A series of actions you can take for if your controller is on the fritz

in the event your controller is experiencing odd inputs or other issues i have compiled a list of things you can do to either narrow down the problem, or help alleviate the problem

in the event you controller is experiencing ghost inputs (random inputs that you have no control over) take a [USB/micro USB] double ended cable and plug your controller directly into you Xbox, then using the center home button go to Settings-->Devices & Accessories --> Accessories --> …--> update

that should get rid of any malicious code (if there is any), if it says "no update available" then it is upto date (and in turn contains no new or malicious code)

if the problem persists go back one page, and instead of clicking on … click on the beaker symbol, it will put your controller in test mode, from here it will display the current inputs if the inputs are constant it may be sticky of gunked buttons, if it is on an analog stick it may be drift

if the problem is sticky/gunked buttons take out the battery and unplug the controller, then with some non-bleach Clorox wipes (preferably the ones for plastic) and wipe down the exterior, then take some plackers and Q-tips and proceed to clear out the edges of the buttons of any gunk you can find, after you've picked every button, take compressed air and spray between the cracks, then let it set for about 20-30 minutes before putting the battery back in [compressed air can super cool components and if you dont allow it to warm back up a bit it may have.... disastrous consequences, same thing with the cleaning agents used]

you can take a similar action for some cases of drift, but alas i have not found a reliable way to fix it, except for games that allow you to change your analog stick dead zone minimum size (if that ever gets added to the configure screen for controller profiles you can say good bye to drift worries)

in the event you have rechargeable batteries and they start to either not take a charge or die super quickly, it may be time to replace the rechargeable batteries, or if they charge through the controller, take a pencil and use the rubber eraser on the contact points in the battery slot, they should be shiny, not cloudy, generally the contacts should either be gold or silver in color, green would indicate corrosion

in the event that you have a headset hooked up to the controller and its not working 100% rotate the jack {only if it has a jack though, i dont think it can be rotated, but PLEASE DO NOT ROTATE THE ADAPTERS} if you hear crackling its got a bad connection in certain spots (ideally you shouldn't here any odd noises when rotating the jack), in the event of cracking you may need to do the eraser trick on the metal parts of the jack, unfortunately if its the input (the hole) there isnt really anything you can do

and im afraid thats as far as my knowledge goes on maintaining the functions of controllers, but atleast this page exist in the event any of these things turn out to be the problem at hand, hope it helps

:)