How Do I Connect An Xbox One Controller To My Pc

The Xbox Wireless Gamepad might have Xbox in the name, but you lot aren't express to pairing it with just a console. The controller pairs to Windows 10, too, letting you use it wirelessly with any uniform PC game. Here's what you need to do to start using your Xbox gamepad with your PC.

Figure Out Which Xbox Controller You Own

How to identify your Xbox One controller

To start, the Xbox Wireless Gamepad included with the Xbox Series S/X, and at present widely bachelor as the Xbox Wireless Gamepad, is nearly identical to the Xbox One'due south controller. They both support Xbox wireless communication and Bluetooth, and the methods for connecting them to your PC are identical. The instructions here apply to both gamepad generations.

Original Xbox I controllers lack wireless connectivity, but the gamepads that shipped with the Xbox One S and later consoles include Xbox wireless communication and Bluetooth. You can use both controllers wirelessly with your PC, only the process is different; you must go a wireless dongle for the non-Bluetooth gamepads. The skilful news is that Bluetooth controllers have been in production for and then long that if you picked yours upward in the last four years, there'southward a good risk that it already has Bluetooth.

To make up one's mind whether you lot have a Bluetooth or not-Bluetooth Xbox controller, y'all demand to expect at the plastic surrounding the Guide button. If it's the aforementioned plastic every bit the face of the controller, without whatever seams, you have a Bluetooth gamepad. If it's the same plastic as the bumper buttons, with a seam between the Guide push button and the controller'south confront, it'due south a non-Bluetooth gamepad. If it has a small, rectangular Capture button between the Menu and View buttons, and a USB-C port on the acme instead of micro USB, it's an Xbox Series controller and also has Bluetooth.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With a Wired Connexion

This is very simple, but you do need a physical cablevision connecting the controller to your PC. Hither's how y'all exercise it.

Plug one end of your USB-to-micro USB or USB-to-USB-C (depending on the version of controller) cablevision into the controller.
Plug the other finish into your PC

That's it! It will automatically configure nether Windows ten and work with about any game on your PC.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With Bluetooth

Pairing the Xbox controller with your PC over Bluetooth is nearly the same as pairing it with your Xbox One or Xbox Series. You activate the controller past holding down the Guide button, then hold the Pairing button for three seconds until the Guide push flashes. This means it'south in pairing manner. If y'all're connecting the controller to a console, you hold the Pairing push on the system itself. If you're connecting the controller to a Windows 10 PC, y'all need to go through some menus. Yous also demand a Bluetooth USB dongle if your PC doesn't have Bluetooth. Here's the full pace-past-stride process:

Hold the Guide push button to plow on the controller.
Hold the Pairing button for 3 seconds until the Guide push flashes.
Right-click the Bluetooth icon in your arrangement tray.
Click "Add a Bluetooth Device."
Click "Add Bluetooth or other Device" and select Bluetooth.
Click "Xbox Wireless Controller." Wait until the Guide push button is solid white, and the Bluetooth bill of fare says the controller is continued.

Yous tin can at present use the Xbox Wireless Gamepad with your PC, and play the vast majority of modernistic games that support controllers. Nevertheless, you can't employ the headset jack on the gamepad, just like Sony's DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers. Although you tin can use a wired gaming headset with a controller and its associated game arrangement, sound isn't sent through the jack when it's connected to a PC via Bluetooth.

Connect Your Xbox Controller to PC With a USB Adapter

If you lot take an older Xbox One controller, or y'all just want to utilize your newer one with Microsoft'due south proprietary wireless connexion instead of Bluetooth (and get headset connectivity), you need to go the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows 10. It'due south a USB dongle designed to connect directly to your Xbox gamepad without whatsoever Bluetooth setup or pairing. All you demand to practice is plug in the dongle and pair it to your controller merely as if you were pairing your Xbox, pressing the Pairing button on each device.

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This $25 adapter has some benefits over Bluetooth. For starters, you lot can employ upwards to eight gamepads with the adapter, while Microsoft recommends using just ane at a fourth dimension with Bluetooth. The headset jack is likewise enabled if y'all use the adapter, with adjustable settings in the Xbox app for Windows 10.

How to Connect Other Game Controllers to PC

Nosotros besides accept tips for connecting Nintendo Switch and PS4 controllers to your PC. For more controller advice, bank check out our guide on how to choose the right controller for your PC.

In one case you're ready to start playing, bank check out our favorite PC games. And if you're a PlayStation gamer, read upwards on how to apply a PS4 DualShock four controller on a PC. We walk yous through the surprisingly complicated process.

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