Key Takeaways
- Change your Nintendo Switch controls to your liking in settings for all games.
- Altering controls system-wide allows changing buttons if games lack remapping options.
- Can’t create multiple layouts, but making separate profiles works as a workaround.
The Nintendo Switch is a perplexing machine in terms of accessibility. On one hand, you can play it at homeor on the road, and the Joy-Cons can act as a single controller or split to allow for two people to play. But then there are the basic functions that the PS5and Xbox Series X offer that just don’t exist on the Switch, a majority of which have to do with accessibility options. As amazing as most Nintendo games are, very few of them even let you change the default controls.
It will vary from game to game, but running into an options menu without the ability to remap your controls is always going to be a disappointment. Some of us just do it for comfort and convenience, while others depend on these options to be able to play at all. We would’ve hoped a massive game like Tears of the Kingdom would let us remap our controls, but even that game only gives you the option to change one or two buttons and not fully remap your buttons how you wish. Thankfully, I know of an easy way that you can change your Switch buttons once that will apply to any game you play.
This method will work for whatever controller you are using with your Switch, not just Joy-Cons.
Nintendo Switch
- Screen
- 6.2-inch 1280 x 720 LCD
- Storage
- 64GB (expandable with microSD)
- Battery
- 4.5-9 hours of use
- Charging Time
- Approximately 3 hours
How to remap your buttons on Nintendo Switch
If you change them in the settings it will apply to all your games
You can force the game to let you change your controls by altering them on the system level.
Whenever a game doesn’t give you adequate button remapping options, you can instead force the game to let you change your controls by altering them on the system level. This will change what buttons act as what for every game or app you use, not just that game, so make sure you know what you’re changing them to before doing this. You can always change them back, so you’re never locked in to any control scheme if you change your mind. Here’s how to set your controls exactly how you want them on the Switch:
- Boot up your Switch and make sure you’re logged in on your profile.
- Select System Settings from the row of options on the bottom of the screen.
- Scroll nearly all the way to the bottom of the list and select Controllers and Sensors.
- Choose Change Button Mapping.
- If you have multiple controllers connected, pick the one you want to map your buttons for.
- You will see a screen with every button on the controller that you can now edit to your liking.
Unlike some other consoles, you cannot make multiple button layouts on your Switch to easily swap between for different games. The only workaround for this is if you make multiple profiles for different games, which is a bit cumbersome but will do the job.
