battery and Connecting Power
03:14 Closing Joy-Con and Inserting Screws
03:31 Whacking Character in Animal Crossing With a Net

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[iFixitYourself]

We forgot to mention calibration! If your replacement joystick is drifting after you finish the repair, a calibration should fix the problem. Here's a link to Nintendo's calibration instructions:

[tylerwalling]

Thank you!! I’ve been putting off replacing my left joycon’s stick, but as of yesterday the drift was so bad it was unusable. This made the whole process easy, as someone who’s never taken apart an electronic device period, I was done from start to finish in 10 minutes! Working perfectly after the calibration, couldn’t be any easier.

[Kamikraze]

This is such a coincidence. My Joycon replacement parts just came in yesterday and I planned on doing this today.

[Handrack]

Simple, informative, easy, and to the dang point. Love it iFixit. Used your kit too.

[SeanDS]

Thank you! I must say though, it's unfortunate videos like this need to be made. Hopefully the next controllers Nintendo makes will be of a higher quality :/

[robhulson]

Just received my replacement parts today. My sons are coming over tonight and we are going to attempt this repair together. Thank you for the time you took to make this video. Will follow up in comments as to how well we did.

UPDATE: Success! It took me about 30 minutes altogether (because I had kids all around), but we managed to get it working and after doing a calibration and some breaking in of the new stick... it's working beautifully.

Again, thank you! I've been waiting over a month for Nintendo to even respond to my request for a repair, and you helped us become self-sufficient with this issue.

[BlazingGear]

Really appreciated your informative video and all the close-up shots!

I noticed a few things when I was fixing mine today:

1) When taking the joycon case apart, watch out for the L/R button coming off. If you looked closely you will find a small spring attached to the button, and if you're not careful you could lose the spring

2) Don't try to be a smartass like my Switch's previous owner (I bought it second-hand), who put double sided sticky tape under the battery! Because of his genius idea I was sweating a bit because I could not understand why my battery was so difficult to remove compared to the video (almost gave up because I was worried I would break it lol)

[itsalexplayz]

We shouldn’t have to do this because of a design flaw…

[chrisstewart]

Thanks so much for the help! This tutorial is so quick and easy that even me (a 11 year old ) did not have any complications fixing this.

[kylemanross]

I ordered the kit to replace my left joycon on Friday. I saw it came in the mail when I got home from work today. As soon as I got settled in, I opened the package and got to replacing the joystick. I followed this video for instructions, got the new joystick put in, put the joy con back together and everything works. Great video, and awesome hardware guys! 5/5 stars from me!

[thad]

Thank you SO MUCH!! You saved me at least $40 today and who knows how much money in the years to come. The spoken and visual directions were so helpful, and I really appreciate the little tips like "It doesn't take much pressure here", etc. Made the whole process a lot less stressful. And also? This was a lot of fun! Thank you!

[xtrasweet]

Followed video to a "t". And it was tedious but doable and I feel so accomplished. I bought my materials ;sticks that can with tools from micro center for ten bucks. I bought a mini organizer box to hold screws. I also bought an I fixit prying and opening tool assortment kit. Omg what a relief. I followed another video for the right joy con ! Amen for both videos!!!

[poisonivy]

Thank you! I was nervous to take it apart because of everything that could go wrong. One screw was giving me trouble but managed to take it off with persistence. Was able to fix my joycon, thank you very much!

[jvig]

Thanks for not only showing all the steps, but also lighting this video and zooming in properly so I can actually see what's going on unlike some other vids where the internal stuff looks like black block that's feet away from the camera.

[KingsCastleHereWeCome]

Got in my kit today and pulled off this repair in no more than 10 minutes! Took a little bit of time to get used to re-inserting the ZIF connectors (some of them are more rigid and/or have less slack than others and I wanted to be careful not to apply too much force) but the rest of it was a breeze! For an aftermarket joy-con, it feels really smooth and responsive. Thanks for the kit, guys!

[MatthewSuchman]

I bought the kit and was able to fix it! Took me about 30 minutes because I've never repaired anything like this before. My advice would be to not disconnect the battery. It saves time and you run the risk of damaging the joycon if you remove it. Thanks!

[ghdrum]

This video just saved me £60 for replacement joycons. Can't believe how expensive they are. The toolkit was only £7 from eBay and included replacement thumb sticks. For someone who's never taken apart any electronics, this video guided me through perfectly. Thank you, Sir!

[jamieohjamie]

Thanks for this video! Simple and to the point. I watched another joycon fixing video that said to unscrew all 5 interior screws, which I found out was wrong because two of those screws are for the motherboard.

However, I also learned from that video that it isn't entirely necessary to unplug the battery; if you're careful with the wires, it can stay connected throughout the process.

Regardless, thanks so much! Hopefully the replacement joysticks I got will last a while, but, if not, I'll come back here for a refresher!

[JonTheGeek]

This video is about to get very popular again. Thanks Guli!

[JolanJoestar]

Thanks for the vid! Process took me around 30 minutes, of which 15 was just taking a mental break because I kept failing to put in one of the strips for a solid 3 minutes in a row. It's so demoralizing! But at the end of it, hard work feels good. No more drift!