If you’ve ever found yourself staring at your Xbox One controller and wondering how to get it paired up with your console after a period in storage, you’re in the right place. After a while you may have thought, ‘I know, let’s get the old Xbox out’ and then realized you can’t remember how to pair the controller.
Let’s quickly have a look at how to do this without making it seem as difficult as assembling a flatpack Billy bookcase from IKEA.
Fully charged
First things first, make sure you’ve got batteries in your Xbox One controller. It sounds obvious, but a lot of pairing issues can boil down to something as simple as a dead or failing battery. Put fresh ones in or make sure your rechargeable pack is fully charged. Once you’ve got power, you’ll notice that all-important Xbox button lighting up, which is always a good sign.
Now, let’s head to the Xbox console itself. On the front of your Xbox One, you’ll find a small button – it’s near the power button. This is your Sync button, the one that will make the magic happen. Give it a little push. You’ll notice the light on your console start blinking, meaning it’s ready to sync up with your controller.
Back to your controller. Find the small circular button on the top, right next to where your charging port is. Press that next. You’ll see the Xbox button start flashing, which means it’s searching for a connection. Within a few seconds, both the console light and controller light will go steady, signaling a successful pairing. You’re connected!
If that doesn’t work, don’t worry. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, which means you can try it again. A quick reset—turning the console on and off—can also be helpful if things aren’t behaving. And if all else fails, you can always use a USB cable to plug directly into the console, which forces them to sync up. The old-fashioned, wired route works every time.
One last thing—if you’re trying to pair the controller to something other than an Xbox, like a PC or even a phone, the same sync button trick usually applies. On a PC, you can connect via Bluetooth if your controller is one of the newer models (those have a smooth plastic finish around the Xbox button). Just head into your PC’s Bluetooth settings, press the sync button on the controller, and select it from the list when it pops up.
And there you have it. In just a few simple steps, you’ve got that controller ready to go, no stress required. Now time to boot up some old games, Are we really saying Xbox One is a retro console now?
