iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo Switch Family"

Nintendo Switch OLED Model: Why does the joy con detach off so easily?

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:13:53 -0700

Why does my Joy-Con detach so easily without pressing the button designed to separate it? I mean just pulling it

⟐ Commented April 28, 2026 at 5:13 MST

Nintendo Switch: Crashes when not plugged in, works fine when charging or on dock.

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:28:57 -0700

my brother switched out the batteries for both my switch and his switch light, his dosent have this issue but mine will crash when playing a game or show the low battery signal when it says its at 100%, but only when its not plugged in or on the dock. when not plugged in, it crashes in at least 30 seconds and has been doing this for about a year, (from what I remember) with on and off playing I havent noticed it because I mainly play it docked, but I got tomodachi life and need to use the touch screen for a lot of things. I can still play it plugged in but I would just like my switch to not be broken <3 no ammount of Reddit or internet searching has given me an answer or even another case of this problem so Im not sure what to do :( anything helps, thank you <3

⟐ Commented April 27, 2026 at 9:28 MST

Nintendo Switch 2: What are the screws type for the back panel?

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:14:09 -0700

I accidentally stripped the screws on the bottom of the console, near the type c port connected to the backplate. Does anyone know what screw the backplate uses for replacement? Thanks

⟐ Answered April 24, 2026 at 2:14 MST

Nintendo Switch: Which sensor rail do I need

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:13:03 -0700

I need a new LEFT sensor rail for my switch mod# HAC-001(-01) starting letters of my serial# XKW I can use the standard or do I need OLED?

⟐ Answered April 24, 2026 at 0:13 MST

Nintendo Switch 2: Lcd display with weird circles and greenish and white pixels

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:09:39 -0700

Hello!

Im from Bulgaria and had the weirdest experience with my store that i bought the Switch 2.

Okey here is the story, i bought the Switch 2 last year like Christmas present for me and i was very protective to say it like this, i never hit it or dropped it and et cetera.

And one day out of nowhere i notice weird circles and weird greenish and whiteish pixel at max brightness and the first thing was to send it to the store i bought it and use the warranty until i can.

I explained the problem i have ,and i sent the entire box with all the stuff it was inside, and some long long time passes and they said its fixed and i am like very happy, and i ask whats was causing the problem and out of nowhere said they haven't opened it to check it or anything they just turned on the display and didn’t think this is a problem, they said it was normal and it didn’t need a fix or replacement and they started to send links from Nintendo support with different problem not mine ,we argued and i decided to ask repair shops if it faulty and this is one of the places i want to ask if i was in wrong even finding the same issue and people getting their consoles replaced or the screens are just bad.

⟐ Commented April 24, 2026 at 0:09 MST

Nintendo Switch OLED Model: Right JoyCon buttons not working at all

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:55:01 -0700

I have the newer generation switch in grey if that’s important, and the right joycons buttons are not working at all. The joystick movement is still recognized by the console and the sync button on the joycon still works. Every other button has no effect at all. I have my controllers up to date, my system up to date. My left controller is completely fine. I also did have the issue a month ago where the joycon was pressing random buttons on its own, which i never fixed and so i left my switch and have come back to this problem. Please help me.

Nevermind, I left it for like 4 hours and it seems to be fine now. Not a fix but if nothing else works letting it be might work

⟐ Commented April 22, 2026 at 4:55 MST

Nintendo Switch Lite: How to remove joystick caps

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:45:49 -0700

I have ordered new joysticks for my lite, but wanted to know if it was possible to remove the original joystick caps?

I have a pokemon edition lite with the non standard joystick colors and they are still in mint condition (minus drift). So was hoping to move them to the new joysticks.

No amount of pressure let the cap come off.
Seeing as the drift had already killed the joystick I decided to tear it down.
It appears that Nintendo has the stick and cap molded as a single unit in production, so its not possible to get the cap off to swap onto the new Guli sticks.

At best I might be able to get just the rubber cover off, but no idea if that would fit the Guli caps.
I am happy to have my sticks working again, but also sad that I am losing the unique coloring.

⟐ Commented April 19, 2026 at 14:45 MST

Nintendo Switch: Can anyone help me identify where this pad lead to?

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:30:38 -0700

I tried (& obviously failed) to swap the display flex ZIF socket in the original first-gen Nintendo switch and tore a solder pad off. I’m pretty confident that I can fly a wire out from that remaining bit of solder pad, but I need to check whether I did the job properly. Can anyone tell me where this particular pad(10th from the left not counting the large one) lead to so I can check it with a multimeter or smth?

Thanks in advance!

Nintendo Switch: No output to TV on Nintendo dock. But ok on third party dock.

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:12:00 -0700

My Nintendo switch (non OLED) all of the sudden stopped showing on my TV. It charges on the dock and the Switch screen goes black when docked. The dock little light also goes green.

Tried numerous things:

Checked HDMI.

Plugged power source directly to the wall.

Followed the correct way to connect the dock.

Tried different TVs.

Finally decided to buy another dock and got a third party option from AliExpress. It works fine. However I was not happy with it because the USB-C connection is a lot tighter compared to the Nintendo dock. So I decided to buy the Nintendo dock that comes with the OLED version (has a LAN port).

To my surprise it has the same issue as my original Nintendo Dock... No output 🫠.

Has anyone had a similar issue?

⟐ Answered April 16, 2026 at 0:12 MST

Nintendo Switch: My iFixit battery for my Switch is draining quickly - why?

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:30:59 -0700

I have a Nintendo Switch, from about 2020. This is the model with the detachable joycons so I can put it in the cradle and see it on TV. I just replaced the battery last night with the new one I bought from iFixit. After completing that, I turned it on to be sure everything was working, then off. I was in my shop, so I left it off - I thought I had powered it down, but I guess not. 3 hours later I took it up to the house to plug it in and give it that first full charge. It showed 1% charge at that point!

I've charged it for over 6 hours and the next morning I left it in sleep mode, but pulled out the charge cord. Just sitting there, not used, in sleep mode, it's going through about 8-10% of the charge per hour! After about 4 hours, it's down to 62%!

Again, it is just sitting there, asleep, but not plugged in and it's draining that quickly.

Is this normal? I read that I needed to charge it up, then play and use it until the battery was low, then charge it again. I thought i had powered it down - guess not, so that's why it was in sleep mode after I put the new battery in, but today, after a full charge, and just sitting in sleep mode for ±4 hours, for it to be at only 60% does not seem right for a new battery.

⟐ Commented April 15, 2026 at 22:30 MST

Nintendo Switch: Loose LCD connector ribbon?

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:08:11 -0700

I had been using it normally, until these very fine vertical black lines appeared all over the screen. The colors of the pixels would then start to 'bleed' out, forming these bright horizontal bands. I've hopped between a few forums, and apparently a few others have had similar issues. Commenters said that it was a potentially loose LCD connector ribbon cable, so:

I'd like to know if this is the case for my device, and if so, how exactly should I fix it. Would disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbons suffice?
If it isn't just a mere loose cable, could it possibly be an issue with the LCD itself? If so, would it be better for me to take it to a repair shop?

⟐ Commented April 14, 2026 at 2:08 MST

Nintendo Switch: Lines on screen with "clear circle" in middle after LCD replacement

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:03:18 -0700

I am experiencing persistent display issues on my Nintendo Switch. There are lines running through the screen, and interestingly, there is a circular area in the middle that seems less affected by the lines.

I have already replaced both the LCD and the digitizer, but the problem persists. The symptoms are slightly different with the new screen: the lines appear whenever a new page or image loads, but if I leave the console on a static screen for a few minutes, the lines mostly fade away. As soon as the image changes, they return immediately.

I have checked and reseated the LCD ribbon cable multiple times. Is this likely a faulty replacement part, or could this be a motherboard/GPU issue (like a failing display IC or capacitor)? Any advice on what to check next would be greatly appreciated.

⟐ Answered April 14, 2026 at 2:03 MST

Nintendo Switch: Will the switch boot without an LCD

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 02:01:34 -0700

I bought a Switch v2 that has no LCD installed whatsoever, i checked for shorts or damage and found none. Then charged the console up to 4V and tried powering it up.

I expected some sound effect while it booted, but nothing ever happened. The speakers "hum" slightly for 10 seconds after i press the power button and then stop.

I do not have a docking station or any sort of usb c adapter to try plugging HDMI through.

So my question is if a switch can even be powered up fully with no LCD connected? AI chatbots claim it should power up normally.

⟐ Answer accepted April 14, 2026 at 2:01 MST

Joy-Con: Left joy-con don’t have green lights and cant work single mode

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:58:58 -0700

Nintendo switch oled left joycon doesn’t have the green light like before and cant work single mode and I have tryed to connect it only single but the sr and sl not working and it doesn’t have the green lights before

⟐ Answered April 09, 2026 at 15:58 MST

Joy-Con: Gulikit TMR joystick drift whe I connect the switch

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:50:46 -0700

I bought those new joysticks to fix my launch switch 1. When i connect the joycons they both drift until I waggle them a bit, after that they seem to work fine

I have a video with the problem if you prefer

⟐ Commented April 09, 2026 at 15:50 MST

Nintendo Switch: Discoloration, horizontal, and vertical lines on switch lite.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:24:00 -0700

Was watching youtube and they suddenly showed up. What could the issue be? I see some people say ribbon cable, and i wanna try reseating it but can’t find videos about it.

⟐ Answered April 08, 2026 at 22:24 MST

Nintendo Switch: How can I remove stuck Y000 screws?

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:14:42 -0700

The screws on the back of my Switch (original - the one that can fit in the cradle to display on a TV) are super-tight. One came out, but the next one is so tightly in that when I tried using the iFixit toolkit's Y000 screwdriver, it just stripped the slots on that screw.

I know I can find replacement screws, but how can I get these screws out? (The other two are in there tight, but I haven't fully mangled them yet.)

I should add that I've removed stripped screws before, but never this small and the screws are recessed enough that makes many of the "normal" options for removing them hard to use. (Also, considering the rubber band method - that's a problem since the slots are so tiny that I don't see how the screwdriver blades could do anything with the slots through the thickness of rubber.)

I used a different screwdriver and that worked.

The iFixit Y000 bit I was trying had a bad angle on the end that didn't really fit well into the screws: Here's a simple (and lopsided!) illustratoin:

The screwdriver tip was at a sharp angle, so the blades really didn't fit into the slot enough to actually do anything. It just wasn't designed well. I found another screwdriver with the same size bit and with a better profile to match the screw slot.

⟐ Commented April 06, 2026 at 14:14 MST

Nintendo Switch 2: My switch 2 keeps randomly turning off.

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:27:41 -0700

Since release day, my switch does this weird thing where I will be playing any game in and out of dock and it will just randomly turn off. It doesn't go to sleep it like fully turns off. I also get no error message. It's kinda been an annoying thing that I have been dealing with but I just lost like 2 hours worth of progress in persona and now I'm !#^&@@ lol. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what I could do to fix this?

⟐ Answered April 05, 2026 at 0:27 MST

Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller: Can the switch pro 2 controller be repaired?

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 02:56:56 -0700

Unlike the original switch pro controller, the switch 2 pro controller doesn't have any apparent screws on its surface. Is it possible to open it to change the battery, or to replace joysticks should they fail?

⟐ Commented April 03, 2026 at 2:56 MST

Nintendo Switch Lite: Can I use the card reader for the original Switch in the Switch Lite?

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:30:56 -0700

My toddler stuck LEGO in the card reader slot, damaged the contacts beyond repair. I have been searching for a new switch lite card reader to no avail- wondering if the one from the original switch will work.

⟐ Answered April 02, 2026 at 14:30 MST