If you personal any wi-fi Xbox controller from the present or earlier era, you have already got an important choice for enjoying controller-based video games on a PC or smartphone. The key to the adaptability of those controllers is their assist for each the Xbox Wireless protocol and Bluetooth. After Apple rolled out iOS 14.5 with assist for wi-fi Xbox controllers and Microsoft examined and rolled out firmware updates for the older Bluetooth-equipped Xbox One controllers and the Elite 2 (matching the performance of newer Series X fashions), these controllers went from being the one de facto choice for Xbox or PC avid gamers to one of the crucial versatile choices to be used throughout consoles, telephones, tablets, and Windows PCs.

Connecting to all these units is easy, and even swapping backwards and forwards between an Xbox console and a Bluetooth system is good and simple.

Here’s the way you set all the things up:

• First, you need to pair your Xbox Series X, Xbox One, or Elite 2 controller together with your telephone or PC. You can at all times play wired on a PC by way of a USB cable, however we’re right here to make use of the complete capabilities of your wi-fi controller. Activate wi-fi pairing in your controller by urgent and holding the sync button on the again, which is simply above the USB-C port on the Series X gamepad. After a pair seconds, the Xbox emblem on the entrance of the controller will flash quickly.

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

• Then, observe the standard Bluetooth pairing course of on the system you’re making an attempt to sync with the controller and search for the controller within the Bluetooth settings menu. For instance, on iOS 15, my Xbox Series X controller immediately appeared as “Xbox Wireless Controller,” adopted by a four-digit quantity. Once I tapped it, the title auto-filled with an extended sequence of numbers and letters, and it prompted me to pair it. I then chosen the controller to pair it. Over on Windows 10 / 11 PCs, remember to click on on “Add new device” underneath Bluetooth and Devices.

• Once the controller is related to your new system by way of Bluetooth, the white Xbox emblem ought to go stable, and you may soar proper into some video games!
• To swap your controller again to your Xbox Series X / S console once more, double-tap the sync button. The Xbox emblem will flash slowly, and the controller ought to reconnect together with your console.
• To change the controller again from the Xbox to the Bluetooth system, double-tap the sync button as soon as extra. The Xbox emblem once more flashes slowly, after which it reconnects to your system.

That’s it! It’s now actually easy to attach a Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One, Elite 2, or Xbox Series X controller to completely different units and swap between that system and your Xbox. With distant play and a rising variety of titles obtainable by way of the Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta, there are extra causes to play Xbox video games away out of your console — in addition to, in fact, PC video games.

One factor you have to be conscious of: this quick-swap performance solely works with the final cell system or PC that the controller related to by way of Bluetooth. When you double-tap the sync button, the controller is switching between its Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth protocols. It can solely be synced with one Xbox console and one Bluetooth system at a time. So if you wish to shortly swap between your Xbox Series X / S and a unique system, you’ll have to manually arrange your controller with that new system first.

Also, for the reason that Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows makes use of the identical wi-fi tech as Xbox consoles, it gained’t allow you to quick-swap between these two.

Update March 4th, 2022, 2:55PM ET: This article was initially printed on February ninth, 2021; all of the instructions have been up to date.