Xbox X|S controller no longer working reliably with Windows 10 PC

Hi Jason, may I know if you tried pairing the controller and disconnecting the keyboard and mouse? (If you have it connected to the same Bluetooth adapter)

I ask this because "The Xbox Wireless Controller can connect via Bluetooth to many PCs, tablets, laptops, and VR/AR headsets. However, reliability is dependent on the device’s Bluetooth card and experiences may vary."
Source: https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/hardware-ne...

If the issue persists even with only the controller connected try this:
A. Reinstall your controller driver:
Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager > search something like Xbox controller category (or similar) > expand the category using the little arrow (">") > select delete/uninstall driver

Click OK, restart your PC and reconnect the controller.

B. If the issue persists, reinstall/update Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator driver.

You can do it following previous steps, but now select Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator.

Can take a while, would be great to wait up to 15 minutes before trying again

I’ve just finished troubleshooting (for maybe an hour or so!).

Note that I was not using any other Bluetooth device at the time, the keyboards and mice I use for that pc are wired or use another rf receiver. I mentioned that the Bluetooth could connect to keyboards and mice to confirm that the BT dongle was working with other things.

Finally I re-installed the Tp link driver downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. (Which I had done before). This time it seemed to “take” and the Xbox controller worked for the next hour.

I’ll check tomorrow to see if the connection is reliable.

Hi and thanks for reaching Microsoft Xbox gamer's community. My name is Josef.
I'm an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft Xbox user like you.

Hope you're doing great today despite this Jason

We can try to isolate the issue a bit more.
May I know if you can try pairing the controller to a different device via Bluetooth to see how it goes?
If everything's working on another device, can you try connecting a different controller via Bluetooth to your PC?
Or... If you connect the controller with a cable, it works? (When you connect the controller wired, open the accessories app and check for new controller firmware update)

I can pair the device to my phone, and to my macbook pro.

With the Xbox controller I used to have occasional disconnection problems with an older USB BT 4.0 dongle, so I upgraded to a BT 5.0 dongle. This was pretty reliable until today. Other devices (logitech mice and keyboards, mainly) work with the PC BT dongle.

The Xbox controller works when connected by a USB-C cable.

The accessories app shows that it has the current firmware

Best

Jason

Hi,

The Series S and X controllers work on same devices the earlier controller can connect to. This includes:

Xbox One Game receiver for Windows 10

Bluetooth (PC, Android, iOS)

Xbox One, One S, X and Series X/S.