Xbox Wireless Controller Pairing between Devices

Looking at the guide it says thus:

"The Xbox Wireless Controller that comes with Xbox Series X|S includes a feature that allows for quickly switching between a paired Bluetooth device and an Xbox console or a PC using Xbox Wireless. If the controller is connected to a Bluetooth device, double-press the Pair button and the controller will immediately switch its connection to the last Xbox Wireless connection it was paired to. Then, to switch back to the paired Bluetooth device, press and hold the Pair button to start pairing mode".

This only works between a the controller paired to a PC with Bluetooth or another PC or Xbox paired via the proprietary 'Xbox Wireless' protocol. So, if you're using an Xbox Adaptor on your laptop and also own an Xbox you can only pair it to one of them. If you want to quickly swap between console and PC you'll have to use Bluetooth on the PC.

It's the same issue you'd get if you owned two consoles, you can only pair a controller to one console.

Hey there RodelioP.

Thank you for replying to my question.

It's a bit late actually since I have since purchased the adapter, but i want to clarify that after some testing that what you said is untrue.

What I meant is, I believe the wireless adapter or dongle remember the controller that was paired. I tested this by first plugging in the dongle to my main PC and then doing the initial pairing process. Now once the controller is paired, I then tried plugging the same dongle to different pc, in my case is an intel NUC. So from my observation and if i remember correctly haha, the following will happen :

a) If the gamepad is previously connected to main PC, and lost connection because I unplug it, then it will stay in searching mode for quite a while. In this state, if I plugged the wireless dongle to another pc Asap, then it would behave like it doesn't recognize the adapter as you said for a time, and after a short while it will turn off. The funny thing is I think when it did turn off, that actually attempting the connection to the dongle, because it turned off way faster, compared to when waiting for the controller automatic switch off to trigger. After you click on the main power (xbox logo button) one time, it will connect to the adapter without needing to do any re-pairing.

b) If the controller is in an off state, and the dongle drivers is already installed in either PC and is connected to the computer's usb port, then after the xbox controller button is switched on, it will only take a very short while for the controller to be detected. There is no re-pairing process required for this to work. So this is actually great nifty tool from your design lab, I am impressed!

Now i only hoped the upcoming new controller design can strive to keep things simple. If the leak were to be believed, it will be able to universally connect to multiple devices regardless of the ecosystem and save the settings through cloud. Oh sorry I got sidetracked, but in conclusion the wireless adapter is great because pairing between devices is possible without needing to do the whole add/remove devices unlike its bluetooth interface counterpart.

Hi wonti-tosp!

Thanks for reaching Microsoft Community. We're here to help and let's work on this together.

With your query, yes, you can use the Xbox Wireless Adapter on multiple devices, but you will need to re-pair the controller each time you switch between devices. The adapter will not remember the pairing information for the controller. To pair the controller with the adapter on a new device, simply press and hold the pairing button on the adapter until the light starts flashing, then press and hold the pairing button on the controller until it connects to the adapter.

I hope this helps!

Regards,

RodelioP.

Hi wonti-tosp!

Thanks for getting back to us and thank you for sharing your experience with the Xbox wireless adapter. I apologize for any confusion my previous response may have caused. It's great to hear that the adapter was able to remember the controller that was paired and that it was able to connect to different PCs without needing to re-pair. I appreciate your feedback on the upcoming new controller design, and I hope it will continue to improve the user experience. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Regards,

RodelioP.

Hi wonti-tosp!

We haven't heard from you in 72 hours, so we assume that your issue has already been resolved. We will not be monitoring this thread moving forward so, if you need further assistance, please create a new thread to discuss these concerns by clicking this link: Microsoft Community.

Thank you for understanding.

Regards,

RodelioP.