How to reconnect Xbox controller to PC after using it elsewhere? (Xbox Wireless Adapter)

joeschmo69 · May 11, 2020

I'm using an Xbox Wireless Adapter (newest version) to use my Xbox One S controller on my PC, which works fine.

However, when I pair my controller with my Android phone to play some games, and then come back to my PC to continue using it like before, it doesn't connect and the light stays blinking. The only way I can get it working again is to entirely remove the
Xbox wireless adapter from my list of Windows devices and re-pair it, which is extremely cumbersome and unacceptable (you can't tell me that unpairing and repairing is required every time just to get my controller to work again with the device it was already
connected to, with a wireless adapter whose only function is to upgrade and ease the process of using the Xbox controller on PC.)

So someone please let me know why my controller doesn't automatically re-connect to my PC, as anyone would expect it should, and what I have to do to
easily re-connect it when this happens. Thank you.

:)

joeschmo69

But without a console or a the Xbox Gaming Receiver for Windows 10

I'm using that receiver, and its actual name is: Xbox Wireless Adapter (see the title of this post). That's what I'm using. So by your claim, I should have an easy re-connection experience. But I don't. Despite buying this product whose
sole purpose is to facilitate the connection of an Xbox controller to Windows, I still have a **** experience because apparently it's illegal to use your Xbox controller on more than 1 device.

Bluetooth headphones and other devices can be paired with unlimited devices, and they'll re-connect to the closest one available to them when you turn them on. But an Xbox controller will completely forget the device it was previously connected to if you
connect it to 1 other device. Terrific.

joeschmo69

What great support from Microsoft.

I have searched all through their product information, all through their FAQs, and found nothing to address this simple question.

They don't provide any option to contact support, and direct me to post to this forum... and when I do I don't get any answer.

Fluke939

you can't tell me that unpairing and repairing is required every time just to get my controller to work again with the device it was already connected to

I'm no expert. But that might actually be the case. I have the same issue switching bluetooth xbox controllers from my xbox one to my laptop. I think that is just how they are made to only have one pairing at a time.

Obsessive Power

Hi,

There is nothing wrong with your controller. The pairing issue is by design. One of the reasons for this is that the Xbox One controller has two type of wireless connections. One is the propitiatory WiFi that the Xbox console uses and the other is Bluetooth.

The Xbox One controller is designed to auto sync if you plug in a charging cable to the console. When you plug the controller into a PC USB port, the controller tries to auto sync to this type of wireless connection. But without a console or a the Xbox Gaming
Receiver for Windows 10, it can't and hence it becomes un-paired.

I'm not trying to justify this potential design oversight, I'm just stating the facts. I own three controllers and I use them on my PC and my console and the same thing happens with my controllers.

DeftJellyf1sh

I have the same problem when doing this, its just the way you have to do it, its quite annoying

How to reconnect Xbox controller to PC after using it elsewhere? (Xbox Wireless Adapter)