Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons come in a huge variety of fun colors, but they simply might not appeal to you. Perhaps you’re trying to recreate the Animal Crossing edition Joy-Cons, or your old shells are damaged and need replacing.

Regardless of your reasons, swapping your Joy-Con shells is a tricky process that can easily go wrong. In this guide, we will walk you through every step, so you can replace your Joy-Con shells safely.

What Do I Need to Know Before Swapping the Shells on My Joy-Cons?

Replacing the shells on your Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons involves voiding the warranty. With most other controllers, this might not be much of an issue. But Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons develop stick drift at a much faster rate than other controllers do, so you might find yourself needing to use that warranty sooner rather than later.

Understanding that you cannot send your Joy-Cons away for a free repair if you swap your shells is very important. However, the process of changing your Joy-Con shells teaches you exactly how to replace the joysticks on your own if you should ever need to.

What Do I Need to Swap My Joy-Con Shells?

Swapping your Joy-Con shells is fiddly but quite simple if you have the right tools. Here is a list of everything you will need for the job:

• 1.5mm tri-wing screwdriver.
• 2.0mm Phillips head screwdriver.
• Plastic prying tool.
• Needle nose tweezers
• An optional container to hold your screws, buttons, and other small components, so they don't get lost.

You might be tempted to substitute the screwdrivers for other similar ones if you don't have the right size, but that is not recommended. The screws in your Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons will strip very easily, especially if you are using the wrong-sized tools.

How Do I Swap My Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Shells Safely?

Swapping your Joy-Con shells involves opening them and fiddling around with the most delicate parts of your controller. Before you begin, there are a couple of things you should note. Firstly, make sure that you are always applying gentle pressure and treating everything with care, especially when it comes to the motherboard and ribbon cables.

It's also a great idea to take note of where everything goes when you are taking your Joy-Con apart to help you when it comes to putting it back together. If you ever forget where something goes, take a look back over the images in this guide and follow the directions in reverse order.

In this example, we will be showing you how to swap the shells on the right Joy-Con because it has one extra component. The rest of the process is near identical when it comes to the left Joy-Con.

1. Remove the four screws on the back of your Joy-Con with the 1.5mm tri-wing screwdriver and pull it open to the right. Use your plastic prying tool if you're having trouble detaching the backplate.

2. Using the Phillips head screwdriver, remove the screw holding the backplate to the Joy-Con railing.

3. Gently pull the NFC chip out of the way and disconnect the battery by pulling the plug up. Pry the battery out with your plastic prying tool.

4. Remove the three screws from the center plate with your Phillips head screwdriver and gently pull it to the left.

5. The center plate will be held on with the trigger button's ribbon cable. Follow the ribbon to find the plug and use your needle-nose tweezers to flick up the small piece of plastic holding it down. Then grasp the end of the ribbon with your tweezers and using very gentle pressure, slowly pull it out and place the center shell to the side.
   If you have opaque Joy-Con covers, you may be able to leave the rest of the center plate untouched. If you have transparent covers, however, you will have to remove the trigger button and ribbon cable from the shell. Be very careful when doing this, as there are two springs under the trigger button that can easily ping off.

6. Flick the tabs up on the two ribbon cables holding the railing onto the controller and remove them.

7. Unplug the ribbon cable and two screws holding the joystick in before pulling it out.

8. Gently remove the R button, taking care not to send the spring underneath it flying across the room.
9. Unplug the two ribbon cables at the bottom left on the motherboard.

10. Loosen the rumble sensor so you can easily remove it later. It may be stuck down with a sticky tab. If so, pry it out with your plastic prying tool.
11. Remove the two screws holding the motherboard down and gently pull that and the rumble sensor out at the same time.

12. Remove all the buttons and their rubber backings, being careful not to lose any, and pull the IR sensor components out.

Now that all the pieces of your Joy-Con have been removed from the old shell, you can begin reassembling your controller by following these same steps backwards.

If your controller was drifting, replace the joystick with a brand new one during the reassembly process to completely fix your Joy-Con drift. Now is also a great time to check your battery to see if it's bulging. If it is, it's time for a new one, and there is no better time to replace your Joy-Con battery than when it's already taken apart.

Game in Style With Your New Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons

Replacing your Joy-Con covers is intimidating, but this guide should make the process much easier for you. The main thing to remember when opening up your Joy-Cons, whether it be to replace your joystick, battery, or shells, is to treat everything as delicately as possible to avoid any damage.

Thankfully, components are cheap to find and replace online. So if you were to snap a ribbon cable or even damage the motherboard, it would certainly be inconvenient, but you can replace it relatively easily.