Topic: Joy-Con's analog stick moving without input

The issue is that the left analog stick keeps registering input to the left even when I'm not touching it. In games like Breath of the Wild or Skyrim, that means that the character is constantly moving to the left even if I left him alone. In other games like Splatoon or Doom the movement messes with the gyro aiming. Even outside games, on the Switch menu, it keeps moving to the left, so if I select the sleep icon and left it there, it'll move by itself back to the news icon... It's so annoying. This is the second different set of Joy-Cons I've sent to Nintendo for repairs.

At first everything is fine, but after several months of use it all goes wrong. I sent for repairs my first set a couple of months ago, and so far they seem to be fine now. But I just sent today my second set (a different one) with the same problem.

Is this a general issue or I've been unlucky enough to buy two different sets of faulty controllers? Anyway I hope that after the repairs, the issues don't show up again...

@maruse I have neither experienced, nor heard of others (aside from you) with this issue. So I do not think it is a wide spread issue of any sort. Could be bad luck, or perhaps something to do with how you use the joy-cons, or how you store them.

@Heavyarms55
I try to be careful when using them but my Switch gets a lot of use each day since we're three people using it constantly, so who knows...
I've heard of other people having the same issue too, so probably is not a wide spread problem, but there are other cases besides mine.
It's a weird and very annoying problem and I hope it gets completely solve after the repairs (I'll cross my fingers)

@maruse If you have 3 people using it, it is probably worth investing in a couple sets of joy-cons or pro-controllers. Spread out the usage and limit wear and tear. Also, if you each have your own set and stick to them, you could figure out if someone is doing something that is causing the problem. Just some friendly ideas.

I've had this happen with my first two sets of joy-cons. It's always the left one too. I think it gets dirt stuck in it easily, try cleaning around the analog stick.

@maruse I had the exact same problem with my original Joy-Con. Like you, I share my Switch with two others including a nine-year-old, so I figured it was probably because of being too roughly handled by one or all of us. I got a replacement pair in November and it's been good so far (rushes to find wood to knock on).

Does the same problem occur when used in handheld?

@toiletduck yes, it does.

@maruse too bad... I've had similar problems but only in TV mode, so I might've had some advice otherwise... Good luck with it!

@toiletduck and that advice would be? I won't hurt to try if it happens again

@maruse Move the Switch to a place where there's no possible interference of you JC's with any other electronic devices. For me it seems to have helped to move my Switch away from my PS4 and STB to the other side of my 'entertainment cabinet'. If your problem also exists in handheld, it's unlikely that this could help... For my it really only occured in TV mode.

@toiletduck Thank you. Definitely it is not interferences from other devices since there is no other device except the TV and a Apple TV (with wired connection) near it.

@maruse I think you're right, but the fact that your Apple TV is wired doesn't have to mean a thing, since so are my PS4 and STB. My guess is that any device having any kind of wireless protocol active (maybe even sleeping) could cause interference (mobile phones, tablets, TV's, maybe even advanced remotes). But still: don't think that's the case for you since your probles occur in handheld as well.

I had that exact same problem with my Wii U Gamepad over the last few years, re-calibrating the control stick helps. Have you tried re-calibrating your Joy-Con?

I think you're talking about the widespread left joy-con issue that happened with earlier models. Here's some links that will hopefully help you:

https://kotaku.com/nintendo-fixed-my-left-joy-con-really-fast...
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/game/how-fix-joy-con-con...
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/social/questions...
https://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-switch-joycon-desync-conne...

It has been fixed in earlier models of the console:
https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/22/15027770/nintendo-switch-le...

This recently started happening with one of our launch day left joy cons as well. Thankfully we have plenty of sets but frustrating that it seemed to start happening right around the time the warranty expired!

Yeah, I've had the same thing happen to one of my Joy-Con - almost certain that a little bit of dust has managed to get underneath the analog stick and is interfering with the signal (really affecting movement in-game - and on the calibration screen, it appears 'jittery' and won't centre correctly) ..unfortunately (unless you have the special tools to open up the Joy-Con yourself) it seems like the only option is to send it in to Nintendo for them to fix

This will be the second time that I've had to send a Joy-Con in - and although I have nothing but praise for the way Nintendo Support handled my original problem, it is a bit of a pain that I'm having to repeat the process all over again! ..ah well!

I also had this issue, except its actually affecting my right joy-con instead. Originally I was having a bit of issues with my launch day blue joy con, it occasionally pressed wrong inputs. I sent it in and while that process was happening my right joy con had unmanageable drift. Before that I didnt notice, until I was playing Mario Kart and not moving since the right analogue can also be used for acceleration.

Even worse my left joy-con came back with MORE issues than when I sent it in. I have heard good things about the repair process, maybe they didnt find the problem? After re-calibrating it, its fixed a little bit now, but this has been quite annoying. I got a second pair of Joycons and if these fail, screw it Imma buy multiple pro controllers. That's my advice, send it in, but just buy a backup pro controller.

I just got this issue with my launch joycons. Sent it in for repairs and recalibrated when it came back. Works great for now. Nintendo did stuff a lot of tech in the controllers and they are a small space considering. bound to have some issues.

Have the issue with my launch day joy con, as well. Not sure if Nintendo is still fixing them for free, but if they are I'd suggest sending it over to them.