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Nintendo Switch, how many controllers

How Many Controllers You Can Connect to Nintendo Switch

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How Many Controllers You Can Connect to Nintendo Switch

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Here is everything you need to know about how many controllers you can connect to the Nintendo Switch.

The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic device for gaming. Whether you’re playing with friends or alone, Nintendo has provided plenty of options when it comes to its controllers, quite literally.

In total, up to eight controllers can be connected to the Nintendo Switch simultaneously. However, there are limitations depending upon the number of controllers that can be connected at once when it comes to their type and specific features that are used in tandem with them.

  • Joy-Con: Four Pairs or Eight Individual
  • Wireless Pro Controllers: Eight
  • USB Controllers/Adaptors: Two

For Joy-Con controllers, players can use two different variations when playing. These handhelds can be used with two per player or by splitting each pair of the four controllers into eight, making them individual devices.

One thing to keep in mind with Joy-Con controllers is that even if they are attached to the grip, it counts as 2 controllers that are connected. Thus, four people can play while using the Joy-Con controllers attached to the Joy-Con grip.

Pro Controllers and USB

Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers can be used by up to eight people at once. Since they are wireless and don’t take up any USB slots, these Nintendo Switch handhelds simply count as one controller each.

Pro Controllers are the best fit for players that may have a hard time straying away from the Xbox or PlayStation layouts. Hardcore fans know it wouldn’t be a Nintendo console if players weren’t allowed to plug in an adaptor and use their favorite previous Nintendo controller though, would it?

The Switch acknowledges this by letting players plug in controllers to the USB port in the console, making it so that two of them can work at once. I have no doubt that the two controllers you’d choose would definetly be Gamecube controllers.

Keep in mind too that you can mix and match combinations in order to get up to eight players connected at once too. For example, if you use two pairs of Joy-Con and two pro controllers, that’s 6 connections there, even though the Joy-Con is read as one input.

That is everything you need to know about how many controllers you can connect to the Nintendo Switch. For more information, including helpful guides like this one, be sure to check back to Twinfinite.

TL;DR

Question: How many controllers can you connect to the Nintendo Switch?

Answer: You can connect up to eight individual controllers.


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Author
Image of Andrew McMahon
Andrew McMahon
Andrew was Twinfinite's Features Editor from 2020 through until March 2023 and wrote for the site from 2018. He has wandered around with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications sitting in his back pocket for a while now, all the while wondering what he is going to do for a career. Luckily, video games have always been there, especially as his writing career progresses.